WVU’s Derek Culver Still Working To Get Legs Under Him After COVID Pause

West Virginia forward Derek Culver was enjoying a breakout junior season when the Mountaineers had to take two weeks off due to COVID-19 protocols earlier this month. While all of WVU’s 11 scholarship players have been available in the two games since returning, several have not been in perfect “game shape” as WVU coach Bob Huggins has said.

Culver is one of those players, only returning to practice the Friday before WVU’s first game back against Kansas State last Saturday.

“As you guys could see, I wasn’t really myself the first two games,” Culver said Friday morning. “I can feel that I’m coming back but it most definitely took a toll on me.”

WATCH: WVU’s Derek Culver and Jordan McCabe Ahead of Clash with Florida

Culver is averaging 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season but had just eight points and four rebounds in that first game against the Wildcats.

“When I came back I just wasn’t myself, I could feel when I was going up and down the court, it was like my legs weren’t really under me,” Culver explained. “[Post play] all goes into my legs. If I don’t have my legs, my shots aren’t going to fall short.”

Culver shot 2 of 8 against KSU and fouled out in 21 minutes on the court. He bounced back a bit in Monday’s victory over Texas Tech, scoring 10 points with nine rebounds, but still only played 18 minutes.

“He just wasn’t playing strong, he was playing straight up and down,” Huggins said. “Derek is so powerful when he’s in an athletic stance. There’s a reason why shortstops don’t play baseball with their legs crossed or their hands on their hips. You have to be able to move and in Derek’s case he’s got to be able to move and, in a lot of instances, move several people. So it’s important that’s he’s in an athletic stance.”

WATCH: WVU’s Bob Huggins Previews Saturday’s Home Game Against Florida

“As he and I have talked about, he looked like the old Derek rather than the new Derek. And I like the new Derek a lot better than the old Derek,” Huggins said.

With four days off between Monday’s game against TTU and Saturday’s match with Florida, Culver has had time to work back into his usual self.

“I’ve just got to keep playing and work through it, but I can feel myself coming back gradually,” Culver said. “I just have to rep everything out and once I’m able to do that I’ll be alright.”

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Friday afternoon that Culver was selected as one of 10 finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabar Center of the Year Award. Culver was named to the watch list for the award prior to the start of the season and remains as one of 10 finalists along with 2020 winner Luka Garza from Iowa, Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn and Western Kentucky’s Charles Bassey, among others. Five finalists for the award will be announced in February.