Confidence is sky high, momentum is mounting, and the West Virginia Mountaineers can’t wait to jump into Big 12 Conference play Saturday in Kansas and its daunting Den of Denial, the infamous Allen Fieldhouse.
WVU will be just six days removed from its prized conquest over second-ranked Ohio State Sunday in Cleveland, and the Mountaineers have the air of a giant-killer right now. Kansas (10-2) is ranked third in the latest AP men’s basketball poll, while WVU is 11-1 and ranked 16th.
“They were the No. 2 team,” said Gabe Osabuohien during the post-game press conference on Sunday. “To be able to beat them having a bad game makes us think about what we can do. We’re not even halfway to our potential yet. We’re going to keep getting better.”
They’ll have to in order to win in Lawrence. Perhaps no team in the nation has a more harrowing homecourt advantage than the Jayhawks. Under Coach Bill Self, they’ve had two home winning streaks of over 50 games, including a record 54-game streak that was stopped in 2017. And who can forget that match in February of 2018 when Kansas shot 35 free throws to WVU’s two? The Jayhawks have lost just 109 total games in 65 years at the Fieldhouse. They rule the place and everyone knows it, including the game officials.
It will be fascinating to see how the Mountaineers fare Saturday. It could be one more step in the continuing maturation of a talented, but still inexperienced squad. Or it could be a step back against a rugged foe in an unyielding venue.
One thing I’m sure of: Don’t expect senior Chase Harler to back down. It’s not his style, and he’s itching to get back in action as his game is at an all-time high. Harler knocked down two huge threes against OSU, each giving his squad the lead. He had 10 points against the Buckeyes.
“The Ohio State game gave us a boost of confidence,” he said. “We really feel like we should be undefeated. Then, playing well against the No. 2 team in the nation, it’s really going to carry over momentum into conference play.”
WVU was the No. 5 preseason pick in the Big 12. Kansas, of course, was picked first for the ninth straight season.
But Harler foresaw this WVU uprising months ago: “We went to Spain this past summer and I think that was great for us. Just having so many new guys and getting to have real practices, playing three games in Spain and building more chemistry. I guess for a lot of people from the outside looking in, they might see it as a surprise considering the season we had last year. And we have so many new guys. We’ve been off to a great start, but I’m definitely not surprised. We’ve been putting in a lot of work as a team. Now it’s starting to show.”
Four years of hard work for the Wheeling Central legend is paying off now for Harler. Truth be told, he nearly transferred out of WVU two seasons ago.
“After my freshman year, I kinda thought about it. We had a really, really good team, but it was just my freshman year, so I wanted to stick it out one more year and see. After my sophomore year, I got to play a decent amount the first half of the season, then kinda fell out of the rotation the second half. I was thinking, we had some recruits coming in and I thought maybe it was better to step away and find a new program.”
As one might imagine, making youthful mistakes at this level — and on a team coached by Bob Huggins — can be painful.
“We’ve got a great relationship now,” Harler said of Huggins. “Early in my career he would get on me a decent amount and I didn’t know how to react to it during that time.”
My high school comparison for Chase Harler, a perpetual-motion machine who’s always a step ahead and always on the attack, was Wheeling Park’s Michael Jebbia. Jebbia decided to go the Division III route at West Liberty University where he broke scoring records, won a ton of games and is a no-doubt all-timer. Is this what Harler had in mind?
Nah. He was a Division I guy, albeit as a role player.
“In the back of my mind I knew I didn’t really want to leave,” he said with a smile. “I had some good conversations with Coach Huggins after my sophomore season. I’m happy I stuck it out. It kinda all worked out. Probably my favorite part of sticking around and being here all four years is the relationship I’ve developed with all the coaches, especially Coach Huggins.”
And his role is vital. He’s seventh on the team in minutes played and third in field goal percentage at 48.8. He’s making shots and doing his usual dirty work on the defensive end. No wonder Huggs wanted him to stay, eh?
“Overall my role is to kind of get the guys in the right position, be a coach on the floor, be a defensive pest and hit the open shots,” he said. “I think my defensive ability has just gotten a lot better throughout my career. This year I feel like I’m much more confident on the defensive end, guarding the other team’s best player and try to get them out of their offense.”
With so many newcomers to this year’s squad, WVU is starting to really mesh defensively, while the offense is still a work in progress.
“We have a couple of new guys out there,” Harler pointed out. “Sometimes people get confused, even some of the returning guys. From a guard’s perspective I feel it’s my job before the set starts to get the guys in the right spot. If I’m seeing something, Huggs has enough trust in me I can even call a play out there to try to get the proper mismatch.”
I asked Harler if, considering WVU is once again hanging its hat on its defense, the Mountaineers would at some point unleash Press Virginia, which really hit its peak in 2016-17. WVU has backed off its relentless full-court pressure the last couple of seasons as the personnel has changed. I suggested that Osabuohien could fill the vaunted Johnny Holton/Nate Adrian vanguard, Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe could be the erasers on the back end, and there was plenty of depth and speed in between.
“We’ll see. I think our half-court defense is really improving so we’re confident enough we can guard in the half court,” he answered. “Depending on personnel, who we’re playing, maybe we’ll pick up the press a little bit. I don’t know if I see us going back to full-out Press Virginia. But we’re definitely going to keep that in our back pocket if we need it.”
The young man took time to credit his father, John Harler, for his early development as a player. John was an excellent ballplayer at John Marshall back in the early-70s.
“He’s done a great job of keeping me level-headed,” Chase said. “In fifth and sixth grade, you maybe think you’re the best player because you’re shooting the ball every time. He was on me about getting the other players involved, worrying about defense, developing good habits and making me understand the game from a higher basketball IQ. I think that kinda grounded me into being a player that I am.
“To play for Coach Huggins … you have to have a defensive mentality. I give a lot of credit to my Dad for that. Even in my high school career, I could’ve easily taken a step back on defense. Knowing that I was going to play for Coach Huggins, I knew I had to have a defensive mindset. I took a lot of pride in that. And my Dad was teaching me that from a very, very young age.”
Harler has already graduated from WVU and will have his Master’s Degree in sports management in May. He wants to try to continue his basketball career in the professional ranks, probably overseas a la Devin Williams, Alex Ruoff, John Flowers and several other former Mountaineers.
“I’ll try to do that if I get the opportunity. I’d love to continue to play basketball and ride it out as long as I can,” he said. “But if not, whenever I’m done playing, I’m either going to get into the coaching world, or the player development aspect of the game.”
But that’s down the road. Right now, he’s focused on Kansas and the season that’s unfolding in fine fashion. Keep an eye on Chase Harler. Finally, he’s a key player for the Mountaineers. You’d better believe he’s earned it.
(Photos made available by John Harler)
