No. 5 - Jevon Carter is the unofficial captain of this group of seniors, as it feels like he's been playing for West Virginia for the better part of a decade.
Maybe it's because his hairline makes him look much older than he actually is. Or maybe it's because he had 28 points and five steals in the sixth game of his collegiate career and has been half-nuisance, half-nightmare for opposing backcourts ever since. Regardless of the reason that it seems like he's been around forever, the fact of the matter is that Carter is a veteran star who just keeps getting better with age.
Before Carter arrived, Press Virginia wasn't even a thing. Per KenPom, WVU ranked 135th in adjusted defensive efficiency and 162nd in steal rate in 2013-14. But Carter helped facilitate the change in team philosophy, ranking ninth in the nation in steal rate as a freshman.
West Virginia's growth as a team can be tied directly to Carter's development. In that first season, he was a steal machine and little else. Factor in relentless offensive rebounding, and that pretty well describes the first year of Press Virginia. But as he transitioned to starting point guard, the Mountaineers became a little more competent on offense. And when he shot 38.9 percent from three-point range as a junior, WVU had a top-30 offense that was a far more polished national contender than the gimmicky system that it was three years ago.
Do Carter and the Mountaineers have one more year of growth up their sleeves? They lost five of their other eight leading scorers and will be without a sixth for the first half of the season because of Esa Ahmad's 17-game suspension. But the one staple in this system (aside from head coach Bob Huggins) has been Carter, and we'll continue to hoard stock in Press Virginia until he finally graduates.
Maybe it's because his hairline makes him look much older than he actually is. Or maybe it's because he had 28 points and five steals in the sixth game of his collegiate career and has been half-nuisance, half-nightmare for opposing backcourts ever since. Regardless of the reason that it seems like he's been around forever, the fact of the matter is that Carter is a veteran star who just keeps getting better with age.
Before Carter arrived, Press Virginia wasn't even a thing. Per KenPom, WVU ranked 135th in adjusted defensive efficiency and 162nd in steal rate in 2013-14. But Carter helped facilitate the change in team philosophy, ranking ninth in the nation in steal rate as a freshman.
West Virginia's growth as a team can be tied directly to Carter's development. In that first season, he was a steal machine and little else. Factor in relentless offensive rebounding, and that pretty well describes the first year of Press Virginia. But as he transitioned to starting point guard, the Mountaineers became a little more competent on offense. And when he shot 38.9 percent from three-point range as a junior, WVU had a top-30 offense that was a far more polished national contender than the gimmicky system that it was three years ago.
Do Carter and the Mountaineers have one more year of growth up their sleeves? They lost five of their other eight leading scorers and will be without a sixth for the first half of the season because of Esa Ahmad's 17-game suspension. But the one staple in this system (aside from head coach Bob Huggins) has been Carter, and we'll continue to hoard stock in Press Virginia until he finally graduates.