MORGANTOWN — It’s very easy today to give a ton of credit to the job Texas’ defense did Saturday in the No. 17 Longhorns’ 74-59 victory over West Virginia at the Erwin Center.
In truth, it can be said the Mountaineers were pretty much beat before they even took the floor, something that hasn’t been the case with the WVU men’s hoops program in a long long time.
It had nothing to do with matchups or injuries, talent levels or recruiting rankings and everything to do with the COVID-19 virus that simply will not leave college basketball alone.
Virus protocols kept Taz Sherman in Morgantown, as it did defensive standout Gabe Osabuohien and freshman guard Kobe Johnson.
Sherman scores nearly 21 points a game, second most in the Big 12.
“Obviously when you play without the best player in the league, it’s going to effect you,” Huggins said. “He’s been the best player in the league so far.”
Now, this is no time to get political. College basketball simply doesn’t care if you believe in the virus or mandates or vaccines or whether you do not.
This is simply to point out we are 22 months removed from the cancelation of the 2019 NCAA tournament and this sport is still very much threatened by COVID.
And that brings with it a ton of frustration, beginning with when the Mountaineers could likely get these players back in the lineup.
“I really don’t know more than you guys do,” Huggins said. “I’ve heard various scenarios. I don’t know which one is the believable one.”
According to the WVU Athletic Communications office, players in COVID protocol must quarantine between 10 and 14 days.
As with anything else pertaining to the virus, that can change by the hour.
Just two weeks ago, the Big 12 still had its forfeit policy in place if a team was unable to meet the roster limitations for a game, but that has since changed.
“You guys are intelligent enough to know that it’s not done at my level,” Huggins said. “It’s done at the conference level with either the athletic directors or the presidents. Guys at my level don’t get a vote.”
With the TCU game scheduled for Monday already postponed, because of the Horned Frogs own virus protocols, the Mountaineers maybe catch a break by not having to play a second time without Sherman and Osabuohien.
WVU (11-2, 0-1 Big 12) now has a week to prepare for Kansas State in Morgantown.
Maybe more than protocols and the scenarios that come with them, what sits as the most frustrating thing with Huggins is he has a group of guys who are getting hurt by following the rules.
“We’ve done everything we can possibly do,” Huggins said. “From our guys taking the booster, our guys have been fantastic. They’ve been fantastic in doing everything we’ve asked of them in terms of the protocols. We go as far as everyone masks up on the plane, even though it’s just us on the plane. They didn’t have to do that, but they do it.”
And yet the Mountaineers were without their top scorer and top defender Saturday.
That’s a frustration level you would hope would have been long gone now. It isn’t. Not even close.
“We’re going to continue to do our job,” Huggins said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. We can’t change it. We’ve got to keep working exceptionally hard.
“In terms of us, we’re going to do the best job we can do. I don’t control those other things. Our guys have been fantastic. They’ve done a great job of making this as easy as it can possibly be, but it is what it is.”
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