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West Virginia University
By George Von Benko

The West Virginia Mountaineers return a good nucleus from last year's team that went 24-11 and 8-8 in the Big East and made a great run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. Coach John Beilein welcomes back four starters and Frank Young, a 6-5 swingman who started in place of injured Tyrone Sally in the Big East Tournament.

Top returnees are 6-4 senior forward Mike Gansey, 6-11 center/forward Kevin Pittsnogle, guards Joe Herber and J.D. Collins and solid reserves Patrick Beilein (6-4 senior) and Darris Nichols (6-2 sophomore). Robert Summers a 6-11, 232-pound transfer from Penn State, will help out up front.

Key losses include the team's leading scorer Sally and shot-blocking center D'or Fischer. Both will be missed.

"(Sally) was the most valuable player the past two years," Beilein said. "He came up off the deck at Pitt and made some big plays down the stretch in that game, and if you look at the Creighton game, the last four times down the floor he made the plays. Having Frank Young replace him, the kid just can't do it. But if Young can replace at least half of him and then everybody else can gives us 10 to 20 percent more that will be helpful."

A new and improved Big East will be a tough challenge for WVU.

"It's really exciting having Cincinnati, Louisville, DePaul and those teams come in," Gansey said. "I think it's by far the best conference. Every game will be a dog fight. It's going to be a lot of fun to have a great challenge every night."