KANSAS CITY — One of West Virginia’s new players is 6-foot-7 point guard Jermaine Haley, who Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins said could be a nice addition to the team’s trapping defense, because of his size and length.
Haley had four points and five rebounds in last week’s scrimmage.
The trend for some time in college basketball has been to look for sizable guards, although the Mountaineers won 26 games last season with Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr., with neither one standing taller than 6-foot-2.
“He’s very skilled and has good ball skills,” Huggins said. “I wish he was a little more aggressive offensively. He shoots it well, but probably doesn’t shoot it enough.
“We played Louisville when Denny Crum was there and he had big guards, but they didn’t really go outside the three. He made it hard to score over top of them. Sometimes that’s not the best thing. Sometimes you get beat by those little waterbug guys, too.”
Harris taking good steps
West Virginia junior forward Wes Harris scored 16 points and added three rebounds during last week’s team scrimmage.
Harris was 6 of 7 shooting and 2 of 3 from 3-point range, a far cry from last season when he shot 37 percent from the floor and 32 percent from 3-point range.
“He shot the ball a lot better than what he did a year ago,” Huggins said. “He’s got experience now and he’s got good feet. He’s a lot more effective in the press. He’s got the best feet.”