West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[boatcapt]

The Penn State team lost today in the TBT. It was a No. 1 seed and considered a favorite.

Not the prettiest basketball. I'd call it a step above AAU on steroids, which is to be expected.


I like Dubois' chances tonight. If the (largely) WVU team isn't in shape they will be gassed quickly.

Penn State didn't look to be in great condition.

You got it right...You could also call it AAU for grown-ups if you are being charitable or Saturday morning pickup league if you aren't. They try to give the teams personas to try and generates some interest (the Penn State team...the WVU team...) but when you look at the rosters you see many players that aren't even from those states much less those schools!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Dubois,down 17 in 4th qtr., trimmed lead to 65-62. Elam ending set at 72.

Dubois leads 69-65. Winds up losing 72-70

Dubois forced 25 turnovers! Montague and shuler played great! Shuler was quickest guy on the floor.

Horrendous shooting and missing layups in first half doomed them.

Will Yoakum was not at the game. He was clearly best player at scrimmage against wlu. They missed his shooting.

Every game I watched yesterday was similar. The first halves were more like playground games and then things settled in the second (some). Foul calls are non-existent for the most part.

WVU's next game vs Marshall should be a good one. Beyond that, whomever wins won't go any further.

The rumor circulating is the TBT will soon be played with the actual college teams and not alumni teams. Well, these are kind of alumni teams (with ringers). WVU's best player last night played college ball in Texas and not in Morgantown.

[Columbuseer]

Dubois,down 17 in 4th qtr., trimmed lead to 65-62. Elam ending set at 72.

Dubois leads 69-65. Winds up losing 72-70

Dubois forced 25 turnovers! Montague and shuler played great! Shuler was quickest guy on the floor.

Horrendous shooting and missing layups in first half doomed them.

Will Yoakum was not at the game. He was clearly best player at scrimmage against wlu. They missed his shooting.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The Penn State team lost today in the TBT. It was a No. 1 seed and considered a favorite.

Not the prettiest basketball. I'd call it a step above AAU on steroids, which is to be expected.


I like Dubois' chances tonight. If the (largely) WVU team isn't in shape they will be gassed quickly.

Penn State didn't look to be in great condition.

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
here is 6 hour video of fiba u23 nations league 3x3 games.
Ireland vs Latvia starts at 1:35:00. There may be other ireland games, for I did not search rest of video. At 1:41:00 there are some replays of #23 muldowney.

wlu player muldowney is #23 in black. Strong physically. 3x3 is a very physical game.
Great addition to wlu.

https://www.youtube.com/live/72vmRpv1-gc?feature=shared

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yesterday wlu scrimmaged the Dubois Dream team at wlu basketball camp.

imho it was very beneficial. Just like incoming freshmen learn that some passes and moves do not work at the college level, wlu players had a similar experience against the pros.

Wlu also scrimmaged against each other. 13 of 16 players were there.
Muldowney at 6-7 and Abdullah at 6-9 are very fundamentally sound. They are equally at ease playing like a tall shooting guard, shooting and making threes, or driving to the basket or fighting for rebounds underneath.

Spadafora has raised his game to another level.

Hurray is a very physical player, who can score at all levels.
I am impressed that at this early stage, the ball is not sticking on offense. Very little dribbling. The effort and intensity is impressive.

The WVU team has two former D2 stars on it ... Sanders from Fairmont State and Vorhees from ND-OH.

[Columbuseer]

Some additional observations on recent wlu scrimmages.
- Many players are closely matched in talent. No one looks uncomfortable playing at this level. That said, not surprisingly the freshmen are sometimes playing like freshmen. But they are also making good plays.
- We won't be undersized in either platoon.
- We have many good multi-level scorers, including the taller Lattos, Abdullah and Coan (have not seen other taller guys play).
- We are ahead of last year's team at this point, in terms of sharing the ball, probably because most new players had a year in the system at Coker or played a similar system in AAU.
- We have a long way to go to mesh as a team with so many new players.
- Unfortunately, other teams have scholarship players too. Lol.
- Some opponents have built "get the coach a d1 gig" formidable rosters, so this year will not be easy.

[Columbuseer]

Interesting quote from coach Jarrod West of Best Virginia, who plays Dubois Dream (who is loaded with Crutchball players) on Friday. Should be a fast-paced game.

“We just watched the Indiana Pacers in what’s supposed to be the best basketball league in the world play 94 feet and get to the finals, and grown men turned the ball over because of constant pressure and the mental strain,” coach West said. “I’m banking on and hoping in TBT, with everybody kind of being like us and having a week to put things in, nobody wants to see that pressure. They want to give the ball to the point guard and run down the floor. What I want to coach is for us not to allow that and keep the pressure on them.”

[Columbuseer]

Yesterday wlu scrimmaged the Dubois Dream team at wlu basketball camp.

imho it was very beneficial. Just like incoming freshmen learn that some passes and moves do not work at the college level, wlu players had a similar experience against the pros.

Wlu also scrimmaged against each other. 13 of 16 players were there.
Lattos at 6-8 and Abdullah at 6-9 are very fundamentally sound. They are equally at ease playing like a tall shooting guard, shooting and making threes, or driving to the basket or fighting for rebounds underneath.

Spadafora has raised his game to another level.

Hurray is a very physical player, who can score at all levels.
I am impressed that at this early stage, the ball is not sticking on offense. Very little dribbling. The effort and intensity is impressive.

[Columbuseer]

Huffman, Bearer and Arnold are the current assistant coaches. They were at the camp today.

[Scrub]

WLU typically has two full-time assistants and a third part-time assistant OR grad assistant OR a student assistant. The current 2025-26 roster shows Huffman as the only listed assistant. There are three possibilities for the one seat, Bryce Butler (an assistant last season and an early July interview with Lamberti said he'd know in "about a week" if Butler was coming back), Bearer (rumored to be coming by some on-line "inside knowledge" expert who said he heard a rumor) and now Brady Arnold. So unless we add money to pay additional full-time assistants, we have three candidates for one position (or two if one is willing to take a "part time" gig).

I think Butler is out which is kind of sad. He would have had the chance to coach his two younger brothers and would have had another year in the WLU System which would pay dividends down the road. But, whatever the reason is, I don't think he's coming back.

That leaves Bearer and Arnold. Don't see a long time assistant like Bearer being willing to take a part-time gig so if he comes he's coming as Lambertis full time assistant. That leaves Arnold. Clearly he's coming to the Hilltop but I think it's most likely as a part time assistant.

Don't forget that, technically, Dr. Huffman doesn't take up any basketball money that might be allocated to the staff. He's a full-time tenure-track faculty member, so the academic side of the house is paying his salary.

But, yes, traditionally--taking Huffman out of it--WLU has only had one full-time paid assistant and another who is part-time/GA/volunteer/etc. Not sure how Arnold/Bearer/Butler fit into that equation.

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
dubois dream playing at wlu jul 15 at 7 pm before their game vs Press Virginia on jul 18. Free admission.

greg bearer is assistant coach for the Dream.
https://hilltoppersports.com/

[boatcapt]

Tough OOC schedule for a transition year. I suspect that we'll take some uncharacteristic losses early, but will be much improved by the end of the season.

As the saying goes, you can't WIN a championship early in the season...but you CAN lose it!

[boatcapt]

WLU typically has two full-time assistants and a third part-time assistant OR grad assistant OR a student assistant. The current 2025-26 roster shows Huffman as the only listed assistant. There are three possibilities for the one seat, Bryce Butler (an assistant last season and an early July interview with Lamberti said he'd know in "about a week" if Butler was coming back), Bearer (rumored to be coming by some on-line "inside knowledge" expert who said he heard a rumor) and now Brady Arnold. So unless we add money to pay additional full-time assistants, we have three candidates for one position (or two if one is willing to take a "part time" gig).

I think Butler is out which is kind of sad. He would have had the chance to coach his two younger brothers and would have had another year in the WLU System which would pay dividends down the road. But, whatever the reason is, I don't think he's coming back.

That leaves Bearer and Arnold. Don't see a long time assistant like Bearer being willing to take a part-time gig so if he comes he's coming as Lambertis full time assistant. That leaves Arnold. Clearly he's coming to the Hilltop but I think it's most likely as a part time assistant.

[Columbuseer]

I would not be surprised if both Bearer and Arnold are assistant coaches. Bearer is known for his results in player development and recruiting.