Huggins Looks to Give Current Freshmen ‘Taz Sherman-Like’ Minutes Next Season

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – On Monday morning, WVU head coach Bob Huggins told the media that he expects at least two out of the current freshmen to receive a huge leap in minutes next season. Huggins wouldn’t be surprised if he needed to give all four freshmen a big uptick in minutes.

“I think our freshmen that we have in our program right now are going to be really good players,” Huggins said.  “I think you can see that they’re starting to get some playing time. We’ve got at least two of the four, probably all four, that are going to see significant minutes next year, I mean Taz Sherman-like minutes.”

Based on what we’ve seen, it appears Huggins is referring to Seth Wilson and Kobe Johnson when he says at least two of the four freshmen. Wilson has really started to come along nicely for West Virginia, as the guard has seen his minutes rise over the last month. The Lorain, Ohio, native caught the coaching staff’s attention during the Baylor game in Waco, when Wilson shot 2-of-3 from three, hitting a buzzer-beater at the end of the first half to get the Mountaineers back into the game. Since then, Wilson has played over 10 minutes in five of the last seven games. Wilson is averaging 2.2 points in 17 games played this season.

Johnson has already seen multiple starts as a Mountaineer, being placed into the starting lineup four times over the course of this season. With an average of nine minutes per game, Johnson has slowly shown his maturity on the floor. Johnson is seemingly hesitant at times, but rarely makes the “freshman” mistake. The other Ohio guard has shown that when he’s going, he can get on a roll. A lot of the times Johnson scores, it is on a self run. During the Kansas State game in Morgantown, Johnson hit back-to-back field goals to cut the deficit. Johnson is averaging 1.6 points on 39 percent shooting from the field.

Huggins did have hope for Jamel King and James Okonkwo to receive ample playing time next season, as West Virginia will lose a lot of their front court. King has appeared in eight games, recording 12 minutes against Texas, in Austin. King recorded his first points as a Mountaineer against TCU, last Monday. Okonkwo has had a crazy first season at West Virginia, as the England native wasn’t supposed to come to campus until 2023. Once he has arrived on campus after reclassifying, Okonkwo has dealt with on and off injures, as Huggins plans to use a medical redshirt on him. Okonkwo has appeared in three games, dunking a ball against Radford.

It will be interesting to see how these freshmen get Sherman-like minutes, with the fifth-year senior averaging 33.9 minutes through 27 games this season. Huggins has a plan and is looking early at his rotation for next season.