Huggins "Amazed" at Jalen Bridges Progression

WVU HC Bob Huggins said his redshirt freshman has been "terrific"

Morgantown, WV – Redshirt freshman Jalen Bridges, a native of Fairmont, West Virginia, has taken a different route than most freshmen you hear about across the country, opting for the redshirt in his first season in Morgantown rather than vying for immediate playing time.

Jalen held offers from Indiana, Ohio State, Xavier, and Marquette to name a few, but the original plan was to go to prep school. That however, all changed with a visit to Morgantown in late August and just a few days later he was enrolled at WVU.

“He and his father, Corey, made a great decision to come here and redshirt in lieu of going to a prep school,” said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. “And going to a prep school, he’s going to play against high school kids and coming here, he’s going to play against men.”

Bridges finished his career at Fairmont Senior High School leading his team to four consecutive state championship appearances, winning two, while averaging 21.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game.

Then, we caught a glimpse of Bridges scoring four points in five minutes during the exhibition game against Duquesne in early November. Now, according to Huggins, he appears to be flourishing just five months into his first season.

“He’s getting better and better,” said Huggins. “Shaun (Strength and Conditioning Coach Shaun Brown), I think would say he’s one of the best guys he has in the weight room. That he has gotten so much stronger. He’s getting so much bigger.”

“If he weren’t redshirting and we were going to play our best guys, he would be in the group of our best guys,” added Huggins. “He’s gotten better and better and better. I’ve been amazed, really, on how much better he’s gotten. His attitude towards practice and the way he approaches things has absolutely been terrific.”

Of course, we don’t know what’s in store for the rest of West Virginia’s season and exactly who’s returning next year, but as it stands with seniors, he might be able to fill some of the void on the wing following Haley’s departure.

The Mountaineers are back in action Saturday against Kansas State at 2:00 pm on ESPN2.