MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia's 2025-26 women's basketball team is already being bombarded with questions about how it will replace the departed JJ Quinerly, but that is the wrong angle to take as lookaheads to the season begin.
There is, of course, no good answer to such a question, because there's no way to make up for everything an all-time great -- which Quinerly certainly was -- brings to a team.
Instead, the focus should be on how this year's roster, which has a different construction than that of last year, will build its own path to success. That doesn't have to duplicate or mimic WVU's blueprint of a year ago.
There will, of course, be some carryover, even in the backcourt, where point Jordan Harrison and shooting guard Sydney Shaw return. Each have their own abilities, and figuring out how to put them together the best is what matters for this year.
For Shaw, a talented scorer who can shoot from distance and pull up in the mid-range, the emphasis is on complementing those abilities with drives to the hoop.
"We talk about 'rim first.'" she said of discussions with head coach Mark Kellogg concerning the expansion of her game. "A lot of the time, I think 'I can shoot, so why wouldn't I go ahead and shoot it?' But sometimes if I can't shoot it, my rim opportunity is gone. So I am thinking rim first and attacking, and that could open up my shot a lot more. And then being a facilitator more, and getting my assists up."
That last would be in support of Harrison, who led the team with 148 a year ago. Shaw had 52, but that was not a shortcoming, as she was expected to take advantage of scoring chances in support of Quinerly (20.4 ppg) and Harrison (13.4). Shaw's 11.4 points per outing were largely based on 3-pointers, which comprised two-thirds of her shot attempts a year ago, but this year that's anticipated to be more evenly distributed.
That will be different, and require some adjustments in the way Harrison and Shaw play, but it won't be a massive upheaval.
"I think Syd is a little more creative than what she was able to show last year," said Harrison, who also has designs on being more productive offensively. "I think she can get to a midrange shot and create her own shot pretty easily. So that might be a little bit of a change, but I think we are going to have a lot more ball movement.
"I don't think I'll be doing anything outside my character," the speedy point guard said. "I will try to get a little more production, but it won't be anything you haven't seen from me."
