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WVU basketball players will always play hard for Bob Huggins

By Matthew Peaslee

MORGANTOWN, WV - NOVEMBER 15: Bob Huggins of the West Virginia Mountaineers coaches against the American University Eagles at the WVU Coliseum on November 15, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
MORGANTOWN, WV - NOVEMBER 15: Bob Huggins of the West Virginia Mountaineers coaches against the American University Eagles at the WVU Coliseum on November 15, 2017 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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It’s not easy for the opposition to devise a plan for the WVU basketball team. However, any other coach knows the Mountaineers will go hard for 40 minutes.

Love it or hate it, Bob Huggins’ style is classic college basketball and he wouldn’t keep doing something if it didn’t work. The WVU basketball team has been thriving for a decade under the leadership of Huggins and this well-oiled machine isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Players who join the WVU basketball team know what to expect when coming to Morgantown. That’s why they sign up for this challenge. It is indeed a challenge to play for Bob Huggins and his style isn’t for the unmotivated. Bob Huggins can make players great, but it also takes a lot of work from the players to get to the point where they need to be.

Players like Joe Alexander and John Flowers bought into Huggins’ mentality when he first took over the program. More recently, Juwan State and Nathan Adrian became WVU basketball legends because of the coaching Huggins taught them. Now, Jevon Carter is the poster boy for Huggins and the WVU basketball team. He is a great leader and tough competitor because he listened to Huggins and always gives 100 percent on the floor.

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One of the WVU basketball team’s newest guys is still getting his feet wet in the system. It may have taken him some time to get used to Division I basketball and this new style of play, but D’Angelo Hunter is learning more and more each day.

An article on BlueGoldNews.com detailed his path from the junior college level to the WVU basketball team. Hunter played high school ball in Louisville before going to prep school at a military academy in Wisconsin. After playing in junior college in Texas, he arrived to Morgantown this offseason.

Other recent Huggins players like Jaysean Paige and Teyvon Myers also had unconventional paths to the WVU basketball team. Their time and effort paid off because they wanted a challenge and gave it their all for Coach Huggins. Hunter has the opportunity to do the same. He is still transitioning, though, and that is what he relayed to BlueGoldNews.

"“It’s been a tough transition,” admitted Hunter. “In junior college, I could take plays off. Under Huggins, you can’t take any plays off or you’ll be exposed."

According to WVUsports.com, Hunter had played in eight games this season totaling 45 minutes on the court. That is the lowest on the team. Hunter and Logan Routt have appeared in the least amount of games. However, he made the most of his time in the exhibition against Wheeling Jesuit by scoring 12 points.

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Depth is important to Huggins and Hunter, right now, is providing depth at guard and forward positions. He is 6-foot-6 and getting stronger, so he has the ability to help out when needed. He just needs to work harder than everybody else to prove his worth on this team.

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