Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Over the first few weeks of West Virginia’s season, Treysen Eaglestaff struggled offensively, trying to find his groove and his role in the Mountaineers’ offense.
However, over the last two weeks, the senior has appeared to find his game. Against Coppin State on Wednesday, he scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out two assists.
For Eaglestaff, it has been a combination of hard work and his coaches’ trust.
“I put a lot of work in, and Coach (Phil) Forte emphasizes you should be confident by how much work you put in,” he said. “So I’m in here every day. Do what I need to do to be the best player I can and just try to get 1% better every day. So, I mean, if I keep working, I’m going to be more and more confident, which the work’s never bothered me, so I’m going to keep doing it.”
The 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard is not used to slumps like this and knew he had to lean on his teammates and coaching staff to get back on track.
“Playing with such good players, I mean, it’s a blessing,” Eaglestaff said. “Obviously, having these guys behind me, I don’t have all that weight on my shoulders. I still have a lot individually of defense and rebounding, but definitely a lot different than what I’m used to. I take it back just day by day, coming into practice, make sure I have good practices. And then obviously when it comes to games, just doing something better, watching film. Any little thing I did wrong, I want to watch it and see what I can do better. So I mean, I’ve definitely helped a lot with coaches, helped a lot with that. And also teammates just helped me, encouraging me to shoot the ball and just be myself at the end of the day because they know what I can do.”
Despite not always scoring, the Bismarck, North Dakota, native tries to impact games in other ways.
“That’s definitely the biggest thing since coming here,” he said. “Just realizing how to win and how to be a winner at the end of the day instead of just trying to go off and go for 20 a night or just try to get them up and make sure that we get the ball in the hoop at some point. Knowing that any of these guys can do the same thing I can do at a single night, just realizing doing the little things that matter into winning. Those seniors I had when I was playing North Dakota, try to be one of those guys being vets and just try to make the team better any way possible.”
Eaglestaff’s focus on fundamentals and doing the little things has paid off. His efforts on both ends of the floor, combined with the support of coaches and teammates, have helped him regain confidence and impact games in multiple ways.
“Trey’s been playing a good floor game,” WVU head coach Hodge said after Wednesday’s win. “He’s been playing a really good floor game. I think he led us in rebounding the other night, if I’m not mistaken, in the Mercyhurst game. And he’s been defending. He’s been aggressive and made a couple shots today, which I know felt really good for him. And like I’ve said, man, he puts in a lot of work. He puts in so much work, as does a lot of these other guys. And I think it just speaks to he’s bought into doing the things that we’re asking him to do, you know, and he’s doing a lot of things that can impact winning. And it’s only a matter of time before he really has a breakout game, in my opinion.”
For Eaglestaff, the focus remains on staying consistent, learning from each practice and game, and helping his team in any way possible—whether that’s scoring, defending, or setting up his teammates for success.
Photo Credit: Dale Sparks- All-Pro Photography- WVU Athletics
