Nov 28, 2025
PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER — WVU guard Treysen Eaglestaff carries the ball up the court against Pitt. – Benjamin Powell
MORGANTOWN — The prediction from WVU guard Treysen Eaglestaff is that it will all soon begin to click. Not just for himself, but for the entire WVU men’s basketball team.
When it does: “One day, we’re going to be a very scary team at West Virginia,” he said.
That was not the case last week, as the Mountaineers (5-2) dropped two consecutive games against Clemson and Xavier in the Charleston (S.C.) Classic, but Eaglestaff became an interesting note and topic after scoring a season-high 20 against the Musketeers.
First the note. Eaglestaff became the sixth different WVU player in seven games to lead the team in scoring with his 20 points against Xavier. WVU’s entire starting five has now had a turn at that honor, as well as freshman forward D.J. Thomas, who came off the bench to score 25 against Lafayette.
One side to that story is opposing coaches likely have no idea who will have the hot hand for WVU going into any game. The flip side is WVU head coach Ross Hodge doesn’t have any idea, either.
“We desperately need a secondary scorer to stand up,” Hodge said after the Xavier loss. “We need some consistency from some people. We haven’t had that consistent night-in and night-out other player.
“Chance (Moore) was really good (against Clemson). Harlan (Obioha) was really good against Pitt, but we need a little more consistency.”
That consistency, to some degree, was thought to fall on Eaglestaff’s shoulders heading into the season, but it didn’t work out that way until the Xavier game, in which his 20 points came on hard drives to the basket and getting himself to the free-throw line four times. While he did finish 0 for 5 from 3-point range, Eaglestaff had his best all-round game with five rebounds and four assists.
A transfer from North Dakota, Eaglestaff made a name for himself at the college level last season by dropping 40 points on Alabama and then 51 against South Dakota State in the Summit League tournament.
He was a 3-point specialist neatly wrapped up in a 6-foot-6 frame. Eaglestaff could pass and rebound and took a quick look at the NBA before he transferred to WVU this summer.
Yet through his first five games with the Mountaineers, Eaglestaff combined to make eight shots.
“It was a mental thing,” Eaglestaff admitted. “Being far from home and finding a role, I forgot to just play basketball.”
Hodge had mentioned earlier in the season Eaglestaff was also making adjustments to his game in learning to play a more physical style of defense. That played some sort of role in Eaglestaff’s transition.
“I think I’m the best defensive player I’ve ever been in my life,” Eaglestaff said. “They’ve taught me how to be a pro, at the end of the day. I’ve been evolving every aspect to my game, so I’m very grateful that I’m here.”
Hodge has six more nonconference games – two of them featured matchups against Wake Forest and Ohio State – to figure out who he can count on heading into Big 12 play.
WVU just got Moore eligible to play prior to the Clemson game. The Mountaineers will have another addition in 6-foot-9 forward Jackson Fields when they host Mercyhurst at 3 p.m. Sunday inside the Hope Coliseum. Fields sat out the first seven games with a wrist injury.
Hodge will have his full roster for the first time this season for that game, but likely will still be wondering how it will all piece together.
Who is going to make some shots consistently? Who can he even ask to be that “other” scorer to go along with guard Honor Huff?
There are a lot of candidates to choose from. Eaglestaff just put his name into the hat with his performance against Xavier.
“The shooting aspect, one day all of my shots are going to fall,” Eaglestaff said. “Until then, I just have to stay down and keep working and control what I can control.”
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