Jonathan Powell to Continue Starting for WVU Basketball

Freshman Jonathan Powell will continue to start for WVU basketball in place of the injured Tucker DeVries, first-year head coach Darian DeVries announced on Friday.

The Mountaineers used two different starting lineups in the two games since DeVries’s injury. First, the team tried going bit with backup center Eduardo Andre joining the starting five to play alongside fellow forward Amani Hansberry. After that lineup failed to produce on offense, Powell replaced Andre in the starting five against Bethune-Cookman and made an immediate impact.

Powell more closely replaced DeVries’s playing style, allowing the Mountaineers to run their usual offense. He scored 14 points with four three-pointers.

“I think most of it will be what you saw the other night for right now with starting Powell at the three,” Coach DeVries said. “When we do go big, making sure that I want a little more shooting around that big lineup. When we go big, we’ll try to put our better shooting lineup around it.”

The Mountaineers haven’t missed a step since DeVries’s injury, winning both games, but haven’t faced the toughest competition in North Carolina Central and Bethune-Cookman.

A couple of easier opponents coupled with playing just three games over the last three weeks has given the Mountaineers ample time to learn how to play without DeVries.

“I think we’ve done some nice things,” Coach DeVries said. “There’s certainly been some moments too when you see some of the disconnect on offense. We’ve had to keep it fairly simple as guys are trying to learn new roles and new positions during those couple of games. That part made it a little hard and that’s some of the stuff we were able to do this week.”

While Powell has helped to replace DeVries’s statistical production, senior point guard Javon Small has been looked to to replace his on-court leadership.

“Javon is certainly one of those guys who have a feel for what’s going on,” Coach DeVries said. “I think Javon’s been great with the other guys in the hurdles too, encouraging them to stay confident and continue to shoot when they’re open. Javon knows we’re going to need the collection of everybody on a night-in night-out basis to give ourselves the best chance.”

Small is playing some of the best basketball of his career recently, topping 20 points in five of the team’s last seven games. He’s scored double-digit points in all 10 contests.

WVU basketball plays its final non-conference game on Sunday, welcoming Mercyhurst to the WVU Coliseum for a 2 p.m. tip-off on ESPN+.

For a related story, WVU basketball has fallen out of the lastest tournament projection.