Huggins Hints at a Bigger Role for James Okonkwo

The young big has given West Virginia some quality minutes lately.

At the beginning of the season, WVU head coach Bob Huggins felt pretty good about the depth in the frontcourt with Jimmy Bell Jr. leading the way and Mohamed Wague and James Okonkwo as options off the bench.

Now that we're at about the halfway point of the season, Huggins is searching, hoping for one of those two guys off the bench to become more consistent so that Bell can not be as fatigued late in games. Not to mention, the drop-off in production from Bell to the bench is a rather large one. If/when Bell gets in foul trouble, the Mountaineers have a rough time keeping their head above water in the paint.

To this point, Wague has typically been the first guy in the game in place of Bell, but that could be changing soon. 

During his postgame interview Saturday night with WVU play-by-play announcer, Tony Caridi, Huggins hinted at giving James Okonkwo more of an opportunity.

"James has been limping around with a bad leg. But I thought James gave us pretty good effort. And maybe what we need to do is spend a lot more time with James and not as much time with other people."

Wague had arguably his worst outing in the Old Gold & Blue picking up three fouls in just four minutes of action. The foul trouble caused Huggins to turn to Okonkwo, who chipped in six points, four rebounds, and a block.

If this leg injury that Okonkwo has doesn't turn into a bothersome, lingering issue, he could become a huge factor in the second half of the season. Prior to suffering a unique foot injury a year ago, Huggins was surprised by where the youngster was when he first arrived and thought he would have been able to contribute as a true freshman at just 17 years old.

"He shocked me. He was a lot better than what I saw on film," said Huggins. "The way he was playing before he got hurt, he was going to play. He's quicker off the floor than our other guys. The plan all along was to redshirt him. That's what his dad wants and that was kind of his mindset going in."

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