Texas transfer made his debut with the Mountaineers Monday like many of the other transfers West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins squired this offseason.
“He’s a hooper. He’s not a regular basketball player, this is a hooper,” Emmitt Matthews said of Mitchell.
In West Virginia’s 76-58 win over Mount St. Mary’s, Mitchell played his first extended stretch since suffering a lower-body injury this fall.
“It’s been a journey to say the least,” Mitchell said. “Obviously, we had a little injury come out of left field.”
That injury has kept Mitchell from practicing, though in his first full game with West Virginia, that was not the case.
“I actually hen’t even been through a full practice yet,” Mitchell said. “[Sunday] was probably my first actual legit I was in there from start to finish.”
Mitchell is a 6-foot-8 forward originally from Pittsburgh. He spent two seasons at University of Massachusetts, before spending last season with the Texas Longhorns.
“I think the one thing about him is me personally I think you could throw him anywhere on the floor,” Matthews said. “I have yet to see somebody with a good back to the basket game at 6-foot-8 like his. He can shoot the ball. He was really all over the place on offense wherever we put him he’ll just do his job.”
Mitchell scored 13 points in 14 minutes on Monday, while finishing with three rebounds and making two three-pointers.
“I think he’s going to get a lot better,” Huggins said. “He’s been very, very diligent with his rehab. I think he’s going to get a lot better.”
Mitchell’s versatility can make him play the three position all the way through the five depending on how West Virginia wants to play. If they run a smaller lineup they can play Mitchell at the four or five, and if they play a bigger lineup with guys such as Jimmy Bell, Mohamed Wague, or James Okonkwo, Mitchell can slide up to the three or four position.
“He’d be better guarding a three, a four than he would be a five,” Huggins said.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
