WVU set to wrap up non-conference schedule at home
MORGANTOWN — It sounds almost silly when you think of it, but before the basketball season got underway one of the major criticisms of the team new coach Darian DeVries had was that it might not be big enough down low to compete in the Big 12.
After all, they said, Amani Hansberry was only 6-8 and hardly your typical big.
Think of that for a minute .. “only 6-8”.
Don’t care what kind of game you are playing, the words “only” and “6-8” do not go together and Hansberry has proved it as the Mountaineer are getting ready to play their final non-conference game of the season against Mercyhurst at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Coliseum.
The Mountaineers bring a 8-2 record into that game, the only losses being at Pitt in the first journey on the road and then in the Battle 4 Atlantis to a strong Louisville team while, at the same time, they beat No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 24 Arizona and have added another impressive victory over a Georgetown team that has shown itself to be far better than anyone expected this year.
The trip to the Bahamas for the Mountaineers was important, according to Hansberry, an Illinois transfer from Silver Spring, Maryland, who has been key in being able to hold his own down low for WVU.
“I wouldn’t say it surprised us but I think we proved a lot to ourselves and are capable of making any NCAA Tournament run,” Hansberry said. “It instilled a lot of confidence. It was big for a lot of guys to understand we can do what our goal is. We just got to keep our heads down and keep going and pay no attention to the outside noise.”
The road does not figure to be easy. Never did, but especially since Tucker DeVries, the coach’s son and the senior leader of the team, went down with an injury to the same shoulder he had surgery on during the off-season. The diagnosis is imprecise and the only thing they say is he is out “indefinitely.”
While no one has even hinted that it could be serious enough to keep him out the remainder of the year, DeVries would say only that they will follow the doctor’s advice.
Meanwhile, his team has one game to play before opening the Big 12 on New Year’s Eve with a game at Kansas.
DeVries absence does have an effect on the team.
“Definitely on the defensive side,” Hansberry said. “We lose a little bit of our length. Being able to lock down on the guards, win closeouts and on the offensive end it’s in the shooting. We have to space the floor because Javon likes to attack the basket and KJ likes to attack the basket.
“And leadership wise, we lose a big leader.”
You hear talk about leadership all the time but how does it play itself out on the floor?
“I feel like when the game starts to get away from us and we huddle up out there at the free throw line, it’s really just … like down in Atlantis he talked a lot about staying together, withstanding the storm. Basketball is a game of runs, so you have to withstand their runs and make runs of your own. You have to stay together and make sure you are on the same page.”
So it is that the others will have to take over and keep WVU going in the right direction and Hansberry is key to that. He rebounds, scores and defends inside, but is the pop and pick type of player who can draw a big defender outside and hit 3s or cut to the back door.
It all allows him to be a big man at 6-8.
“As long as I’m doing my work early, it’s not so difficult. My length and my ability to move guys out from the knees down has definitely helped me out and allowed me to play in the post as long as I have and been successful at it,” he said.
What’s more, his ability to run the floor helps him beat his defender down the court.
“That was something that was instilled in me very early, around sixth grade. I had a coach who always told me to run the floor; that it was an easy six to eight points a game because the guards were looking up to press the paint. It made the game a lot easier for me,” he said.
He adds a noticeable toughness to his game which allows him to win his battles on the boards.
“It shows up in my passion and how hard I play. You have to have passion,” Hansberry said. “It’s not about the size of the dog, but the size of the dog’s heart. That was instilled in me at an early age. My dad always said to me if you are going to do anything you have to do it with all your will and put your best foot forward.
“I try to do that, not only in basketball but in outside life. That’s my main focus.”
Hansberry comes into the Mercyhurst game third on the team in scoring at 14.7 points a game and is the team’s top rebounder at 7.3 per contest.