West Virginia men's basketball coach Bob Huggins says it's going to be a long season in Morgantown.
And he means that in a good way.
With newcomers Devin Ebanks (6-foot-9), Kevin Jones (6-8) and Dee Proby (6-10), joining returners John Flowers, Da'Sean Butler, and Wellington Smith (all 6-7) along the front line, Huggins thinks he's stumbled upon something big, though he admits it still might not be big enough.
''The thing that stands out about Devin and Kevin is they're so long. They've got the wing span of a 7-footer,'' Huggins said during a conference call Monday morning that was primarily set up to promote Friday night's Mountaineer Madness at the WVU Coliseum (gates open at 8:30, event begins at 9:30, admission is free). ''They get to balls. They make some plays defensively because of their length and rebound some balls because of their length.''
''Hopefully that will present some problems.''
The Mountaineers will certainly be looking for ways to be problematic as they push forward without Joe Alexander, their most athletic and skilled player on either side of the court last season.
Alexander took his game to the NBA as the No. 8 pick in the draft's first round to the Milwaukee Bucks, making what was already going to be a young team that much younger.
Because the frontliners on the roster have a combined five starts at WVU among them, Huggins figures it might take a while, which is good news for Elon, Longwood and Delaware State, West Virginia's first three opponents.
''We're going to have to live with some of the mistakes they make early on and give them playing time because they're going to be valuable players for us down the road,'' Huggins said. ''They're going to play a lot of minutes. That's the good thing about our team. I think we're a lot deeper than we were a year ago.''
Last season, Huggins rarely gave any more than six or seven guys significant minutes in a given game. That will change.
''I think we're going to play nine or 10 guys on a consistent basis,'' he said.
In everyday life, being 6-8 or 6-9 is huge. In the Big East, it's just average.
''I like our team,'' Huggins said. ''We're just small. For our league we're just small. It's the same problems we had last year.''
Only last year, they had a dominant scorer in Alexander, who averaged more than 25 points from the first of March through the Sweet 16, a span of nine games almost exclusively against NCAA Tournament teams.
''I think we're going to have four or five guys (score) in double figures,'' Huggins said. ''I don't think we have a guy that can do what Joe did at the end of the year.''
Butler (12.9 points per game) and sharpshooter Alex Ruoff (13.8) both did that last year. With Joe Mazzulla taking over at point guard, it's easy to expect his averages of 18.5 minutes and 5.8 points will increase significantly, if not double. Smith could be the fourth double-figure score if there is one. He averaged 5.2 points per game and led the team in blocked shots last season, which was a good thing and a bad thing, as he was seemingly in perpetual foul trouble.
Huggins said he thought that might have been because of poor conditioning and noted things like that won't be an issue with new strength and conditioning coach Andy Kettler on board.
''A positive addition to our program,'' Huggins said.
Huggins, who called in while on the road, said he's ready to get back on the floor.
''Actually, I'm ready to spend two consecutive days in Morgantown,'' he said.
He'll get that chance soon, as the Mountaineers open the season Nov. 15.