Will WVU Be Forced to Play Small Ball in Year One Under DeVries?

West Virginia may have to go guard heavy in 2024-25.

It's far from ideal, but sometimes you just have to play the hand your dealt and West Virginia fans know all too well about that, unfortunately.

Where am I going with this?

Well, as of today (May 20th) West Virginia has one true center one the roster, Eduardo Andre. Examining the few remaining options in the transfer portal, there's much to be desired. There are maybe a couple of guys worth considering, but you have to balance the fine line of adding quality talent versus adding just for number's sake. You only have so many scholarships to work with and you don't want to just start taking guys, eating up a spot for future recruiting cycles.

So, what can Darian DeVries and his staff do to work around the shortage of bigs? There are two options, in my opinion.

You either A) fully commit to small ball by adding three guards or B) grab a physical four who can play the five and add two guards.

Either way, the Mountaineers are going to end up playing some version of small ball in the frontcourt and that's okay. There have been several teams throughout WVU's affiliation in the Big 12 that have had success playing undersized. I immediately think of 2016-17 Kansas and Baylor's 2020-21 national championship team.

I'm in no way comparing this West Virginia roster to those two squads. Just simply pointing out that playing small ball doesn't mean you're always working at a disadvantage. If you can shoot the three ball well and consistently get into passing lanes on the other end, you're going to have a chance. They already have the length to be a problem defensively, they just don't have size to handle one on one's in the post. Javon Small and Tucker DeVries provide perimeter shooting, but they're going to need more if they want to compete in the Big 12.

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