West Virginia Basketball: Derek Culver officially reinstated, practicing with the team today

West Virginia freshman Derek Culver has been reinstated and has rejoined his teammates, after being suspended prior to the Mountaineers’ trip to Myrtle Beach for the Myrtle Beach Invitational in November for an unspecified violation of team rules.

The 6’10” forward was a member of the 2017 signing class, but ended up taking the prep school route similar to former Mountaineer forward Elijah Macon and enrolled at Brewster Academy. Culver reclassified and signed with the Mountaineers again as part of the 2018 group, and is the highest rated player in the class according to 247Sports. He didn’t see any action in West Virginia’s charity exhibition game against the Penn State Nittany Lions or the season opener against the Buffalo Bulls before being suspended.

The news of Culver’s reinstatement comes as a welcome surprise to Mountaineer fans after what has been a tumultuous start to the season. Sagaba Konate’s on-again, off-again status has left West Virginia lacking a presence at the rim, but Culver should be able to help add some strength to the position.