West Virginia’s men’s basketball team will begin its upcoming season November 9 with a home game against Oakland.
That was part of the non-conference portion of the Mountaineers’ schedule released Thursday, which will allow WVU to play 13 games outside of the Big 12.
The Backyard Brawl will resume after a one-year hiatus last season, with West Virginia welcoming Pitt for its second game of the season Nov. 12.
The Mountaineers will play three neutral site games the week before Thanksgiving in the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C. While the matchups for the event have yet to be released, the eight-team field also includes Boise State, Clemson, Elon, Marquette, Ole Miss, St. Bonaventure and Temple.
WVU returns home for five straight games starting with a Nov. 26 matchup against Eastern Kentucky. The stretch of consecutive contests at home also features matchups against Bellarmine, Radford and Connecticut, before ending Dec. 12 against Kent State.
It will mark WVU’s first meeting with Bellarmine, before former Mountaineer point guard Darris Nichols returns to the Coliseum in his first year as Radford’s head coach. The matchup with the Huskies is part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle.
The Mountaineers will play at UAB on Dec. 18 in their first true road game, allowing West Virginia coach Bob Huggins to take on Blazers’ coach Andy Kennedy in the first matchup of a home-and-home series between the schools. Kennedy was an assistant under Huggins at Cincinnati from 2001-2005 and the two remain friends.
WVU welcomes Youngstown State to the Coliseum on Dec. 22, allowing Huggins to face another former member of his coaching staff in Jerrod Calhoun. Calhoun was a student assistant under Huggins at Cincinnati and an assistant coach at West Virginia from 2007-2012, before he accepted the head coaching job at Division II Fairmont State. Calhoun has been the Penguins’ head coach since 2017.
West Virginia’s final non-conference game will be Jan. 29 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge with the opponent and location still to be determined.
“For the past two seasons, we have played the second-toughest schedule in the country, and this non-conference schedule models our previous ones,” Huggins said. “We are looking forward to getting back to a normal schedule this season and seeing Mountaineer Nation come out in full force to support us at home and on the road.”
2021-22 WVU Men’s Basketball Nonconference Schedule
Tuesday Nov. 9 Oakland Morgantown
Friday Nov. 12 Pitt Morgantown
Thursday Nov. 18 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic $ Charleston, S.C.
Friday Nov. 19 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic $ Charleston, S.C.
Sunday Nov. 21 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic $ Charleston, S.C.
Friday Nov. 26 Eastern Kentucky Morgantown
Tuesday Nov. 30 Bellarmine Morgantown
Saturday Dec. 4 Radford Morgantown
Wednesday Dec. 8 Connecticut ^ Morgantown
Sunday Dec. 12 Kent State Morgantown
Saturday Dec. 18 UAB & Birmingham, Ala.
Wednesday Dec. 22 Youngstown State Morgantown
Saturday Jan. 29 Big 12/SEC Challenge TBD