As an injury-riddled West Virginia men’s basketball team exploded onto the Big 12 scene with a Top 10 upset against No. 7 Kansas and a dominant 19-point victory over Oklahoma State this past week, it was necessary for just about every player on the roster that was capable of playing to step into a role and step up in one way or another to secure those victories.
The WVU roster has only gone 11-deep at its healthiest this season, with two of those players seeing less than 6 minutes per game. One of those 9 playing more than 6 minutes per game is second-leading scorer Tucker DeVries, who has missed the previous five games. The Mountaineers were also without starting center Amani Hansberry during the Kansas win.
But two players who have stepped up in a big way during this tough stretch have been the team’s pair of true freshmen seeing significant playing time that have had to carve out roles on an undersized, undermanned roster — guards Jonathan Powell and KJ Tenner.
Jonathan Powell picks up extra minutes and packs a punch from behind-the-arc
Powell was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2024 but was the Division I Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year in 2023-24 as a senior, and he’s shown why he was considered such a star at the previous level…