Mountaineers playing for respect
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MORGANTOWN -- Here's the most pressing question of the day for the West Virginia University basketball team:
Do the Mountaineers have anything left to play for in the second half of the Big 12 season with a 3-6 conference record and 8-14 overall with games at Texas and Iowa State coming up for a team that has not yet won away from the Coliseum?
The answer to that is a resounding "Yes".
And what's that, you say?
Respect.
The one thing WVU basketball always has had is respect. Listen, if you will, to BYU coach Mark Pope after beating the Mountaineers 86-73 on Saturday evening in the Coliseum:
"It was a super-special treat for us to work into this gym. The home of 'The Logo' and Rod Thorn and Hot Rod Hundley and this incredible fanbase, it was super-special for us to come in here."
Those statues of Jerry West, "The Logo", and Hot Rod Hundley stand for something more than just two great basketball players.
They have played a large role in the history of basketball, along with Thorn, both college and professional from back into the 1950s to this very day. West was one of the greatest players in both college and professional history as he began the NBA logo and reached the Hall of Fame as a player and is now almost a shoo-in to be added a second time as an executive.
Thorn made the Hall, too, as an executive while Hundley became an NBA broadcasting legend while working in BYU's home, Utah, with the Jazz.
Hundley preceded West as a Mountaineer legend. West had the difficult job of following Hundley, and Thorn had the toughest job of all, being the third of three West Virginia natives to reach such heights in their state.
West Virginia may not have any NCAA championships to claim in the sport, but it's always been considered a member of the college basketball elite; if not for its championships, then for its approach to the game and for the avid enthusiasm of its fans, who turned a trip to Morgantown into so much more than just a road game for visiting teams.
It hasn't changed, and this team's obligation from here on is to see that it doesn't -- to keep the fire burning as it was in the Coliseum on Saturday night or as it was on the night they sprung the trap on No. 3 Kansas.
That home atmosphere, along with some pretty good teams, have made this less than a favorite stop on Kansas' trip to the Big 12 championship after Big 12 championship.
Even BYU, making its first appearance in the Coliseum ever, was taken in by the atmosphere from those statues on the outside to the players who represent them on the floor on the inside to the fans that have the Coliseum bursting with noise and the rabid faith that gives the Coliseum its reputation.
"Man, that was a fun game," guard Spencer Johnson said. "First time for me and I think a lot of the guys. Super fun. West Virginia has been playing really, really well at home. You know, Kansas, Texas, Cincinnati, so we knew we had a job coming in here to take care of our business."
Certainly, it isn't fun for fans to come follow a losing team, but the fact is that the Mountaineers have gained their opponent's respect while losing due to the problems they have faced all year and the fact that haven't shied away from anything, just kept trying to move forward.
"What Josh has done has been incredible," BYU coach Mark Pope said. "I know it's not the traditional record that West Virginia feels it has, but think about all the turmoil. I'm sure you guys reported it sensibly. And all the change, not having healthy bodies, not having his guys on the floor.
"I think Kerr Kriisa and Jesse Edwards have just played a couple of games together. For them to have gone through all that and then roll in here and beat Kansas, which speaks for itself. Then to beat Cincinnati, which we know firsthand is a great team, and to beat Texas, which we know firsthand is a great team, is pretty special.
"They are certainly headed in the right direction and are a terrific, terrific basketball team."
So, there is a goal. It no longer is to win the Big 12. It probably isn't to win the post-season Big 12 Tournament, although that is left for them as their only door into the NCAA Tournament.
What's left is for them to go through the remainder of the year proudly, playing hard and pushing to reach the one thing WVU has always seemed to have gotten -- respect.