West Virginia large man Oscar Tshiebwe leaves staff for private causes, Bob Huggins says he will not return

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West Virginia sophomore Oscar Tshiebwe is stepping away from this system on account of private causes and will not return this season, Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins introduced on Friday. Tshiebwe, a sophomore, is averaging 8.5 factors and seven.8 rebounds per sport this season.

“Did it catch me without warning? No. What can we going ahead? We’ll win extra video games,” Huggins mentioned in a gathering with the media shortly after the announcement. “I believe this offers us a possibility to have the ability to unfold the ground just a little bit extra. Offers Derek [Culver] much more room to work down there.”

Huggins was requested if there was an opportunity Tshiebwe would possibly return this season, to which he replied, “No, completely not. No return.”

A former five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American, Tshiebwe had an enormous freshman season final yr during which he averaged 11.2 factors and 9.3 rebounds, fulfilling expectations as a star recruit and on the spot affect addition. This yr, he was a preseason All-Large 12 choice and ranked No. 15 on the CBS Sports activities preseason prime 100 (and one).

However Tshiebwe this season has taken a backseat to junior large man Derek Culver, who’s averaging 14.1 factors and 9.9 rebounds per sport through the staff’s 8-2 begin to the season. Culver is averaging 27.6 minutes per sport whereas Tshiebwe has averaged fewer than 20 minutes per sport, a dropoff from his 23.3 minutes-per-game common final season.

His dip in manufacturing apart, Tshiebwe’s absence is nonetheless an enormous blow to a Mountaineers staff that has an actual shot at a Large 12 title this season. Culver’s position will little doubt develop transferring ahead, however the staff’s frontcourt — lauded this preseason as among the many finest within the Large 12 — now all of the sudden does not have anybody taller than 6-foot-7 in its common rotation with out him. It might make for a tough patch job for Huggins as league play continues.

“We have got guys which have labored their butts off all summer time to get a possibility,” Huggins added. “They get a possibility, I’m greater than assured that they are going to do an ideal job for us, so why would we screw that up?”

West Virginia is 1-1 in league play because it started two weeks in the past with a street loss to a top-10 Kansas staff and a 5 level win over Iowa State on its resume. It faces Oklahoma then Oklahoma State in consecutive video games within the upcoming week, each of which it’s thought-about a slight favourite in KenPom.com projections.

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