Eilert Reveals Two New Members of WVU's Starting Five

When the West Virginia Mountaineers take the floor Monday night against Missouri State in the season opener, they'll be throwing out a starting lineup that will feature two players who were expected to be backups throughout the season. 

Due to the nine-game suspension of Kerr Kriisa and the medical scare Akok Akok had during the charity exhibition against George Mason, Kobe Johnson and Quinn Slazinski will slide into the starting five.

"At this point, Quinn (Slazinski) would be slotted in as the starting four man and with Kerr out, it looks like Kobe (Johnson) would definitely be taking the starting nod at that point guard position,' head coach Josh Eilert said Thursday. "And I'm excited about Kobe. This is his third year in the program. He's played in 61 games. He's very capable and I have full confidence in Kobe leading the program."

As far as if/when Akok will return to action, Eilert says they are taking it one day at a time and have no timetable set.

"Our medical staff continues to monitor him daily. They've done additional testing early this week. I was a business major, so when they start talking this medical terminology it goes over my head. I'll leave that up to them but we work with him every day to figure out what the next step is. As for his well-being, he seems to be in really good spirits and trying to figure out where to go from here."

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