WVU hoops needing a little Christmas magic after many, many body blows
It seems like such a long time ago.
Yet West Virginia University’s basketball team was in the NCAA tournament as recently as this year. March 16, to be exact, in Birmingham against Maryland.
Of course, the Mountaineers have experienced quite a lot of success through the years.
They’ve also had clunker seasons. The season before, for instance, WVU finished 16-17 overall and 4-14 in Big 12 play. And that was with players like Taz Sherman, Sean McNeil, Jalen Bridges, Gabe Osabuohien, etc.
There was the 2018-19 season in which WVU went 15-21. You might remember the falldown concluded with a loss in the CBI tournament to Coastal Carolina. Names then were Emmitt Matthews, Derek Culver, Lamont West, etc. Head-scratching.
Yet around those were seasons with 19 wins, 21 wins and so on. The 2017-18 season boasted a 26-11 record and deep Big 12 and NCAA runs. The year before was even better at 28-9 and the same deep conference and NCAA runs.
On and on I could go. Under Gale Catlett, John Beilein and Bob Huggins there was plenty of WVU success. I’ve watched, covered and observed the Mountaineers since 1975.
Yet I’ve never seen a WVU team as snake bitten as this 4-6 team. Merry Christmas to it, eh?
When it was announced starting center Jesse Edwards will be out for four weeks with a fractured right wrist, I joined the rest of Mountaineer Nation in asking, “What else can possibly go wrong?”
It’s truly been stunning. WVU went from a possible Final Four team to what is more and more difficult to watch.
The only season in memory that comes anywhere close to this is Catlett’s last, 2001-02. Catlett didn’t even finish that season, bolting and leaving his nephew Drew to guide the team. It was the year of Jonathan Hargett.
WVU began that season 7-2 – with Hargett hitting two game-winning shots – before everything fell apart. The Mountaineers lost 18 of the final 19 and went 1-15 in the Big East.
There were allegations of improper promises and payments to Hargett. Dan Dakich took the head coaching job after Catlett bolted, but turned around and went back to Bowling Green within eight days.
The NCAA found no wrongdoing on the part of the university, but those were certainly dark days.
This season’s problems are certainly not of Josh Eilert. He’s done his best to keep WVU together after the Huggins problems and resignation.
Yet consider everything. Huggins’ departure wasn’t just of a coach, but a Hall of Fame coach. Schools don’t employ Hall of Fame coaches often.
And when he went, even after players allegedly said they’d stay for Eilert, there was an exodus.
Gone is Tre Mitchell to Kentucky, where he’s averaging 12.7 points. Gone is Joe Toussaint to Texas Tech, where he’s averaging 14.4 points. Gone is James Okonkwo to North Carolina, where he’s played in five games. Gone is Mo Wague to Alabama, where he’s played in 10 games and averages 5.7 points.
Then, when some stabilization seemed to take place, gone was Jose Perez, who is averaging 13 points for Arizona State.
It’s been tough to watch. Good news came (tweeted first by yours truly) when Kerr Kriisa decided to stay – yet the NCAA suspended him for the first part of the season. WVU landed Akok Akok, but he suffered an emergency health situation in the charity game and is just recently back. Transfer RaeQuan Battle’s waiver request was denied. When his appeal was too, the courts stepped in.
Yet Battle couldn’t play at UMass in his much-anticipated debut because of flu-like symptoms.
Then came the news of Edwards’ injury.
As I’ve said in a previous blog, I’ll be rooting for this bunch to come together and rally. I mean, how can you root against them after absorbing so many body blows? It’s like all Santa left was coal.
But Christmas is a time of miracles. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see one here. I’ll certainly be hoping.
Merry Christmas folks.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.
