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LOCATION: Morgantown, WV
CONFERENCE: Big East
LAST SEASON: 10-19 (.344)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 4-14 (12th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Mountaineers
COLORS: Blue and Gold
HOMECOURT: WVU Coliseum (14,000)
COACH: Gale Catlett (West Virginia '63)
record at school 400-235 (21 years)
career record 524-279 (27 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Drew Catlett (Randolph-Macon '85)
Larry Van Eman (Wichita State '62)
Lester Rowe (West Virginia '85)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 13-12-21-24-10
RPI (last 5 years) 119-125-44-39-172
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Gale Catlett finally has some breathing room. Maybe. There's no doubt his 1999-00 roster offers him more options all over the court. After suffering through a season that produced just 10 victories and plenty of agitation. Catlett can play big if he wants. Or small. Or fast. He just doesn't know whether he can play at home. Good old WVU Coliseum has an asbestos problem. The arena roof is covered with it, and while this hasn't been a problem the last 20 years or so, the EPA has decided that the awful stuff needs to be removed. West Virginia begs to differ. It believes the asbestos won't begin flaking and joining the populous' air supply for at least six (and probably many more) months. Let us play this season, the school asks, and we'll clean the place out. No more asbestos. Honest. The EPA doesn't quite like that timetable. It wants the clean-up to begin yesterday. So, part of Catlett's summer was spent scouting out places his team can call home in the event some say certainty the school loses its battle with the EPA. The Mountaineers could play in Charleston. Or Wheeling. Or even the dinky 5,000-seat Feaster Center at Fairmont College. It all depends on the date, although we'd love to see defending national champion Connecticut have to find its way from Storrs to Fairmont in a snowstorm. Do you get the impression Catlett is getting too old for this? Well clear of his 500th career victory, Catlett is on the verge of being deemed a state landmark. Every year he tees it up again, adapting to whatever league the Mountaineers happen to be in that season and (usually) fashioning a club capable of making a serious NCAA Tournament run. Last year was an exception. After winning two NCAA games the previous season with a senior-laden club that surprised practically everybody, West Virginia sagged to 12th in the Big East, almost making Catlett who picked his team last before the season look sagacious. Injury played a role, as did academic troubles. But so did a lack of talent and size. Face it, WVU just wasn't that good last year. But the old coach is nothing if not resilient, and he and his staff hit the recruiting trails and added five new players. The Mountaineers will also welcome back 6-9 center Jamar Gaither, who missed all but five games last year with a broken foot. Although there have been some defections (guard Javis Johnson was suspended and transferred away, and point man Jarett Kearse has been declared ineligible and isn't in school), the Mountaineers should be improved.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH B
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES C
Coach Gale Catlett and his staff have done a good job addressing their needs by surrounding Marcus Goree with help at all positions. That should end the double- and triple teams and give the senior a chance to be a Big East star. He will certainly benefit from the presence of Jamar Gaither and Calvin Bowman inside, while Keith Kincade will fortify the Mountaineers' perimeter immediately. Tim Lyles may be a freshman, but he is an exciting one. Even if Catlett is wrong in his two-and-gone assessment, Lyles should be a highly productive player during his career in Morgantown and brings much-needed help to the point, where Jarett Kearse is gone. The shooting-guard position is a little shaky, although some combination of Lionel Armstead, Kincade and Kent Dennis should work. Add in solid complements like Chris Moss, Brooks Berry and John Oliver, and there is plenty of depth on the team. The big problem comes if this group must forge an identity as a nomadic tribe, moving from building to building while the asbestos clean-up takes place. It's one thing to take an experienced group on a season-long road trip and quite another to subject a team with so many new components to a year like that. West Virginia is moving ahead, but its 1999-2000 progress could well depend on where it gets to play. |
"At least we have some people to choose from," Catlett said. "But I don't see how Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, Steve Lappas and Mike Jarvis can say, 'Better keep an eye on West Virginia.' Maybe they're right. If you're going to pick us in the bottom two or three in the league, you had better be cautious." One of the reasons for Catlett's optimism is 6-8 senior forward Marcus Goree (16.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 50 assists, 35 steals, 40 blocked shots, .506 FG), a second-team all-league selection last year who stepped up his production considerably and became one of the league's premier players. More of the same is forecast this season, although Goree won't have to play 35 minutes a game and should have much more help. Not that he needs much. "He had a great year for us, even though he was double- and triple-teamed," Catlett said. "We had nobody else to go to. He's a 6-8 athletic kid who can get points in transition, pass it and score inside or out. When he's on the court, people will try to do things to him, and that should make it easier for others." Unlike last year, when senior guard Elton Scott and Kearse were the only other scoring options for WVU, there will be some more weapons in the arsenal, and we're not talking about the Mountain Man's upgrading his weapon from a musket to an AK-47. Catlett had hoped 6-9 Calvin Bowman (San Jacincto JC/Erasmus HS/Brooklyn, N.Y.) would be ready last year, but shaky grades sidelined him for the year. Catlett likens the 220-pound junior to Marcus Camby, because he can block shots with his long reach and help make the middle of WVU's defense a little less hospitable than last season, when rivals made 45 percent of their field-goal tries. He may not be as strong as Goree, who goes 230 and is quite a physical specimen, but Bowman will help right away. Catlett hopes Gaither is ready for immediate action, too. His broken foot is healed, but now his waistline is the problem. Gaither ballooned to more than 270 pounds while sidelined, and though the junior is 6-9, that's too much freight to carry. In five games last year, he averaged 2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds, while shooting .714 from the field. A junior who played at Butler County (Kan.) Community College after leaving Northwestern High School in Greenbelt, Md., Gaither provides some much-needed interior bulk. Although he can't be expected to score consistently in double figures, he will fill a huge void. "He's a big, strong horse," Catlett said. "He can play with his back to the hoop. But he needs to get down to 255 or 260. Then, he can run the floor." Those three will probably start, but there is some talent in reserve, too. Chris Moss (5.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg) showed some flashes during his freshman season. The 6-8 sophomore had to play the pivot last year, something for which he isn't suited, even at a sturdy 221 pounds. He will move back to the wing this season and should be a valuable reserve. Expect 6-9 sophomore John Oliver (1.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg) to help out at the four and five spots. A 6-11 freshman, Ales Chan (Fork Union Military Academy/Prague, Czech Republic) joins the team also, but is viewed as a project and shouldn't be expected to contribute much right away. He averaged 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds last year. Wing backup will come from 6-5 freshman Keith Kincade (Compton Dominguez HS/Norwalk, Calif.) and 6-6 freshman Josh Yeager (Philip Barbour HS/Belington, W.Va.). Kincade is a slasher who started on three California Division II title teams, including the '98-99 club that finished the year ranked fifth in the nation by USA Today. Last year, he averaged 14.2 points and 6.1 rebounds and erupted for 29 points and 11 rebounds in the state title game. Kincade can handle and pass well, but Catlett looks for him to contribute early on defense as an active member of the Mountaineers' press. He will, however, get a chance to fight his way into the starting lineup, thanks to his superior physical skills. Yeager is an early signee who averaged 29.0 points and 13.0 rebounds last year during an all-state season. Though talented, Yeager is not expected to take minutes away from Moss or Kincade this year. Rounding out the frontcourt picture is 6-6 walk-on senior Duane Lewis (0.8 ppg, 0.0 rpg, five appearances). The loss of Kearse hurts, because he is a solid distributor, strong defender and able rebounder. But Catlett doesn't seem to be weeping about his point-guard position, thanks to the arrival of 5-11 freshman Tim Lyles (Mt. Zion Christian (N.C.) Academy/Dunbar HS/Baltimore, Md.). The coach practically gushes about the newcomer's potential. "Everything I hear about Lyles is that he's going to play two years here and then go to the NBA," Catlett said, flashing the kind of hyperbole we've heard from him before (see Shaw, Zain). "I hope that's right. He's a city league player who starred in the AAU ranks and did a great job at Mt. Zion. He's not a typical freshman kid. I hate to turn things over to a freshman point guard, but I'm going to do it. I think he's the real deal." Lyles averaged 21.2 points, 7.2 assists and 2.1 steals last year at Mt. Zion, which finished the year 23-4 and ranked 13th in the USA Today poll. Lyles is a quick penetrator who can set up teammates or get his own and has the instincts to be a good perimeter defender. He had better be, because Kearse (12.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 124 assists, 40 steals) did not enroll in school this year and won't be playing. Backup point help will be provided by 5-11 senior Brad McMillian (1.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.4 apg, 6.4 mpg). The shooting-guard spot is wide open after Scott's departure. The main candidate is 5-11 sophomore Lionel Armstead (6.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg, .364 3 PT), whom Catlett terms "a two guard in a point's body." Armstead can score, but pairing him with Lyles would give the Mountaineers a sub-six-foot backcourt. That's where 6-3 freshman Kent Dennis (Grover Cleveland HS/North Hollywood, Calif.) comes in. Dennis is a pure shooter who averaged 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 5.0 steals last year. Dennis shot 42 percent from three-point range and was a dead-eye (86 percent) free-throw shooter. Dennis can play either guard spot, sees the floor well and has excellent defensive abilities. He may not start, but he will play. So will 6-6 junior Brooks Berry (4.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg), who must improve his three-point shooting (.279) if he is to fend off the challenges of the newcomers. Jason D'Alesio (0.6 ppg, 0.1 rpg), a 6-1 senior walk-on, rounds out the backcourt contingent.
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