Adam Zagoria, West Virginia News

WEST VIRGINIA HOMECOMING AT MSG

Mountaineer freshman trio and NJ vets return to NYC tonight

by Adam Zagoria

West Virginia plays a road game Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, but it will be a homecoming for several Mountaineers.

Da’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, Kevin Jones, Darryl “Truck” Bryant and Wellington Smith all played high school ball in New York or New Jersey and should have a large fan following when West Virginia takes on Stephen Curry and No. 23 Davidson in the first game of the Jimmy V Classic. No. 6 Texas meets No. 15 Villanova in the nightcap. Both games will be shown on ESPN.

“The game should be packed,” said the 6-foot-9, 205-pound Ebanks, a native of Long Island City, N.Y. who spent the last two seasons at St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Conn. “With me, Truck and Kevin coming back, we all got a lot of people that we know, family and friends, so I’m expecting it to be a nice atmosphere.”

“It’s always good to come back home and play in front of your friends and family, so I’m definitely looking forward to that,” said Jones, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward out of Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High School.

West Virginia will be the underdog against Curry and Davidson. The 6-3 Curry leads Division I in scoring at 31.3 points per game and is coming off a career-high-tying 44-point outburst last Saturday against N.C. State.

“They really run their offense well,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins told WVSports.com. “Curry is a great, great player. I’m really impressed with the way they run the ball.”

All five of the West Virginia locals have played at the Garden before. Butler, Jones, Ebanks and Bryant all competed in the Jordan Brand Classic, Ebanks in the National Game and the others in the Regional Game. Jones and Bryant also both played in the Nike Super Six last January at the Garden.

Butler, who played for Nick Marineillo at Bloomfield Tech, leads the Mountaineers in scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounding (5.7) and was just named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll.

Ebanks decommitted from Indiana after the Kelvin Sampson scandal and ended up at West Virginia, choosing that school over Texas, Miami and Rutgers. After averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists over his final two years at St. Thomas More, he struggled early at West Virginia. He is averaging 6.4 points and 5.3 rebounds.

“I was trying to fit in with the system, basically, and my teammates and the way coach does things,” Ebanks said. “I was doing everything right on the defensive end and the offensive end. I just wasn’t being aggressive on the offensive end, like looking for my shot.”

Huggins told Ebanks to be more aggressive in practice and West Virginia assistant coach Larry Harrison recently had a sit-down with Ebanks to emphasize the message.

The result was a 17-rebound, 10-point performance in Saturday’s win over Cleveland State. Included in that performance was an emphatic two-handed jam off a pass from Alex Ruoff. Ebanks added 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

“I’ll tell you what I like best about Devin Ebanks,” Huggins told WVSports.com. “Devin screwed up the game to start with. He didn’t run our press breaker. He threw the ball in the stands a couple of times. So I took him out of the game. When I took him out, he looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Coach, I know it’s my fault. I want you to know I’m ready. And then he came back and got 17 rebounds.

“That shows me that he will be just fine.”

Said Ebanks: “They said if we’re going to do anything this year, they need me to be a part of that scoring line, so I’m just being more aggressive.”

Huggins is known to yell at his players, but Ebanks said he’s accustomed to it.

“Jere Quinn was my high school coach [at St. Thomas More] so I’m used to that,” Ebanks said. “Whenever Huggs gets on me, I just pay attention to him and try not to do the things he said.”

Jones has put on 15 pounds to get to 230 and is averaging 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds off the bench.

“It’s been a adjustment but I’m getting used to it now,” Jones said. “Speed, quickness, strength,
everybody is just as talented as me, so you have to really work hard for everything you get. It was kind of a struggle at the beginning but I think I’m getting used to the game now.”

Jones has been playing the power forward spot, but hopes to becomes a wing player later in his career.

“I’m just trying to get on the floor right now, just get as much playing time as I can, so whatever Coach Huggins has me playing, I’m happy to play it,” Jones said.

Huggins praised Jones’ effort so far.

“Kevin’s been the most consistent of the three and has really done a good job for us, especially on the defensive end,” Huggins told WVSports.com.

The 6-2, 200-pound Bryant, a Brooklyn native who starred at St. Raymond’s in the Bronx, is averaging 9.4 points and 2.7 assists. He will likely start tonight at point guard because Joe Mazzulla suffered a bruised shoulder last week against Ole Miss.

Bryant, too, has heard from Huggins and has had to learn to adjust to the college game.

“The hardest part is defense,” Bryant said. “That’s the hardest adjustment from high school to college. That’s something [Coach Huggins] has been getting on me about, but I’ve been getting every day in practice.”

Asked if he was bothered by the coach, Bryant said: “I’m used to it. Growing up playing for the Gauchos, I’m used to it.”

As far as defending Curry, Bryant will likely take turns, along with Ebanks, Butler and Ruoff.

“We just came to win the game, and that’s our main goal right now,” Bryant said. “I think all of us will be amped up to play because we’re back home and it’ll be a big win for us to beat a Top 25 team.”

Be Sociable, Share!

•