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Bob Huggins Questions Leadership from Players in Crucial Time

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Photo: Kelsie LeRose / WVSN

West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins has been open in questioning the leadership of his team ever since the final buzzer against TCU on Tuesday.

“We may have to find ourselves some new leaders,” Huggins said after the loss on Tuesday.

On Friday, Huggins double-downed his statement, comparing his current group to past players.

“We don’t have a strong leader. We have some guys that talk a lot. I wouldn’t call them strong leaders,” Huggins said. “We don’t have guys like we used to have here like I had prior. I’ve had guys to the point where they say, ‘listen, man, you’re going to get an ass whooping if you keep this shit up.'”

This season, the three fifth-year seniors Erik Stevenson, Kedrian Johnson and Emmitt Matthews have all played the role of a leader at one point or another. Stevenson has been donned as the vocal leader of the Mountaineers. Johnson has been with the program for three years now. Matthews has been the quiet leader that has guided the underclassmen through their struggles adjusting to college basketball.

Even Joe Toussaint, who is in his first season with West Virginia, has taken accountability and will give teammates rides if that means more practice time in the gym.

Huggins has been most critical of Stevenson’s leadership this season. The incident against Oklahoma State in Stillwater comes to mind. In the emotion after the loss, Huggins threatened to send Stevenson home if he cost the team with a crucial technical like that again.

Stevenson ever since has had to regain his confidence, most recently winning the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award on Monday. Stevenson is averaging 21.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 41 percent shooting from the field in his last three games.

Even with Huggins telling the media that the team has a leadership problem, Stevenson tells a different story.

“[Huggins] hasn’t talked about leadership with us. I haven’t felt like a lack of leadership. I feel like there are guys talking and staying positive with it during media timeouts and coaching each other, being coachable,” Stevenson said. “If he sees that, he sees that. I don’t feel a whole lot of that because everybody on this team wants to win and we want to get into March. We know how special it is.”

Stevenson commented on what leadership means to him.

“Leadership to me is doing the things you’re supposed to do even when you’re probably not up for it,” Stevenson said.

Huggins and Stevenson both see it different but will have to regroup with a crucial month of February awaiting West Virginia.

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