Mountaineer Pride

WVU Recruiting Player Profile: Terry Henderson

2012-01-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

Coach Huggins is bringing another solid recruiting class to Morgantown for next season. It's another 3 player class that probably won't be able to equal the contributions from Huggins's 1st class in 2008, which includes seniors Kevin Jones and Truck Bryant. Since then, Huggins has had good recruiting classes, but has had trouble keeping players in Morgantown. Dan Jennings, Dalton Pepper, Noah Cotrill, and Dalton Pepper made up two-thirds of Huggins 2nd and 3rd classes and none are currently with the Mountaineers.

If this year's class can buck that trend, the trio of Elijah Macon, Terry Henderson, and Eron Harris could do special things in Morgantown over the next four years, especially if it can mesh well with Huggins's large class from last year. The headliner of the class is undoubtedly forward and Ohio prep Elijah Macon, but one player a recruiting class or a successful basketball team does not make. I'm personally very excited about another member of the class, guard Terry Henderson. Henderson, given a grade of 89 by ESPN, is their 31st rated shooting guard. Henderson stands at an intriguing 6'4 or 6'5 (depending on the source) but is also very skinny, at 170-175 lbs. Back to my excitement, most of it is fueled from the youtube video below and the fact that Huggins excels at player development.

At this point, Henderson - who is in the middle of playing his senior year at Neuse Baptist Christian School in North Carolina - already excels in one aspect of the game of basketball. Shooting. The kid is a sniper with more than enough range and a smooth, consistent shooting stroke. However, there's more to Henderson than that, which is what stands out to me in this movie. At the very beginning of the movie, Henderson shows a nice turn-around spin move which he finishes with a mid-range fade-away jumper. Fast forward to around :38 and Henderson pulls a nice crossover, step-back and hits another mid-range jumper. A second later, Henderson shows some impressive athleticism getting up to get a rebound and put back.

Overall, the stigma often associated with snipers in college basketball is a lack of athleticism. Henderson doesn't fit that mold. He's not an elite athlete, but he's no slouch either, as evidenced in the youtube video. With some hard work, especially in the weight room, and discipline, Huggins specialty, Henderson has the length and enough quickness to develop into a very good defender on the wing or at the two-guard. However, Henderson's bread-and-butter will be his offense, and I think he will be more than just a sniper. Not immediately, mainly because of Henderson's current lack of strength, but my eyes sees a kid who has a rare feel for a mid-range game and the ball-handling ability to take advantage of it. With proper development, Henderson could become something very special and I expect him to be much better than several players ranked ahead of him by experts. A true diamond in the rough.

Orange Bowl Preview: WVU vs. Clemson

2012-01-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

So far on my blog I've mainly talked about basketball. It is the middle of the basketball season, but more importantly the Mountaineers are set to play their biggest football game of the year in two days. The Mountaineers hope to play in the Big XII next season, but before they have that opportunity, they will represent the Big East in the BCS Orange bowl against ACC winner Clemson.
The match-up has several intriguing story lines. It pits two electric offenses against each other led by two dual-threat quarterbacks. Another story line involves those quarterbacks, as Clemson signal caller Tajh Boyd was one step away from wearing blue and gold instead of orange and white.

I've decided to do a unit-by-unit analysis, with some back story about Tajh Boyd, so without further ado.

Quarterbacks
Geno Smith and Tajh Boyd have several similarities. Both quarterbacks are athletic and mobile, although both prefer to do damage with their arms. In addition both quarterbacks had very good seasons this year leading up to the Orange Bowl. Both Geno and Tajh were also committed to play for coach Bill Stewart at West Virginia University, although neither actually plays for Bill Stewart. While hindsight is 20-20, that development probably helped both players careers. Smith has blossomed his junior year at WVU under new head coach and passing guru Dana Holgerson, while Boyd also had a breakout season as a redshirt sophomore at Clemson.

This year, Smith has put up nearly 4,000 yards in the air (3,978), exactly 400 more yards than Boyd. Smith has done that while completing 65.0% of his passes compared to just 60.5 for Boyd, and both have similar TD/INT ratios, with Smith putting up a 25/7 ratio and Boyd putting up a 31/10 ratio. That gives Geno a statistical edge, especially considering he has also gotten less run support by about 600 yards, meaning the Mountaineer's offense has relied more upon their signal-caller's arm than Clemson has relied on their quarterback's arm.

Furthermore, Smith holds a physical edge over Boyd. Both are blessed with good athleticism that allows them to extend plays, but Smith is 2 inches taller, allowing him to see over his offensive line. In addition, this is Smith's second season starting, meaning he is more experienced and thus more poised, an impressive and noticeable trait about Geno Smith.
Edge: WVU

Offensive Line

The Quarterback is often regarded as the most important player on the field at any given time, and it's true that he touches the ball on virtually every snap. However, no quarterback would be able to do anything without help from their offensive line. Looking at the match up, the WVU line has looked shoddy all year long. The numbers back that up, as the Mountaineers have only managed 3.8 yards per attempt on the ground. In addition, Geno has been sacked 26 times. Clemson, however, hasn't been much better, only average 4.0 yards per attempt on the ground and have actually given up more sacks at 28, although Clemson has played one more game, so per game WVU's offensive line has given up more sacks. In addition, the defenses WVU has faced have not been as talented as the ACC defenses Clemson has faced this year, with the exception of LSU, a team that was unable to sack Geno Smith. Still, Clemson doesn't have offense issues like WVU.

Edge: Clemson

Skill Positions (RB/WR/TE)

Both teams have excellent quarterbacks, but the wealth at the skill positions for both teams, especially at wide receiver, is enough to make virtually any school jealous. For WVU, it's Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and Ivan McCartney at wide receiver. Clemson's trio features names such as tight end Dwayne Allen, DeAndre Hopkins and freshman sensation Sammy Watkins, both wide receivers . WVU's leading rusher is the diminutive Dustin Garrison, while Shawne Alston, who has 10 rushing touchdowns, offers a change of pace. Clemson has relied on the quick, but sturdy Andre Ellington, who rushed for over 1,000 yards this season.

Clemson has a slightly better stable of running backs, led by Ellington. In addition, their receiver trio looks better overall than WVU's by the slightest of margin. Mountaineers Austin and Bailey are probably the best duo, especially considering both had 1,000 yards receiver, but Sammy Watkins will be the best offensive player on the field. Just a freshman, Watkins is explosive and should be a handful for the WVU secondary come Wednesday. However, the wild card is DeAndre Hopkins. Not necessarily because of his specific impact on the field, but if he will even be on the field at all. Unfortunately, Hopkins was recently injured in a car accident. Recent news indicates that Hopkins should be ready to go in the Orange Bowl, but his health status, which isn't a certainty, is a knock on Clemson's skill position potency.
Edge: Tie

Defensive Line/LB
The defensive line and linebacker match up is similar to comparing apples to oranges. WVU plays a 3-3-5 stack, meaning their linebackers are more important in both stopping the run and rushing the passer. Conversely, Clemson runs a 4-3 scheme, meaning their defensive ends are geared to rush the passer and their interior line men are set up to stop the rush. Here, the advantage on the line goes to Clemson led by athletic defensive Andre Branch. The Mountaineers get the edge at linebacker, led by Najee Goode and Bruce Irvin. Clemson's linebackers are also good, however, and the Mountaineers line has struggled at times this year stopping the run or getting pressure on the quarterback.

Edge: Clemson

Defensive Secondary

Looking at the stats, it's pretty even. WVU has allowed less points in the air and less yard per game, with both teams allowing right around 200 yards per game passing. On the flip side, Clemson has allowed a lower percentage of completions allowed this season, with both teams hovering around 57%. In addition, both teams have average exactly one pick a game. The Mountaineers have the best playmaker on the field, Keith Tandy, an All-American last year. Far from a pure cover corner, Tandy does however have the instincts to put himself in a position to make interceptions, which could be crucial come Wednesday.
Edge: WVU

Final Prediction
Overall that's two edges to WVU and two to Clemson with one tie. It should be an exciting close game. I'll make sure I pick my Mountaineers and I'll say the final score is 28-24 WVU. I expect to see Geno Smith's poise come into play as he makes a big play late to lead WVU to a third BCS Bowl win and presumably their last in the Big East.

WVU: This Year's UConn Huskies?

2011-12-29T20:55:00.001-08:00

Will this be WVU come March?

In my previous post, I attempted to peer into the future of WVU basketball. It was not a knock on this year’s team, which is very good. However, this year’s team is also very young, which according to conventional wisdom, limits how well a team can do, especially come March. However, last year’s National Champions, the University of Connecticut Huskies also defied conventional wisdom on their path to cutting down the nets in March.

During the Mountaineer’s victory over Villanova, the announcers pointed out something interesting. While discussing the fact that the Mountaineers were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Big East this year, it was mentioned that the UConn Huskies were also picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Big East last year. It got me thinking, so I decided to look for other similarities between this year’s WVU basketball team and last year’s UConn basketball team.

Last year, the Huskies were led by their unquestioned leader, junior guard Kemba Walker. The diminutive kid from the Bronx came to UConn with lighting quick reflexes and a great handle. Going into his junior year, Kemba developed a deadly jump shot and his game took off. Along with Kemba, the best player in the nation last year, the Huskies relied on key contributions from big man Alex Oriakhi and freshman Tyler Lamb and Shabazz Napier.

The Mountaineers have some striking similarities. Like UConn, they are a young team that will have to count on freshman to be major contributors. However, the team will ultimately rely on its upperclassman, much like UConn relied on Walker. To begin to match Kemba Walker, I look at another diminutive guard, Truck Bryant. Bryant isn’t nearly as quick as Walker, and doesn’t have quite the handles or jumpshot, but he’s shown vast improvement this year like Kemba did from his sophomore to junior year.

Capped by a 34 point performance against Villanova, Truck is off to a hot start this year. He’s not putting up Kemba Walker numbers, but he’s averaging over 6 points more per game this year compared to last. He’s not doing it by just jacking up shots either; Truck’s overall shooting percentage is up a significant 8% and his 3 point percentage is up 3.3%. Truck is also getting to the line two more times per game. His only real negative development is his turnovers have increased a bit to three per game, compared to an average in the low 2’s his last three years, but his assists are up slightly too.

Luckily, Truck won’t have to carry the whole load himself. In fact, he’s not even the Mountaineers best player. That distinction belongs to Senior Forward Kevin Jones. Jones, who excited as a freshman and sophomore because of his ability to shoot the three as a big man (40% his sophomore year) has seemingly lost that ability. He’s only shooting 20% from behind the arc this year, but he’s made up for it around the basket. Jones, already a prolific rebounder, especially on the offensive end, has turned himself into an absolute machine. This year KJ is averaging a stellar 20.4 points and 11.5 rebounds a game, buoyed by shooting 56% from the floor. Junior Forward Deniz Kilicli has also stepped up his game this year. The Turkey native has nearly doubled his scoring from 6.6 points per game last year to 11.1 points per game this year. Additionally, the big man has looked much better on defense and he’s also slightly improved his shooting percentage, meaning he’s gotten more effective in more minutes rather than less effective.

Oh and one fun fact. The Huskies actually did only two things last year exceptionally well. First, they were 20th in the country in block percentage at 9.2%. So far this year, the Mountaineers don't quite measure up, as they are only 74th in the country at 7.4%. The other thing the Huskies did very well? Offensive rebounding. Last year, they finished at 9th in the country in rebounding percentage at 38.7%. So far this year, the Mountaineers came in at 6th in the country at 40.2%. Just saying.

From there, it will be up to a few of the newcomers to step up and be the Moutaineer’s Tyler Lamb and Shabazz Napier. JUCO transfer Dominic Rutledge how shown promise. Point guard Jabarie Hinds looks like a young Kemba Walker with his quickness and ball handling ability, although his shot isn’t up to par just yet. Backcourt mates with the same last name, Gary Browne and Aaron Browne have impressed at times. Small forward Keaton Miles looks good athletically and could become a lockdown defender in time. Watch for a few of these guys to really blossom in the spring under Coach Huggins, and if they do, maybe I’ll be mistaken about looking forward into 2013-2014. Maybe this year is the year.

Crystal Ball: WVU Basketball Roster 2013 - 2014

2011-12-28T21:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight I watched the Mountaineer's come out on top against a solid, albeit unranked, Villanova team led by a career night from Senior Truck Bryant. This win came on the heels of a near-win against an undefeated, top 10 Baylor teams. I expect the team to make the NCAA Tournament, and hopefully they will make a nice run in March, but on paper this doesn't look like a Final Four team. Now it must be pointed out that at this point in the season last year, UConn and Butler weren't sexy picks to go to the Final Four, but the point still stands that this Mountaineer squad lacks the experience, and probably the size down low to be a serious contender come March.

When you look at the 2009-2010 squad that did make the final four, it looked like a perfect storm, even preseason. Da'Sean Butler was the team's best player and unquestioned leader. Huggins highly regarded recruiting class of Ebanks, Jones, and Bryant all had a year under their belt. Wellington Smith and John Flowers both improved, allowing them to be significant contributors. Joe Mazzulla returned the team relatively healthy.

Looking forward, the next time it looks favorable that a perfect storm will brew in Morgantown will be the 2013-2014 season. Below is a projected roster, hopefully projecting Anthony Bennett (link to his ESPN recruiting profile here) to sign with the Mountaineers this spring, and then assuming he doesn't enter the NBA after his freshman year. Another important addition is transfer Aaric Murray. With this roster, the Mountaineers should have plenty of depth at every position, and plenty of experience with 2 seniors and 6 juniors, with all of the juniors being a freshman this year.

Point Guard
Jabarie Hinds - JR
Gary Browne - JR

Shooting Guard
Aaron Brown - JR
Terry Henderson - SO
Eron Harris - SO

Small Forward
Anthony Bennett - SO
Keaton Miles - JR
Tommie McCune - JR

Power Forward
Elijah Macon - SO
Kevin Noreen - SR
Brandon Watkins - FR
Nathan Adrian - FR

Center

Aaric Murray - SR
Pat Forsythe - JR

Elijah Macon, Terry Henderson, and Eron Harris are the Mountaineer's three current commits in basketball.

Welcome to Mountaineer Pride

2011-12-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Mountaineer Pride, a new blog dedicated to West Virginia Football and Men's Basketball. I'll try and shed light on the two teams, recent news about them, and especially on recruiting that will make our athletics programs great into the future. Personally it's especially exciting to be a Mountaineer as we transition into being part of the Big XII conference.