MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — At the close of a 35-game grind, one bad night in the regional semifinal (even one so embarrassingly atrocious as West Virginia experienced) shouldn’t stain the accomplishments of an otherwise satisfying season.
Anyone at the WVU Coliseum on Nov. 14 who projected a 25-win team probably was enamored with Monmouth, and not a Mountaineers bunch that shot 1-for-23 in one stretch and trailed by 13 during the second half.
Of course, West Virginia righted itself that night, and throughout the ensuing five months, scrambling and scuttling its way to the ninth Sweet 16 appearance in program history.
What’s the likelihood next year’s Mountaineers can make it that far again? In a two-part primer for 2015-16, we’ll evaluate the returnees, beginning today with the guards:
DEPARTURES
All-Big 12 point guard Juwan Staten controlled the action the past two years, while gritty combo guard Gary Browne emerged as a 22-game starter this season. The seniors accounted for 14.2 and 6.9 points, respectively, were above-average defenders and set the tone for outside-of-practice work habits.
RETURNEES
Jevon Carter (8.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.9 steals)
The freshman contributed 23 affective minutes per game, stripping ballhandlers, poaching passes and rightfully earning All-Big 12 defensive honors. A combo guard who didn’t play as instinctively when filling in for Staten and Browne at the point, Carter will be best utilized off the ball next season.
He finished as WVU’s third-leading scorer despite a dreadful end-of-season shooting slump—making 8-of-45 over his final six games including 4-of-26 from 3. West Virginia can’t depend on him to be remarkable as he was against VMI (28 points in 17 minutes); it just needs him to make more than 31 percent from deep. Most impressive about Carter was that his defense remained reliable when his shooting wasn’t.
“I think everybody got a feel for how college basketball is at West Virginia,” he said after Thursday’s loss to Kentucky. “I think (next year) we have a good chance of doing what we’re here to do.”
Daxter Miles (7.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals)
Carter’s freshman roommate started all 35 games, was active in the trapping defense and developed more scoring punch toward season’s end. Of course nationally he’ll be remembered for calling out Kentucky and then producing this line: 0-of-3 shooting, 0-of-1 free throws, zero assists, zero steals in 19 minutes. (Thank goodness for that one rebound, right?) If any player can overcome the tsunami of snark that followed WVU’s 39-point loss, it’s a confident, charismatic kid like Miles.
Though his season-long 3-point rate was a tick above the Division I average (35 percent), he closed with a 19-of-38 streak. (Now, if he can just approach mediocrity at the foul line, where he made only 52 percent.) Miles’ first year was almost statistically identical to that of Eron Harris, who made a giant scoring leap as a sophomore. West Virginia needs Miles to become a double-digit scorer, while maintaining the defensive toughness.
Tarik Phillip (4.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.1 steals)
The sophomore, who struggled to earn minutes after arriving from the juco ranks, was benched for the 86-85 win over TCU and barely saw the court at Oklahoma State. Yet he’s probably the frontrunner to be WVU’s opening-day point guard next season. To do so, he must improve his upside-down assist-to-turnover ratio (28-to-33) and make more than 21 percent of his 3s—or cease shooting them. (Awkward forced-up shots against Buffalo notwithstanding, of course.)
Though not as explosive as Staten, Phillip is a strong penetrator at 6-foot-3 who can muscle up shots against bigger defenders. Then Huggins praised him during the NCAA tournament as being the team’s best on-ball defender. WVU draws optimism from two performances in particular—his 13 points in the overtime loss at Kansas and his 12-point, five-rebound effort against LSU.
Jaysean Paige (5.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 1.1 steals)
A prolific junior college scorer who switched to WVU after the coaching change at Southern Miss, Paige started his first 10 games before settling for a reserve role. He was foul-prone, endured some defensive slips and shot only 52 percent at the foul line, which seemed an anomaly after he topped 77 percent in the juco ranks.
His mercurial season, which also included an informal suspension for the TCU game, was typified during the final two weeks. After scoring a season-best 18 points against Baylor in the Big 12 tournament, Paige averaged only 7 minutes in three NCAA tournament games. Still he has the potential to emerge as the team’s top 3-point shooter (not to mention its best dunker) next season, provided his defensive effort meets Bob Huggins’ expectations.
Chase Connor (2.1 points, 0.2 rebounds, 0.1 assists)
The walk-on from Shady Spring—a two-time scoring leader in the state high school ranks—made cameos in 24 games as a designated shooter. All but two of his 45 field-goal tries came from beyond the 3-point line, where he shot 34 percent. His role figures to be similar next season, though he could become a featured player at a mid-major program.
NEWCOMERS
James “Beetle” Bolden
The 6-foot point guard from Covington, Ky., surpassed the 2,000-point mark in his next-to-last high school game. Rated a four-star recruit by ESPN and a three-star prospect by Rivals, Bolden figures to jump into the rotation immediately.
Teyvon Myers
The nation’s highest-scoring juco guard at 25.1 points per game, Myers shot 36 percent from 3-point range and hit 85 percent at the free-throw line at Williston State (N.D.) Community College. The three-star recruit typically played off the ball last season, though his team isolated him for one-on-one clear-outs in crunch time. Myers projects as a key wing player next season.
COMING MONDAY: Evaluating WVU’s returning forwards/centers