West Virginia head coach Neal Brown held his first press conference since the Mountaineers were selected to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against North Carolina.
Brown Gabe his thoughts on the bowl selection and gave several housekeeping updates about his team since they last played against Baylor on Nov. 25.
Going to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Brown was pleased with WVU’s selection to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. He is attracted by the location in regard to distance from Morgantown to Charlotte, as well as the quality of opponent in North Carolina.
“Really excited about representing the Big 12 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Sunday was an interesting day, but I think it landed in a really good place. As you all know, large group of Mountaineers in the Charlotte area. One of our biggest alumni bases is Charlotte. It’s a six-hour drive from Morgantown, so it’s a great location for our fans.”
“Quality matchup versus North Carolina. A team that was ranked for most of the year. A lot of respect for Mack Brown. What he’s done in his coaching profession, how he conducts his business. A lot of respect there.”
Player Retention
Last week, Brown said his focus was on player retention as the transfer portal window officially opened yesterday.
“As far as retention is going that’s something we spent a lot of time on last week,” Brown said. “Our hope is we can hold on to our main players. You’re going to lose some, that’s just normal. You’re going to lose some, but we hope we can keep them all together.”
Brown added with the retention piece, that he expects WVU will lose a couple more players following the bowl game, before the portal window closes on Jan. 2, 2024.
Injuries
WVU had two main injury concerns stemming from their season finale in Zach Frazier and Preston Fox.
Frazier announced himself he will be done for the season and Brown said he had successful surgery and that he’s “well on the road to recovery.”
Brown said Fox’s injury is too early to tell on if he will be ready, adding he will have a better idea closer to the game on the 27th.
“Preston I think it’s too early to tell if he’s going to be available in the bowl game or not,” Brown said.
Mayo Bath?
The winning coach of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl gets doused with mayonnaise and Brown said he’s happy to receive the bath if it means WVU gets a victory.
“If that means a ninth win, I’ll gladly take the bath,” Brown jokingly said.
