MORGANTOWN -
The West Virginia University men's basketball is in a
similar situation to where it was a year ago. WVU Head Coach Bob Huggins is
looking at a shorter bench now than he did at the beginning of the season.
First, freshman forward Pat Forsythe suffered a knee injury
that caused Huggins to say WVU will seek an injury redshirt for him.
Redshirt-freshman forward Kevin Noreen broke his ankle about two weeks ago and
will miss the rest of the season.
That leaves West Virginia with a three-man rotation of bigs
that includes Kevin Jones, Deniz Kilicli and Dominique Rutledge.
However, Forsythe was back in uniform and warming up with
the team prior to Wednesday night's game against Notre Dame. It created the
thought of the possibility that Forsythe might return this season.
"He's not ready to play and he's not going to be able to
play," Huggins said. "It's hard for those guys to sit there, so you try to
throw them a bone and let them dress for the game rather than sit there and not
dress."
Forsythe is healthy enough to take his rehab to the next
level, which includes returning to the practice floor. Forsythe is not back
practicing with the team, but he is with his teammates during practice.
"He's not back at practice," Huggins said. "He dresses, he
goes out there and does some rehab things. But, anybody who paid attention saw
he is limping noticeably and he is not well. It is going to take some time for
him to get well. At the same time, he's got to do his rehab and the best time
to do that is during practice."
Forsythe will likely be dressed and warming up with his
teammates prior to Saturday's game against Louisville, but do not look for him
to make his way onto the floor once the game begins.
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