Maybe it was baseball, but former Orioles manager and Hall of Famer Earl Weaver used to talk about addition to subtraction. Get rid of some complaining deadweight and you are better for it.

West Virginia saw 6-foot-10 Majiec Bender transfer to Mercer and allergic-to-defense Teddy Allen transfer to Wichita State. D’Angelo Hunter, who came from a junior college, also left without playing much at all.

With 2017 to 2018 seniors Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles completing their eligibility, five members of last season’s team are gone from the roster.

Sagaba Konate, the mercurial 6-foot-8 sophomore, has entered the NBA evaluation program to find out his worth to the pros. He did not hire an agent, so he can return to college basketball next year.

There are three players remaining on the roster who have never really contributed. Logan Routt, a center from Cameron, and Chase Harler and Brandon Knapper are two guards from in-state. All three are believed to be returning.

Those who did contribute from last year’s team and should be back are guard James “Beetle” Bolden, forward Esa Ahmad, forward/guard Wesley Harris and forward Lamont West.

There are six recruits waiting in the wings, several of whom could be legitimate college players.

Jordan McCabe is only 5-foot-10 and weighs 155 pounds, but is an adroit ball handler and can make foul shots.

Emmitt Matthews is a lean, 6-foot-6 forward, probably recruited because he can add force to the pressure defense.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native Trey Doomes is 6-foot-3, 185 pounds and athletic enough to do more than one thing.

Derek Culver, at 6-foot-8 and 205 pounds, dunked his way through prep school at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. He plays inside defense as well.

Jermaine Haley is listed at 6-foot-7 and is as thin as Matthews. He played last season at Odessa Junior College in the basketball wilds of Texas.

And Andrew Gordon is listed at 6-foot-10, 235 pounds and played at Northwest Florida State, a junior college program.

Addition by subtraction helps immediately. Having five players returning who did worthwhile things last season is another positive.

If two or three of the 2018 to 2019 recruits can add zest to the press and thicken the depth, then the Mountaineers should be able to play the same disruptive style of defense that has shaken some teams in the past.