By JIM BUTTA

For The Times Leader

MORGANTOWN — The season isn’t a week old and Cameron native Logan Routt is already taking his lumps as West Virginia’s men’s basketball team opens preseason drills.

“I think we have the best frontcourt in the country,” Routt explained during Tuesday’s press conference. “Just look who we have back. Sags (Sagaba Konate), Esa (Ahmad) and Wes (Harris) are back and looking really good.

“Then, we added Derek (Culver), Andrew (Gordon), Taevon (Horton) and Emmitt (Matthews, Jr.). And, you can’t forget about Lamont (West). He really hit the weight room and has become a beast inside.”

All that depth would spell doom for some players, but not Routt, who saw action in 31 games a year ago, averaging 1.1 points and 2.1 rebounds.

“No, I don’t see it that way,” Routt said. “I’ve always has a lot of confidence in myself. (Having so many inside players) makes you work harder.

“But, it’s Coach (Bob Huggins) and our assistants that make the call as to who plays and who sits. So, when your name is called, you’d better be ready to play, or you might not hear your named called again.”

That wasn’t a problem last season as WVU finished 26-11 overall mark, finished second in both the regular season and tournament in the Big 12 Conference and reached the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row.

“Last year was great, but that was last year,” the 6-foot-11 post player said. “That was great and all, but our goals are much bigger this year.”

Goals which include a Big 12 Championship and, possibly, a national title.

“That’s why I came back,” Ahmad said. “I want to win a championship before I leave here.”

To accomplish that feat, however, the Mountaineers are going to have to replace two-time Big 12 and National Defensive Player of the Year Jevon Carter, as well as Daxter Miles Jr.

“They meant a lot to our team,” said Ahmad, who missed the first 16 games a year ago because of an academic problem. “But, this is college. You are always going to lose players. My freshman year we had some great players here, but when they left, the next group of seniors took over.”

And, Ahmad is looking to be that next senior leader.

“I’m not as vocal as some people,” the Cleveland native said. “But, if I see Huggs getting on someone, I’ll pull aside and tell them the right way coach wants something done and if that doesn’t work then I’ll go out and show them (the new players) how coach wants it done.”

Ahmad, who averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds, as well as Konate tested the NBA waters following last season, but elected to return to Morgantown and give the Mountaineers a formidable front line. Especially when teamed up with Harris or West.

“It’s too early to tell,” Huggins said. “We’ll miss JC and Dax. I mean, we have guards who can make shots, but they can also throw the ball in the stands. And, right now, they are throwing it in the stands more than making shots.”

One of those guards is Chase Harler.

The former Wheeling Central standout is coming off a standout summer, but has been slowed by a back injury.

“Confidence,” Huggins said. “He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. We’ve just got to get him healthy though.”

WVU opens the 2018-19 campaign against Penn State in a charity exhibition on Saturday, Nov. 3. The regular season opens up six days later when Buffalo pays a visit to the Coliseum for a 9 p.m. game.