‘He Can Bully Somebody Else’

The much anticipated debut of 6-foot-9 freshman Deniz Kilicli takes place tomorrow at 7 p.m. when the Mountaineers host Pitt at the WVU Coliseum. It’s a huge game for many reasons- Backyard Brawl, conference positioning, quality win on the resume, and WVU may be unveiling its new secret weapon in Kilicli.

Check out what Sports Illustrated’s Luke Winn had to say about Kilicli in today’s piece.

There are lots of great unknowns as to how Kilicli will fare. However, it is expected he cracks the eight-or-nine man rotation and provides WVU with some added muscle and offense inside. Kilicli had 26 points and 10 rebounds in two exhibitions earlier this season, but that was obviously against weaker competition.

WVU head coach Bob Huggins has said Kilicli is his team’s best low post offensive player. Who knows what that really means, considering WVU doesn’t generally throw the ball into the post and look to score.

Here’s what Huggins had to say about Kilicli and what to expect from him on Tuesday afternoon.

“We’re all happy for Deniz that it’s over with and he gets to play,” Huggins said. “I think he’s going to help us but you don’t know until you put guys in. He’s shown the ability to score for us and he ought to be a good rebounder. He’s shown the ability at times to block shots and he’s got great size which we haven’t had.”

As to how much he’ll play?

“It kind of depends on how he plays. I personally don’t think he can play a lot of consecutive minutes, because he’s just not in game shape, but we’ll have to see,” Huggins said.

WVU forward Wellington Smith is certainly happy for Kilicli that he finally gets to suit up. Smith may even benefit himself, as he’s shot the ball well from the outside recently and Kilicli figures to help his teammates space the floor. Smith has scored in double figures in each of the last three games for the first time in his career and had this to say about Kilicli.

“I can’t wait. Just having to deal with Deniz every day (in practice). He weighs 270 pounds and now someone else can deal with him. He can bully somebody else. He’s just done a great job preparing for tomorrow and listening to coach. Now that it’s here, I know he’s going to do a great job,” Smith said.