Intensity, grit and in-your face defense have come to define Bob Huggins' basketball teams. A mastermind of defensive strategy and winner of 639 career games, Huggins has a lengthy track record of devising stifling defensive schemes -- all of them man-to-man in principle -- that stymie opposing offenses.

Huggins’ brand of defense first earned national attention back when he led the Cincinnati Bearcats all the way to the Final Four, in 1992. That Bearcats team, which featured the likes of future NBA stars Nick Van Exel and Corie Blount, as well as current WVU assistant Erik Martin, gained notoriety for its trademark full-court pressure defense.

This year’s WVU team is hard at work installing Huggins’ full-court press that just may resemble some vintage moments of the coach’s defenses, at Cincinnati.

Senior forward Da’Sean Butler, like all of the Mountaineers, hopes the addition of full-court pressure will pay off for WVU. “It worked out pretty well in practice. That would be cool to try something new like that -- not many people have seen us run it in games ,” said Butler. “That would just be something else that you have that other teams don’t know about. It’s unique in it’s own way.”

Huggins downplayed the potential of the latest tweak he is putting in the Mountaineers’ repertoire. “If you’d have watched us yesterday, you’d say no,” he said. “We’re going to try. The bottom line is you got to win and so we’re going to do whatever it takes to try to win.”

Backtracking to similarities previously seen at Cincinnati, Butler said the team has gone back and watched film of the Bearcats, from the 1990s. “We watched a little bit last year,” Butler said. “He [Huggins] showed us things.”

This year is Huggins third season leading WVU. Immediately after his arrival in Morgantown, a transition to increased athleticism showed up in recruiting, with the staff bringing in a stable of players who could perform in similar ways to Huggins’ tenacious players of the past.

“We were not really as athletic as of those guys were, but they had a lot of NBA players,” said Butler. “We had six-seven players [last year]. You got me, [former guard] Alex [Ruoff] and some other non-athletic players running the press, so it didn’t really work out as much.”

That will likely change and in a hurry.

“But this year, we have a lot of athletes and a lot of talented players,” Butler said.

Kevin Jones, a sophomore forward who earned significant playing time in a reserve role a year ago, also sees an increase of depth and athleticism that can help, especially with full-court defense.

“We have a lot of big bodies and a lot of athleticism,” Jones said. “We can just throw people in there and it won’t be a drop-off at all. I think that’s why we’re using it [the press] more this year.”

And more specifically in terms of the bodies, 13 is the amount Huggins says he’d like to use, Jones sees versatility among the depth of his teammates -- an asset that creates match-up problems for opponents. “We have a lot of people that can play different positions and still get the job done.”

As in any full-court press, getting pressure up front with guards is vital to its success. The Mountaineers should thrive at that position, having two experienced point guards on hand in junior Joe Mazzulla, who red shirted last season due to a shoulder injury, and sophomore Truck Bryant, recently reinstated from a team suspension.

Bryant, never shying from telling it like it is, said, “I don’t care if he’s one of the best point guards in the country -- we’re going to pressure the ball and we’re just going to pressure the ball the whole game.”

Full-court pressure defense is commonly found in high school ranks and on AAU circuits around the country.

“It’s just been good going back to pressing,“ Bryant said. “That’s the only thing I did in AAU -- press -- with the guards that I played with.”

Jones is no stranger to such a defense either. “At my high school, we did a lot of pressing. It’s not that weird to me,” he said. “Once we all get used to it, we got enough athleticism that we can press people. I think we’ll be good at it.”

Only a handful of teams, Louisville comes to mind, execute the full court press. Even less find positive results from extending the defense the length of the entire floor.

Jones explained, “It makes the other team have to play a little bit faster and maybe play a little bit out of control. -- that’s what you want them to do -- get them out of a rhythm if they’re in one.”

Of course, like a blitz in football, playing full-court defense is not without its risks or increased physical toll on players. “You don’t want to run everybody into the ground, pressing,” Butler said. “Hopefully it works. If it doesn’t, then we’re in a bigger hole we have to work ourselves out of going back to man-to-man.”

Jones remarked about the type of shape the Mountaineers will need to be in to try this new style of defense: “You got to be in shape to do anything in our practice. We’ve definitely been working at it and I think we’ll get it by the time the season starts.”

Bryant revealed the press will feature man-to-man principles, as does every defense Huggins dials up, but said the full-court defense could have some variations, as well. “We’ve honestly been switching it up. We’ve been doing a lot,” he said.

Last season, WVU finished No. 1 in the Big East in scoring defense, holding opponents to a measly 61.8 points per game. The majority of that success came from half court defense, which is definitely an area the Mountaineers are still focusing on, while adding in the full-court looks.

“We’re working on becoming the half court defensive team that we were last year because we were a very good half court defensive team,” said Butler. “We’re just trying to expand that to a full court defensive team. That’s just another chapter we’re trying to add to the book.”

Like Cincinnati, WVU recently debuted its brand new all-black uniforms, but with gold lettering. And like those uniforms worn by the Final Four Bearcats, the Mountaineers should soon debut their new full-court pressure defense. It’s all in an effort to do whatever it takes to win games, as Huggins said.

Bryant believes that is exactly what the team will do this season. “I think we should win the Big East and I think this is a Final Four team, honestly,” he said.