West Virginia Mountaineers 2020-21 Basketball Season in Review
The West Virginia Mountaineers won 19 games and won a game in the NCAA Tournament. We take a look back in this West Virginia Mountaineers 2020-21 basketball season in review.
Recap
Record: 19-10 (11-6 in Big 12)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament: def. Morehead State, 84-67 (first round); lost to Syracuse, 75-72 (second round).
Seniors/lettermen losing: G Taz Sherman (13.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.4 apg); F Gabe Osabuohien (1.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.4 spg), G Jordan McCabe (submitted his name to the transfer portal on March 23), F Emmitt Matthews Jr. (submitted his name to the transfer portal on March 25).
Note: NCAA rules allow all players to trigger an extra year of eligibility for the 2021-22 season due to COVID-19. These seniors have the choice to return based on that rule.
Any One-and-dones or early entries?: Both Sean McNeil and Sherman have submitted their names to the NBA Draft, but have left the door open to return to Morgantown.
Any NBA Bound?: Sherman would be a useful player to a pro team, but he won’t be drafted and he’ll have to start in the G League or a foreign league.
Any transfers: Oscar Tshiebwe left the program in January and transferred to Kentucky. Jordan McCabe and Emmitt Matthews Jr. submitted their names to the transfer portal after the season concluded.
Top players expected to return: G Miles McBride (15.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.9 spg); F Derek Culver (14.3 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.1 apg); G Sean McNeil (12.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg – name is now in NBA Draft); F Jalen Bridges (5.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg).
Who’s back and who’s coming?
The player(s) you don’t know about: Taj Thweatt was certainly overshadowed by Isaiah Cottrell in the 2020 recruiting class. And, he didn’t get much run this year, as the Mountaineers had a set lineup and rotation. But, at 6-foot-7, there’s enough there to think of him as an Emmitt Matthews Jr. starter kit — in other words, that forward that isn’t going to be flashy or score a lot of points, but does everything else for you. He needed time to develop this season, and he may need more time to develop next year. Good news is Matthews isn’t going anywhere. If Thweatt were smart, he would attach himself to Matthews’ hip for the next season and learn from one of the best glue guys in the Big 12. By the way, he scored more than 1,700 points and grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds in high school. So there’s a higher ceiling there than one might think, based on this season.
2021 recruiting class: G Seth Wilson, 6-foot-1, Lorian, Ohio; G Kobe Johnson, 6-foot-3, McKinley High School, Canton, Ohio.
Wilson is a Top 200 national player (No. 186 per 247Sports.com). Johnson doesn’t have a national ranking per 247Sports.com. But, he’s the No. 6 player in Ohio and was primarily a target of Mid-American Conference programs before signing with the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers have a stacked roster, so both would get time to develop.
Commitments yet to sign: None.
Summarizing the season
This will probably go down as one of Bob Huggins’ better coaching jobs. At the start of the season, this team looked like it had one of the best front lines in the Big 12, with Culver and Tshibewe. By the end of December, it became clear that things weren’t working inside. On New Year’s Day, Tshibewe decided to leave the program, and later joined the Kentucky Wildcats. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Culver now had room to patrol the paint by himself, while Huggins went to a four-player perimeter alignment, and the quartet of McBride, McNeil, Matthews, and Bridges thrived, with Sherman and Osabuohein coming in off the bench. The Mountaineers needed time to work out the rotation, thanks in part to a near two-week COVID-19 pause. But by the middle of February, the Mountaineers had things exactly the way they wanted it. WVU was even getting a little bit from Kedrian Johnson and Jordan McCabe. The Mountaineers ended up being one of the hotter teams going into the Big 12 tournament, even though they lost to Oklahoma State twice in a five-day span. In the NCAA Tournament, the Mountaineers only got to the second round, but not before an incredible 30-point effort from McBride in the first-round win over Morehead State, and another incredible shooting game from the 3-point line by McNeil against Syracuse. The Mountaineers, however, just didn’t have quite enough to overcome the Orange and its aggressive 2-3 zone. It ended up being a great season for the Mountaineers. Huggins ended up claiming his 900th career win. But the end of the season also left Mountaineers fans wanting just a little bit more.
Looking ahead to 2021-22
The Mountaineers are set up to be one of the best teams in the Big 12 next season. They nearly have a starting lineup to lean on — Culver, McBride, McNeil and Bridges. They all have eligibility to return next year. Don’t be concerned about McNeil submitting to the NBA Draft. I believe he’s just getting his report card for what to improve on. Now, the real question becomes whether or not either Sherman or Osabuohien will choose to return next season. Both can, thanks to the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19. Sherman is going the same route as McNeil and the NBA, and he has left the door open to return. If just Sherman came back, he could slide into the starting lineup in Matthews’ place. If Osabuohien came back, that would give the Mountaineers their glue guy for one more year. Beyond that, expect Kedrian Johnson to improve. Last season’s top recruit, Isaiah Cottrell, should be back next year after his injury, and that would give the Mountaineers some significant depth inside. Overall, this team looks set up to challenge Baylor, Kansas, and the rest of the Big 12 for a regular season title. The key for the next 8 to 9 months is to make sure no one else leaves, and to get the entire team committed to playing a bit more defense.
Note: Updated to reflect that Jordan McCabe has submitted his name to the transfer portal and that Sean McNeil has submitted his name for the NBA Draft. Updated to reflect that Taz Sherman has submitted his name for the NBA Draft. Updated to reflect that Emmitt Matthews Jr. submitted his name to the transfer portal.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
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