West Virginia Mountaineers sophomore forward Devin Ebanks knew it was just a matter of time until Kevin Jones would blossom into an all-court player who is capable of chipping in double-doubles game in and game out. Ebanks’ insight on Jones was shown inside the WVU Coliseum Sunday, when Jones posted a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds in 104-82 exhibition win over Mountain State.

“He’s our garbage man,” Ebanks said. “He does everything down low for us. KJ is our utility man.”

Jones, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound reserve sophomore forward from Mount Vernon, N.Y., is soft spoken off the court, but on the court, he lets his game do the talking. “I just try to go out and provide whatever the team needs, whether it’s rebounding, stealing, blocking, guarding the other team’s best player -- whatever they need,” he said.

“Everybody knows KJ is a little quiet, but he works hard,” Ebanks said. “We just all told him that he’s got to get a little anger in him. He didn’t have to much anger in him.”

Against Mountain State, it was Jones who time and again finished plays by scoring down low after his teammates’ fed him the ball. It was Jones who grabbed four offensive rebounds and put the ball right back in the basket. And was Jones who stepped outside and sunk a three-pointer, putting an exclamation point on his newly-emerging full-court presence.

“I guess I’m just trying to become more of a complete player,” Jones said. “Last year, I got a lot of garbage points and this year I’m just trying to expand my game a little bit more.”

In all, Jones went eight of 10 from the field, including one of two from three-point range and four of six from the free throw line. For added measure, Jones also contributed two blocks and an assist.

“It’s good to be able to bring someone in who can change the game,” said Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins. “He does what you ask him to do.”

During a stretch last season lasting from the season‘s start in November, up until late February, Jones was still undergoing a learning curve, while transitioning to the college game. But during a six-game swing starting against Notre Dame and ending with Louisville, Jones racked up 76 points and 42 rebounds.

“That’s when started to click for us,” Ebanks said, whose own game escalated during the same period.

Huggins saw Jones’ skills progressing and explained the mental part of his game underwent an important change. The utility-like dirty work that Jones contributes has become second nature to him. “He does it so much he doesn’t think about it anymore,” said Huggins.

During the off-season, Jones bulked up by adding on another 35 pounds to help withstand the banging that often takes place between players beneath the basket. His strength increase is paying dividends even before the season begins.

“It’s helped him a lot,” Ebanks said. “He’s down there banging, moving guys out of the way. I’ve seen him physically move somebody out of the way.”

Players such as Ebanks, senior forward Da’Sean Butler and junior shooting guard Casey Mitchell will be expected to carry the majority of the scoring load this season for the Mountaineers. But if Jones can provide WVU an additional scoring threat who can hit from multiple places on the floor, he will take pressure off of his teammates who may draw extra defensive attention and double teams.

“Offensively, you’ve got to respect his shot,” Ebanks said. “KJ, he’s been able to shoot that three, it’s just we haven’t had confidence in him. This year, he’s had confidence and he’s knocking it down.”

Jones realizes how his versatility can add this dimension to the team. “Hopefully, I’ll become another threat when team’s focus on Devin [Ebanks] or Da’Sean [Butler] or whoever is scoring at the time.”

And if that happens, Ebanks said, “It stretched the defense a lot. They’ve got to worry about me, Da’Sean, Casey, Kevin -- we’ve got a lot of weapons on this team.”

Currently, Jones is the sixth man off the bench for the Mountaineers, but that fact does not deter from his value to the team at all. “I’ve very rarely started my best five guys,“ Huggins said. “I’ve never put a whole lot of stock in who starts. It’s all about who finishes a game.”

Briefly

Mountain State forward Alvin Mitchell scored a game-high 33 points in the exhibition. His teammate, forward Nick Aldridge netted 29 points, against WVU. Loughborough, England native Paul Sturgess, a 7-foot-8 center for MSU, played four minutes in the game and had a rebound, but did not score. WVU forward Wellington Smith, who is 6-foot-7, had the job of guarding Sturgess once he checked into the game. “There’s no easy way to guard a 7-8 guy,” Smith said with a laugh. “I can’t believe he was actually born to be 7-8. I was smiling. I was like wow, God made this. I just couldn’t believe how big he was.”

Ebanks had 19 points and 10 rebounds against MSU. Mitchell scored 19 points and had three rebounds. Butler fell just shy of a triple double, posting 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

All 15 Mountaineers played in the game. Point guard Joe Mazzulla remained in street clothes and appears to have not yet fully recovered from a season-ending shoulder injury that occurred last year. “He couldn’t play today,” Huggins said. “We got to start playing him to get some of the rust off.”

Freshman forward Deniz Kilicli, of Istanbul, Turkey, did play for 19 minutes of the exhibition. Kilicli finished with eight points, six rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal. However, the NCAA ruled Kilicli ineligible to play in WVU’s first 20 games due to him participating on a team in Turkey that had a professional player on its roster, prior to arriving in Morgantown.

WVU opens it’s regular season on Nov. 14, at home, against Loyola University Maryland.