Every West Virginia high school basketball season features several surprises.
Whether it's players transferring or preferring not to play, the slightest change in a team's chemistry can alter the balance of power throughout the Mountain State.
It'll be interesting to see how some of these changes will affect particular teams, including South Charleston. The Black Eagles, whose football team won the Class AAA state football title fewer than two weeks ago, are among the teams figuring to contend for a crown in boys basketball.
They'll have to do it without guard Tyler Harris, who guided South Charleston to a 28-7 state football championship victory over Brooke. Harris has decided to forego his junior season of basketball to concentrate on football – the sport most observers consider his better option collegiately.
The Black Eagles, who fell in their third consecutive Class AAA boys basketball title game last March, open the season tonight against Nitro.
The game will also mark the South Charleston debut of first-year coach Vic Herbert, who replaced 24-year coach Bobby Dawson, who retired before the season.
Senior point guard Pierria Henry, who was named the Most Valuable Player in the Black Eagles' state championship football game, will be counted upon to lead SC.
The 14th Hoops Classic gets under way today at the Charleston Civic Center with a full slate of games set for the week. A field of 46 teams will begin play with the Lincoln County girls facing Wayne in a 1:30 p.m. contest today.
The highlight of the event comes on Wednesday night when Logan High School – among the Class AAA championship contenders – faces Mountain State Academy at 8:15 p.m.
The newest member of the Wildcats is WVU signee Noah Cottrill, a former Poca and Mountain State Academy point guard who returns to the West Virginia public school system for coach Mark Hatcher and the Wildcats.
Two other Class AAA teams worth keeping an eye on are Capital and George Washington. The Cougars missed the State Tournament last year for the first time since 2003 and with a senior-dominated lineup, could end the drought.
The Patriots are 1-0 after a 91-39 drubbing of Huntington on Saturday night. George Washington's lineup includes five regulars from last season and the addition of 6-foot-7 Tyquane Goard, who played his freshman season at Capital and his sophomore year at Mountain State Academy. The Patriots also feature some heady freshmen, including Luke Eddy and Ryan Switzer. Switzer starred on the state quarterfinal football team.
Capital boasts its top three scorers from a year ago, including savvy post player Tommy Gwinn, who averaged 11.1 points in 2008-09. Their early-season battle takes place on Wednesday night at George Washington's friendly confines, where the Patriots seldom lose.
Coach Rick Greene's Patriots are 41-7 since the beginning of the 2004-05 season and haven't lost to the Cougars at home since Jan. 15, 2005 – a 75-73 GW victory. However, the games have all been close with the Patriots owning a 4-1 home record against Capital in their last five meetings at GW, with the largest margin of victory coming in the 2006-07 season (eight points).
Last season the Cougars lost their home opener against the Patriots. An interesting sidebar to the Patriots' home success? Among their seven losses at their gymnasium, three of them came to South Charleston.
Beckley is expected to be a player in the state championship chase again, after reaching the semifinals last year and winning the state title in 2008.
Wheeling Park made its first trip to the state tournament since 2006 a memorable one, reaching the semifinals before falling to South Charleston. The Patriots trailed by 19 points with 13 minutes left, only to lose by seven. Wheeling Park returns four of its starters from that team and adds two sophomores who were on the bench during the Patriots' State Tournament run last year – Errin Baynes and Demetrius Lathon.
Rich Stevens, a sportswriter for the Charleston Daily Mail, covers West Virginia for MaxPreps.
