Quick Hits: Handling Minutes in Exhibition, Newcomers, Injury Report + More

WVU head coach Darian DeVries meets with the media ahead of Friday's exhibition.

Schuyler Callihan | Oct 17, 2024

West Virginia University head coach Darian DeVries / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

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West Virginia Mountaineers

Thursday morning, West Virginia head men's basketball coach Darian DeVries met with reporters ahead of Friday's exhibition against Charleston.

Here's what he had to say.

What he hopes to get out of exhibition

“I think just a lot of that first game butterflies is what I know we’ll for sure get out. I know our guys are extremely excited to get in the Coliseum and get a chance to play in front of our fans and play somebody else. It’s time for us to get out there and go play. It’ll give us a great opportunity to see where we’re at with some things from an execution standpoint at both ends of the floor. We won’t show a lot, but we’ll play and be pretty free and open.”

If there are any injuries/guys who won’t play

“I think everybody’s in a pretty good spot as long as we get through practice and shoot-around tomorrow we’ll be in good shape there.”

How late additions Haris Elezovic & Abraham Oyeadier have looked

“They’ve been great. They’ve brought great energy to practice, given us some depth in practice, some physicality - that’s been great for us. They were two of the guys that came pretty late so they’re still adjusting a little bit and figuring those things out, but I love just the fact that we’ve got some extra depth in our frontcourt.”

Facing so many top 25 teams this season

“I’ve seen the schedule, it’s a good one. But again that’s why we’re here. We’re excited about it and we’re excited about the challenges in front of us. It’s a very good schedule, both non-conference and league play. We just continue to get ourselves right, put ourselves in the best position to go compete and try to win games.”

Plan for lineups/rotation for the exhibition

“I think the approach is we’re going to approach it to go win the game. You want to try to do that obviously. The second side of it, you’d also like to get everybody on the floor and get them some experience. We’ll see how it goes. There’s been an exhibition game or two where I’ve had to play the starters a little longer than I would’ve liked and then there’s been some where we were able to get all our guys in, get them some great valuable experience.”

Early thoughts on Jayden Stone

“He’s given us a nice little scoring punch off the bench. Again, roles are always in flux a little bit but I like what he can potentially give us as a scoring threat off the bench and he can give it at all three levels. He can get to the rim. He’s got a good, powerful body. He’s got some athleticism. He’s got a good mid-range, a pretty good catch-and-shoot. I think he’s going to be a nice addition for us.”