By JIM BUTTA MORGANTOWN — Veteran West Virginia coach Bob Huggins begins his second decade as the leader of the Mountaineers as the third winningest active basketball in the country with a team that was ranked No. 11 win the preseason polls came out. So far this season, they are off an ...
By JIM BUTTA MORGANTOWN — Mike Carey enters his 17th season as head coach of West Virginia University with a penchant for setting new standards and taking his program to heights not believed possible before. “Right now, I like what our starters are doing,” Carey said. “But, we need a bench.” Coming off the program’s first Big 12 Tournament championship and the loss of senior center Lanay Montgomery to the WNBA, the former Salem International men’s head coach had Mountaineer Nation looking forward to the beginning of this season. And, why not? The Mountaineers ...
By SHAWN RINE WEST LIBERTY — All that fretting that Ben Howlett did after taking over for the legendary Jim Crutchfield, seems to have been unwarranted. West Liberty got off to a 4-0 start while averaging 124.8 points a game, pressuring the opposition into submission. If that sounds familiar, it should. The Hilltoppers, who entered the season No. 17 in the NCAA Division II rankings, are up to their old tricks again. “We’ve said in the last couple years that we were going to get back to pressuring teams, but we haven’t done it,” Howlett said. “I like our energy and ...
By SHAWN RINE WEST LIBERTY — Kyle Cooper has been in the West Liberty women’s basketball program for four-plus seasons now and is keenly aware of the expectations. In his first year as the head coach of the Hilltoppers, he recognizes it’s now his job to make sure they are met. “Going .500 around here is not acceptable ... not to me, not to the school, not to the administration,” Cooper said. “We have some kids who will look at the schedule and say ‘we should win that game’ and that kind of stuff, but I have told them not to do those kinds of things. “We have to ...
GREENVILLE, Pa. — A season after posting its first winning record against league opponents since 2011-12, the Bethany College women’s basketball team was selected to finish sixth in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Perennial league favorite Thomas More, playing in its final season as a member of the PAC, was chosen to win the conference title. Washington & Jefferson came in second, while Saint Vincent, Waynesburg and Grove City rounded out the top five. Bethany returns four starters from last season’s team that went 10-8 in the PAC, 12-14 overall ...
GREENVILLE, Pa. —The Bethany College men’s basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Saint Vincent was tabbed as the preseason favorite after reaching the PAC Tournament Championship Game last season. Defending conference champion Thomas More was picked second, while Westminster and Thiel rounded out the top four. The Bison are coming off of a season in which the team went 17-13, including a 9-9 record against league foes. Bethany reached the semifinals in both the PAC and the Eastern College Athletic Conference ...
