West Virginia 2009-2010 Basketball Betting Prediction, Odds, Lines,

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West Virginia 2008-2009 Record: 23-12, 10-8

West Virginia 2008-2009 Post Season: NCAA

West Virginia Coach: Bob Huggins (49-23 at West Virginia, 639-234 overall)

West Virginia Projected Starters:

• Joe Mazzula, Junior, Guard, 5.6 points per game
• Casey Mitchell, Junior, Guard, DNP last season
• Wellington Smith, Senior, Forward, 5.2 points per game
• Da’Sean Butler, Senior, Forward, 17.1 points per game
• Devin Ebanks, Sophomore, Forward, 10.5 points per game

West Virginia Player to Watch: Da’Sean Butler

West Virginia Key Losses: G Alex Ruoff

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2009-2010 West Virginia Season Preview

For two seasons now, Bob Huggins has shown the rest of The Big East that his team can challenge anyone on a given night.

This season, Huggins has the top of the league within his sights.

A year ago, WVU was good enough to win 23 games and finish tied for seventh in one of the deepest Big East races in years. It was the seventh straight season that the Mountaineers finished higher than conference coaches predicted. The Mountaineers beat the likes of Final Four entrant Villanova, rival Pittsburgh and a healthy Marquette squad but, ultimately, their youth and lack of depth caught up to them.

An eight-point loss to Dayton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament ended the year, but talk in Morgantown quickly turned to what should be an exciting future.

West Virginia Backcourt

If there is one roadblock in what everyone in West Virginia hopes is a Top 10, Big East champion-type team, it is at point guard. In mid-summer, both of Huggins’ projected floor leaders were suspended indefinitely. Joe Mazzulla is recovered from a painful, season ending shoulder injury that cost him all but seven games, but a domestic battery charge clouded his future. Then Darryl Bryant, Mazzulla’s replacement, was involved in two separate hit-and-run accidents over the summer and landed in hot water.

Give Huggins both guards and he has few issues. Mazzulla runs a team and plays as hard as anyone, and Bryant’s physical brand of guard play was so promising as a freshman that he scored a team-high 21 points in the NCAA loss to Dayton.

The only key loss of the 2009 team is Alex Ruoff, the top 3-point shooter in WVU history. Replacing that punch is vital and Huggins landed the National Junior College Player of the Year in wing shooter Casey Mitchell, one of the most polished scorers available. Huggins also likes the versatility that freshman guard Dalton Pepper gives his backcourt.

West Virginia Frontcourt

Huggins’ vaunted teams at Cincinnati were known for a hard-nosed, aggressive style and NBA-ready bodies. It’s taken two years, but a cache of those players are now assembled in Morgantown.

The leaders are bookend forwards Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks, perhaps the best pair of forwards on the same team in the country. Butler is a stat-sheet filler, capable of going off for 30-plus points – he had 43 against Villanova – or slicing an opponent apart with his deft passing skills. Ebanks may be the best forward prospect on the radars of NBA scouts. He’s a long, active forward who is so versatile that he handled the point guard duties at times as a freshman.

Now Huggins hopes Ebanks is ready to take over games not only with his rebounding and defense, but also his scoring. A horrific outside shooter (5 of 40 from 3-point range), Ebanks has worked on expanding his game and could be an absolute monster if successful.

Wellington Smith, another returning senior starter, is the type of glue player every team wants. If he improves his shooting (39 percent), he’ll play even more. The Mountaineers also will go with bouncy John Flowers and the rapidly improving Kevin Jones up front, although Jones is capable of defending all over the floor.

Huggins also is excited about the flexibility of playing two freshmen who can alter the way WVU matches up with most opponents.

Deniz Kilicli is a highly skilled, 250-pound forward from Turkey who may take a bit longer than expected to work his way into Huggins’ system, but who also may be the most talented frontcourt player at the school in many years. Danny Jennings is a strong New Yorker who gets things done in the paint.

2009-2010 West Virginia Predictions

Huggins has won 26 and 23 games in his first two seasons back at his alma mater and now has most of his own players in town and expectations are soaring. If Butler and Ebanks are as good as expected and both Mazzulla and Bryant return, this promises to be a very special season in Morgantown.

West Virginia Finish in the Big East: 3rd
West Virginia Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

West Virginia Betting Odds

West Virginia Odds to Win 2010 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament: +2000
West Virginia Odds to Win the Big East: +350

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