Published: November 16, 2008 02:45 am      

COLUMN: Huggins effect hovers over Coliseum

MORGANTOWN — From the moment Clark Kellogg, the one-time Ohio State star turned television commentator, peered down from the dazzling new scoreboard suspended high above the Coliseum court and spoke the words “Welcome to Huggstown” you knew basketball at West Virginia University would never be the same.

If under John Beilein attending a Mountaineer basketball game was like attending a recital, a place for everything and everything in its place, a certain formal flow to the pregame ceremonies and even the game itself, then under Bob Huggins it has become Woodstock for the 2000s, a raucous rock concert.

From the beginning, the sound system blares to the point that the old building itself feels as if it will blow apart. Darkness descends over the arena, blue and gold spotlights scan the court, and then suddenly they roll out the carpet and introduce the Mountaineers.

It is a heart-thumping, blood-pumping experience, as different from the past as is the game that is being played on a defense-first, in-your-face level on the court.

Alex Ruoff was here for the previous administration and is the only senior on this year’s WVU team that was introduced to the state on this night with a solid 92-47 victory over an Elon team that had more heart than talent.

“I had a great time with John Beilein,” he said, “but I’m having a blast with Huggins.”

It isn’t just that this one-time 3-point shooting specialist got to open the season in the post, making the first basket with a post move he never dreamed he’d have three or four years ago or that he’s still able to shoot his 3s and score 19 points or pull off six steals.

It’s the whole atmosphere.

“The changes are exciting,” he said, referring to on the court and off. “And you know what, I love the fact that they still roll out the carpet. That’s a tradition I just love and it goes so well with the new hi tech stuff.”

This isn’t just happening by accident. It is part of the overall plan, a plan Huggins had when he went to Cincinnati, a plan he had when he went to Kansas State and a plan he had when he came here.

If his team can sometimes frustrate him with mistakes that come when you are breaking four new players into the mix, there is a certain satisfaction he felt from early in the day.

“I came out and looked at the student section early. They were coming in at a quarter to 5,” he said. “That’s a great sign. The students were there. And this was just the second time in the history of the building that we had 10,000 for a November game.”

The announced crowd was 10,250. According to Huggins, the only other time there were more than 10,000 for home game in November was in 2005 when LSU came to town.

That was LSU. This was Elon.

“We’re starting to get there,” Huggins said. “I want this to be one of the premier programs in the country, if not the premier program. We’ve talked about making it fan friendly, and we’ve been working on it.”

If the fans have to do a little adjusting to get used to it, the players don’t.

They feed off the electricity that is generated and use it to lift their game.

In the end, all the video boards and hi-tech sound systems won’t sell the program.

That comes down to the basketball team, and Huggins’ brand of basketball has always been something special to watch. When he came to WVU there were only bits and pieces of what he wanted. He did a masterful job of molding what he could from the old system into his own, still emphasizing defense as few do, finding ways to make up for not having the muscle that has always symbolized his programs.

Even this year there is a lack of muscle, although his players are getting stronger and junior college transfer Dee Proby showed signs of giving him a talented 6-foot, 10-inch player who can rebound, shoot inside and out and pass.

This was also the debut of the Kevin and Devin show, with Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks contributing a combined 18 points evenly distributed between the two with seven rebounds and three assists.

But if any of the newcomers seemed to signify the change in the air it was Truck Bryant, a flashy freshman point guard from New York who is about as un-Darris Nichols as you can be.

While Nichols was smooth and steady but notoriously unspectacular, Bryant is going to be the main attraction on the new replay board with his no-look passes and his 3-point shooting.

He debuted with 12 points on four of five shooting and had six assists without a turnover, often bringing a roar from the crowd that was almost at the decibel level that some of Joe Alexander’s slam dunks reached last year.

Bryant is still raw, still learning where and when to get the ball to his teammates, and most of all still learning to play the defense Huggins wants.

“I’ll keep after it,” Bryant said.

In high school, Bryant wasn’t asked to play much defense, admitting only that “coach mentioned it.”

Huggins does more than mention it. While he may be turning up the music and putting all the latest bells and whistles into the Coliseum, he is as old-fashioned as you can be as a coach, demanding that his team win games through defense.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.