Quick Hits: Practice Begins, Newcomers, Early Signs, Injury Update + More

WVU basketball has officially returned. Some news and notes from the start of practice.

Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

The West Virginia Mountaineers held their first official practice on Monday under the new regime and on Tuesday afternoon, head coach Darian DeVries spent a half hour or so with the media to offer some early thoughts on the group.

Strengths of the team

“I feel like our identity as an offense is getting better. Ball movement has really improved, shot selection, those types of things. And then defensively, with all of the new guys and concepts, and terminology, I think we’re starting to figure out some of the positioning that we’re looking for.”

Additions of Haris Elezovic and Abraham Oyeadier

“Haris and Abraham we added late in the process, but much-needed. We’re hoping they can find a way to give us some minutes. Even more importantly, I think it’s really added to our depth in the front line for practice to be able to compete at a higher level now that we have four guys there.”

What he learned about the team in Italy

“On the basketball floor, I liked the way they came together and played. I think the three games were all a little bit different. They did what they needed to do in terms of playing well and winning the game fairly handily. Got to play a lot of guys that got to play a ton of minutes. That’s the reason you take those trips.”

Injury update on Joseph Yesufu

“Yeah, he’s been participating in practice. He’s been full speed. You have to also remember he’s been out for eight months, so he’s still working his way back even though he’s been back for a few weeks. That process is kind of open-ended on how long that will take for him to feel like he’s back to 100%, but he is out there and working his way to that point.”

The non-conference schedule

“We made sure we challenged ourselves right away in our first year here. But no, it’s a good schedule. It’s a good non-conference schedule and we know what the league schedule is going up to 20 games. We understand that in order to be successful, we’re going to have to be really good in certain areas and those will be the things we continue to focus on.”

How freshman forward Jonathan Powell has looked

“He’s done some really good things for us. Like most incoming freshmen, he’ll have a really good week and then a week where he makes some of those mistakes. What I love about him is his approach every single day he just wants to get better. He wants to try to be great and when you have someone willing to take that mindset every day, those mistakes are a lot easier to overlook. He’s doing some really nice things and I think he’s going to have a good freshman year for us if he continues with that mindset.”

Handling Tucker DeVries’ return to play

“I think right now for the most part you let him play and you just got to be smart about the things you do. Maybe he takes one or two less reps in a rebounding drill. It’s just like anyone coming off an injury, you just have to make sure you’re being calculated on some of the drills you have them do or don’t do.”

Thoughts on Detroit transfer Jayden Stone

“He averaged 20 points a game last year at Detroit. The year before that, I think it was around 15. He’s figuring out how he can best utilize his talents on the offensive end. I like what he brings because he’s got some athleticism, he can get to the rim. He’s got a good mid-range, he can shoot the three. As it’s gone on, he’s getting more and more comfortable with what we’re trying to do on both ends of the floor and I anticipate him playing a good role for us this year.”

Thoughts on Ofri Naveh

“He continues to work hard. Great kid. Gives us all he has. Like everybody, he’s learning a new system and things so he’s working through that as well. But I’ve enjoyed how he approaches it every single day.”

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