Can Seth Wilson Become the 3rd Scorer WVU Has Desperately Needed?

The true freshman showed some potential in Tuesday's win.

For essentially the 2021-22 season to this point, WVU has struggled on the offensive end of the floor. Much of that can be attributed to not having enough consistent shot makers. Everyone knew that Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil would be the focal point of the offense, including WVU's opponents. Teams started guarding McNeil tightly not giving him much room to get open and when Sherman was out, it showed how badly this team needed someone to step up.

Jalen Bridges and Malik Curry have each had some games where they picked up some of the slack in the scoring department, but neither one has done it consistently. When you lose seven straight, typically you want to shake things up a bit and see if a new mix of guys work better together. Head coach Bob Huggins took Kedrian Johnson and Isaiah Cottrell out of the starting five and inserted Pauly Paulicap and freshman guard Kobe Johnson. While the new starting five got some attention, it was the spark provided from Seth Wilson off the bench that came as a surprise. 

Wilson played just 12 minutes in the game, but picked up seven points on 3/4 shooting from the field, helping WVU to a comfortable lead early. 

"He played great in the first half," Huggins said of Wilson. "I just got him out because he kind of took an early shot. It was a good shot, it wasn't a bad shot, I just wanted those other guys, the guys that have some experience to finish the game out."

If you've been watching Huggins' press conferences religiously, you are aware that he has been very complimentary of Wilson and has been trying to find ways to get him in the game along with some of the other freshmen.

"They've practiced well. You know, it's like we've talked about before. It's hard to get those older guys out. They're getting better and better. I just think they need some time. They need a little time to grow up. They're going to be good."

Considering the rotations Huggins has gone with recently, it's hard to imagine that Wilson will play enough minutes to really evolve into that role of a third scorer this season. That said, his play will likely give him more opportunities down the final stretch and there will be times where WVU needs him to contribute on the offensive end.

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