WVU Point Guard Juwan Staten Named Big 12 Preaseason Player of the Year
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on October 02, 2014 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
West Virginia University senior guard Juwan Staten was tabbed the Big 12 Conference Preseason Player of the Year and a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, the conference office announced today. The awards were chosen by the league’s head 
coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
“I am truly honored to be chosen as the Big 12 Conference Preseason Player of the year,” said Staten. “I’m going to continue to work hard on my game to put myself in a position to reach my goal of winning Big 12 Conference Player of the Year honors at the end of the season.”
Staten is the top returning scorer in the Big 12 after leading the league with 18.1 points per game overall in 2013-14. The Dayton, Ohio, native also topped the conference in minutes played (37.3 mpg) while ranking second in assists (193) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8) and third in field goal percentage (48.6). He also averaged a league-best 19.9 points in Big 12 play.
“Juwan has certainly worked hard to put himself in a position to earn this honor,” said coach Bob Huggins. “He has put a lot of time in during the offseason and continues to be a leader on and off the court.”
Joining Staten on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team were Perry Ellis (Kansas), Georges Niang (Iowa State), Marcus Foster (K-State) and Buddy Hield (Oklahoma). Staten and Ellis were the only two unanimous selections. Ryan Spangler (Oklahoma), Le’Bryan Nash (Oklahoma State), Jonathan Holmes (Texas), Cameron Ridley (Texas) and Isaiah Taylor (Texas) earned Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors.
Guard Bryce Dejean-Jones of Iowa State was named Preseason Newcomer of the Year, while Cliff Alexander of Kansas and Myles Turner of Texas tied in voting for Preseason Freshmen of the Year.
Fans can get a preview of the 2014-15 Mountaineers at the Gold-Blue Debut on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. WVU will play one exhibition game on Sunday, Nov. 9 against Shepherd at 4 p.m. Season tickets are currently on sale by calling 1-800-WVU GAME or visiting WVUGAME.com.
