Huggins To Help Guide Tshiebwe With Draft Process
WVU standout averaged 11.2 points, 9.3 rebounds in 31 games
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Bob Huggins -- for the entirety of his 40-year college career -- has always done right by his players.
Nothing will change about that he prepares to help guide heralded post player Oscar Tshiebwe, who just completed his freshman season at West Virginia, through the NBA Draft process.
Tshiebwe announced last week his intentions to enter his name into the draft to get a gauge of where he stands, but he wouldn't be signing with an agent, meaning he would maintain his collegiate eligibility if he chooses to pull his name out.
"Oscar trusts us and will listen to us," Huggins said during a nearly 45-minute long meeting with the media via Zoom Monday morning. "We're not going to lead him down the wrong path. You can't find one guy who would say I tried to take something from them in my career. I feel very confident that Oscar will make an intelligent decision."
During his stints at Cincinnati, Kansas State and now WVU, Huggins has had several players leave early for the NBA, but the path that Tshiebwe is about to embark on his completely different than anyone before him because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"There isn't going to be a combine, (the organizations) aren't bringing guys in for workouts," Huggins said. "Really, they're not allowed to have any contact with these (prospects) until the draft, and I am not sure they have any idea what they're going to do."
With the NBA season still on hiatus due to the pandemic and no formal date of resumption announced, there's no timetable for when the draft may even occur. Normally, it's held in late June just a few weeks after the NBA Finals conclude. That sets the table for the NBA Summer Leagues in both Las Vegas and Orlando.
However, should the NBA come back to finish its current season, it's possibly going to stretch well into the summer months. That leaves Huggins to believe the draft my not occur until August.
With schools across the country slated to begin their fall terms in August, it puts those who are unsure about their status in more of bind because of the timetable.
"It's a totally different deal (than any other NBA Draft)," Huggins said.
With no in-person work to be done, the NBA will rely on film work to give the best possible feedback that it can. But, film doesn't always tell the whole story, according to Huggins.
"You can't see how a guy really moves in real time, how tall they actually are, how fast they actually run, etc.," Huggins said. "I just don't think many of these organizations are going to want to make multi-million dollar deals off strictly watching film."
The Mountaineer staff submitted all of the necessary paperwork on behalf of Tshiebwe and now they'll wait to see what they're told.
"There's a pool of general managers who will look at the film and information and come up with a hypothetical deal where they may be drafted, but in this situation, it has nothing to do with needing to work on this or that," Huggins said.
"That's the kind of information they would get from taking part in the combine."
Tshiebwe put forth an impressive season for the Mountaineers.
He averaged 11.2 points and 9.3 rebounds in 31 games of action.
Though Huggins realizes some NBA scouts and executives probably watch the college game, he suspects they watch with a different type of eye. They're not always watching those games in evaluation mode.
"They're watching (college games) because they like the sport," Huggins said. "They're not spending a lot of time evaluating guys during their seasons. And, when their season shutdown, our season shutdown, so what are they evaluating? Don't think scouts are making these decisions (on where and who to draft) because they're just processing and supplying the information."
Tshiebwe was a highly coveted prospect out of high school after playing at Kennedy Catholic in Pennsylvania. He was chosen for the McDonald's All-American Game and chosen the Mountaineers over the likes of Kentucky and Baylor.
One of the big reasons was his relationship with Huggins. And that relationship is why Huggins plans to do everything he can to get his star player as good of a feel as he can for what lies ahead.
"I think what young people have to understand is this whole (process) isn't cut and dry," Huggins said.
Huggins was quizzed about what his 2020-21 roster may look like with or without Tshiebwe and was quite frank about his belief of what lies ahead.
"I fully expect not to have to worry about anything in terms of Oscar," Huggins said.