MORGANTOWN —
West Virginia University has lost another men’s basketball player, sophomore Pat Forsythe leaving the program, apparently to transfer to Akron.
Losing players in one way or another has been the biggest obstacle coach Bob Huggins has faced since taking over for John Beilein, although it did not deter him from taking the team to the brink of a national championship game before losing the national semifinal to Duke.
Still, it’s been a battle to keep people around, be they members of the team or recruits. Six players have transferred in Huggins’ five years.
Transferring out were Will Thomas, Dee Proby, Dan Jennings (leaving the court mid-game), Dalton Pepper and Tommie McCune. While you could hardly challenge the Dream Team with that group, it includes some usable players.
Making putting together a championship team even tougher is the fact that the entire 2010 recruiting class of guard Noah Cottrill, center David Nyarsuk and forward Darrious Curry never played a minute for the Mountaineers.
Forsythe is not even the first loss since last season as WVU’s most highly touted recruit, 6-8, 250-pound forward Elijah Macon, did not qualify after playing at Huntington Prep last season and has returned to prep school, intent on enrolling at WVU next season.
Forsythe’s departure probably didn’t hit Huggins out of the blue as there were indications last year that he was unhappy. He took a medical redshirt this past season for a stress fracture in his right ankle, which limited him to just seven games while averaging 2.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 11.4 minutes.
That was the same ankle Forsythe broke late in his senior year of high school in Brunswick, Ohio.
Forsythe will be returning to his home area, a move probably triggered from homesickness as it brings him back closer to his father, with whom he had a unique relationship.
His father was blind and had custody of him, but their existence was nomadic.
“Growing up, I never really had a stable environment and never really had a lot of material things; we were always in financial trouble,” Pat Forsythe explained.
But it didn’t matter.
“My dad has always been there for me and cared for me throughout my life,” Forsythe stressed.
They made do with what they had.
“He made sure that there was always food on the table and clothing on our backs, but that was about it,” Forsythe said. “As a result, I always wanted to go to my friends’ houses because they had things to do … like video games, basketball hoops and ping pong tables.”
Now they will be reunited.
Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com. Follow on Twitter @bhertzel.
Bob Herzel
Forsythe apparently headed to Akron
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