There were friends, family and other supporters in the crowd, some the WVU sophomore hadn’t seen in quite a while. The smile pre- and postgame seemingly couldn’t leave his face after Saturday’s 75-64 win over Youngstown State. He’s averaging almost a double-double per game and had 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead the No. 25-ranked Mountaineers over the Penguins.

“Derek has grown up a lot. I think he’s more serious about his game,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said. “He’s done a great job in the classroom. Actually, he did a good job a year ago in the classroom.

“Derek is like all of us. We all grow up at some point and time in our life. If we don’t, it’s an awful rough life. Derek is not late for practice, class, study hall or any of that stuff anymore.”

The 6-foot-10, 255-pound Youngstown native was at peace with the game he grew up playing since people noticed his enormous height advantage. People chirped in his ear, telling him about his untapped potential. It fell on deaf ears as the talented Warren G. Harding center started to dominate not only this area, but others around the state. College basketball recruiters took heed of the teenager’s talent.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes West Virginia’s Derek Culver, left, looks for a teammate on Saturday against Youngstown State.

He was eventually dismissed from the WGH team midway through his senior year for academic shortcomings, leading to Culver attending Brewster Academy in New Hampshire for one season before heading to WVU.

However, he came to the Mountaineers and was indefinitely suspended in November of 2018 for a violation of team rules. He was reinstated in December of 2018 and all that anyone has heard about Culver since then is basketball.

“I feel like over the years I more and more want to be involved with the game,” Culver said. “In my younger days, I wasn’t playing because I wanted to. It was because somebody told me I could actually be good at the sport if I kept working on it. Humby speaking, everything turned out to be alright.”

His mother, Sharon White, and the rest of his family have been by Culver’s side throughout everything.

“My mom has been with me 110 percent,” he said. “My family comes first. They’ve always been the first ones in my corner — first one in, last one to leave when it comes to dealing with me. My mom, she gets the utmost credit when it comes to me.”

YSU coach Jerrod Calhoun likes what he’s seen from the young man from Youngstown.

“I’m a big Derek Culver fan because he’s matured so much throughout the process,” Calhoun said.

YSU junior forward Naz Bohannon, who played AAU basketball with Culver, saw the potential, but not the passion, from the former WGH standout.

“Back then, the only thing he lacked was a motor,” Bohannon said. “Now, I can see it. He’s fell in love with the game, if you ask me. That was his biggest downside. I’m happy for him, but there’s no friends on the court.”

Friends. Sometimes it’s OK to say no to them. That’s the advice Culver has if he were talking to the young people in Youngstown, looking to follow in his footsteps to play collegiate basketball. It’s advice he says he wishes he would’ve heeded a couple of years ago.

He’s seen former WGH standouts follow that path, like University of Kentucky football standout Lynn Bowden. There’s another Youngstown native, Shakem Johnson, who toiled through the junior college ranks. He’s playing for Tennessee State. Johnson, a starter for the Tigers, had a season-high 27 points the other day. Bowden, who won the Paul Hornung Award, has declared for the NFL.

“It’s alright to miss the parties,” Culver said. “There’s a lot of opportunities to get in trouble. There’s opportunities to do something positive in Youngstown. I’d tell the kids it’s alright to not hang out every night, stay out late.

“Focus on you and what you want to do. It can be done.”

Culver’s path seems destined for the NBA, but he said he’ll have to concentrate on his ball-handling to get there.

Huggins said his sophomore center has the potential to get there.

“Derek has a world of ability that he hasn’t tapped into yet,” Huggins said. “If Derek can be a 6-foot-10, 260-pound guy who can score and pass it the way he can pass it, and can stay in front of guards, he makes himself very marketable. I think it’s good for him.

“You’re taking for granted that Derek grew up. Derek has come a long, long way, I’m telling you. He’s come so far, as a person, as a player, as a teammate, he’s come a long, long way.”

Culver wants to keep making strides, being a positive role model for those young people in Youngstown.

“If I keep working and showing positive examples to kids and the city, I feel like they’re going to buy in,” he said.