MORGANTOWN -
Bob Huggins is still getting accustomed to his new office at
West Virginia's practice facility.
The state-of-the-art building opened its doors to the men's
and women's basketball programs toward the end of the season and while he is as
comfortable as can be in the new digs, he realizes he may have forgotten one
key addition to his own space.
"I think the only mistake I made was maybe I didn't
soundproof my office. Their choice of music and mine are a little different,"
Huggins says of the players who are making use of the practice court this
summer. "Our guys are in there all the time."
When he says our guys, he does not just refer to the current
roster, but to plenty of former Mountaineer players as well.
The facility has become a second home to the likes of
Da'Sean Butler, John Flowers and Alex Ruoff and is expected to welcome Joe
Alexander shortly. Familiar names to WVU fans, each athlete is returning to
Morgantown for one reason or another and using the facility to help rehab or
simply get better at their craft.
Each one must be wondering how much different their
experience as a Mountaineer would have been if rather than spending the summers
checking schedules in the Coliseum or the student recreational center, they had
one constant location with everything they could possibly desire to improve
their game.
Their return is no surprise to Huggins, who has grown
accustomed to former players-turned-friends coming back to spend time around
the program and the campus they grew to love and appreciate.
"Guys have always done that," says Huggins. "I think one of
the things that really helped us at Cincinnati was they came back. They were
there during the summer, they would play with our guys, they became mentors to
our guys."
As Huggins prepares for a second season with a young bunch,
that mentoring can certainly come in handy. Knowing that his rising sophomores
– and every member of the team – has consistent access to the sort of players
and people he has graduated from his program gives the head coach some added
peace of mind.
"When Da'Sean Butler sits down and tries to mentor somebody,
they probably ought to listen," Huggins says. "Or Joe Alexander or Alex Ruoff –
you look at the careers those guys had and maybe nobody came further than John
Flowers. I think they've got a lot of good and very positive things to say."
In addition to current and former players, the future of the
Mountaineers will be coming through the doors this summer, too. Not only will
WVU welcome three freshmen to the team, but also a number of recruits, hoping
they will be swayed to commit by the practice facility.
"We've had a whole bunch of people through," Huggins says.
"You've got to be out of your mind to walk out and say, ‘Oh, I wasn't really
all that impressed with that.' It's the best practice facility in America.
There isn't anything better. Kids today seemingly go all over the place to look
and they're not going to find anything that's even close."
It cannot hurt Huggins' cause if those recruits come through
the facility and see two players who were selected in the NBA Draft along with
some familiar names in the world of college basketball.
Butler, Alexander, Flowers and Ruoff are each still working
at professional careers and feel their best place to stay in shape and work in
the gym is in Morgantown.
The next batch of Mountaineers may feel the same way once
they have toured the building.
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