West Virginia's Three Freshman Starters Have Grown Up Fast!

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins knew his Mountaineers would be good in 2008-09, but he didn't expect to have to play the entire season without his junior point guard Joe Mazzulla.

Mazzulla showed great leadership last year, and when he went down with an injury, Huggins didn't know what to think. He didn't realize he'd be finishing the season with three freshman starters.

Last night the Mountaineers drilled Pittsburgh 74-60 in a quarterfinal game in the Big East Tournament. Tonight they meet a tired Syracuse team in the semis and have a good shot at making it to the finals.

This is a very dangerous team right now!

6'9" forward Devin Ebanks, 6'8" forward Kevin Jones, and 6'2" guard Darryl Bryant (all freshmen) don't make the "freshman mistakes" they were making early in the year. They've grown up in a hurry and are contributing.

The Mountaineers were an erratic team in the early season. They lost to an average Kentucky team and an average Davidson team while beating Ohio State on the road by 28 points.

Ebanks, Jones, and Bryant are joined by 6'7" junior Da'Sean Butler and 6'6" senior Alex Ruoff. 6'7" junior Wellington Smith and 6'7" senior John Flowers come off the bench.

The Mountaineers have won eight of their last 11 games and have shown that they are capable of playing with anyone in the country.

The Pittsburgh team they beat last night is predicted to be a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, and last week they lost in the last seconds to Louisville, another team predicted to get a No. 1 seed.

If the Mountaineers beat Syracuse tonight, they'll probably get another shot at Louisville.  The Cardinals are favored to beat Villanova in their semifinal game, but we're learning fast there are no guarantees in this tournament—no more "favorites"!

What's so great about this West Virginia team is the progress they are making. They are growing in leaps and bounds, and West Virginia's basketball future is looking good.

Next year they can look forward to getting back a healthy Joe Mazzula and to the arrival of two 6'9", 245 lb. incoming freshman centers.

But as far as this year--there is no telling how much further they can go!

One thing is certain: The NCAA selection committee is going to have a hard time seeding them. With 10 losses (or 11 if they lose another game in the Big East Tournament), the committee can't seed them too high, but with the way they are playing, they can't seed them too low.

They are a classic case of an "unranked team" being overlooked by the pollsters.

Tonight against Syracuse, Bob Huggins goes for his 640th coaching win. He is a graduate of West Virginia.