MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia assistant coach Larry Harrison compares the roster of top-ranked Tennessee to WVU’s 2010 Final Four team.
“I think if you look at our teams from the past, they were built with guys who came in and bought into the system,” Harrison said. “They were team-first guys who developed over the course of their college careers. Rick Barnes has obviously done a really good job of putting that team together through recruiting.”
The No. 1 Volunteers (17-1, 6-0 SEC) are led by reigning SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams.
Williams nearly left his name in the 2018 NBA draft, but came back for his junior season. Coming out of high school in Charlotte, he was an under-recruited three-star prospect, whose only other scholarship offer from a Power Five school was Boston College.
The others from Tennessee’s 2016 recruiting class: John Fulkerson, Jalen Johnson, Jordan Bone and Jordan Bowden. All of them were also three-star recruits who are in their junior seasons. All of them have developed into key starters or reserves for the No. 1 team in the country.
There are no one-and-done players on the Volunteers and no transfers from another school.
Tennessee will host West Virginia (9-10, 1-6 Big 12) at 4 p.m. Saturday in the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge.
It will be the 14th time the Mountaineers have played a No. 1-ranked team and the Mountaineers will be looking to win its first true road game against a No. 1-ranked team.
WVU’s most recent win against a No. 1 came two seasons ago, when the Mountaineers beat No. 1 Baylor 89-68 inside the WVU Coliseum.
In order to pull off the upset, the Mountaineers must contain Williams, who is coming off a 43-point effort against Vanderbilt on Wednesday. As part of that 43 points, Williams was a 23-of-23 from the foul line.
“Well, obviously we know who not to foul,” Harrison said.
The 6-foot-7, 235-pound forward knows how to muscle his way inside, as well as having the ability to knock down mid-range jumpers and he has nine 3-pointers on the season.
Williams is averaging 20.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
“He’s a talent,” Harrison said. “He’s the heart and soul of their team. He’s going to be a handful, as far as how are we going to contain him. We’ll probably have to rotate a few different guys and see who is the most effective in guarding him.”
Barnes lauded Williams for playing 38 minutes in the overtime win at Vandy.
“You have to give it to him because he’s getting not only the physical part, but he’s getting the eye from everybody,” Barnes said. “It’s not just him one-on-one most of the time. It’s normally two guys or three other guys trying to get as close as they can to take away space. His conditioning from where he started is really phenomenal.”
West Virginia must then keep an eye on senior forward Admiral Schofield, who averages 16.7 points per game, but also leads the Volunteers with 37 3-pointers.