WVU exhibition vs. University of Charleston: Game time, TV info, more

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — This week, the Friday night lights will shine down on the West Virginia men’s basketball team.

Here is everything you need to know about the Mountaineers’ exhibition against the University of Charleston Friday night.

WVU vs. University of Charleston exhibition information

• Date: Oct. 18, 2024
• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• Location: WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia
• TV/Stream: ESPN+
• Radio: Find your local affiliate of the Mountaineer Sports Network
• Tickets: WVUGame.com

WVU vs. University of Charleston exhibition preview

The WVU community gets its first look at the new-look men’s basketball program Friday night, and it has been a long time coming.

WVU hired head coach Darian DeVries this past February. Since then, DeVries has rebuilt the entire coaching staff, assembled a whole new roster outside of two returners and conducted his first offseason in Morgantown, which included a foreign tour in Italy.

After a year in college basketball purgatory, the Mountaineers have a foundation.

“It’s time for us to get out there and go play, so we’re excited about that,” DeVries said.

Of the 16 players on the WVU roster, 14 are newcomers, and the divide between their backgrounds is relatively even. Four players are transfers from Power-Five schools, six come from international backgrounds or lower-level college basketball and the other four or true freshman. That does not include sophomores Ofri Naveh and Aden Tagaloa-Nelson, who return for their second year with the Mountaineers.

DeVries has two main goals for Friday’s exhibition: win, and give those players as many game reps as possible inside the WVU Coliseum.

“We’re going to approach it to go win the game,” he said. “I mean, you want to try to do that, obviously. The second side of it [is] you’d also like to get everybody on the floor and get them some experience. We’ll see how it goes.”

University of Charleston comes into the scrimmage in a similar predicament with a first-year head coach, and a familiar one at that. Former Mountaineer James Long took over as the Golden Eagles head coach this offseason. Long, who played at WVU and worked as a member of Bob Huggins’ staff from 2017-19, also served as the head coach of Best Virginia, West Virginia’s alumni team for The Basketball Tournament (TBT), in recent years.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.