MORGANTOWN — They came in as a collection of strangers, and in terms of basketball prowess, they were a group of unheralded individuals.

It’s still been less than a full calendar year that Javon Small, Toby Okani, Joseph Yesufu and Eduardo Andre have been on campus, yet they seemingly have made the most of the short time.

They will be celebrated at 5 p.m. today inside the Coliseum, as WVU (18-12, 9-10 Big 12) hosts high-scoring UCF on Senior Day.

“It’s a little bit unique, because it’s our first year and every senior’s first year,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “From a coaching standpoint, it’s an appreciation of these guys willing to come and spend their last year to play for us and believe in what we were trying to get started.”

What DeVries was starting was the rebuilding of a program from the ground floor, and doing so as a first-year head coach at the Power Five Conference level.

“People probably didn’t expect a whole lot,” was how Yesufu put it point blank about WVU’s expectations early on.

Yesufu admits he saw something different, though. He didn’t see a group of guys who were simply brought in to stabilize a program that had gone 9-23 the season before they arrived on campus.

He saw a group of winners.

“I saw all the work that everyone on the team put in day in and day out,” he said. “I knew this team was going to be special.”

WVU enters today’s game in a solid position to reach the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid.

That, in itself, is quite a statement considering the state of the program a year before.

But it doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t tell the story of WVU losing its top shooter in Tucker DeVries to a shoulder injury after just eight games.

It doesn’t tell the story of how a roster of mostly overlooked players walked into Allen Fieldhouse and handed WVU its first-ever road win at Kansas.

There were other unexpected results, too, like overtime wins against Gonzaga and Arizona, as well as treating a packed Coliseum crowd to a victory against then-No. 2 Iowa State.

It’s here we go back to last April, when coach DeVries was piecing the roster together. He said he sold the idea of winning to his new players.

Not the idea of continuing a winning tradition, but rather the thought of coming into a new opportunity with the willpower to win when few expected them to.

“Part of it was believing in themselves and then believing in the parts we were putting in around them,” DeVries said. “At the end of the day, winning is a mindset. I think we told them that everybody else is coming here, because they want to win, too. When everybody has that same mentality, it gives you a chance.”

Small quickly developed into the team leader and then kept developing into one of the top collegiate point guards in the country.

“What he’s done for this team this year, it may be as good an individual season I’ve been a part of. It’s right up there,” DeVries said.

Okani gave some versatility. Yesufu gave an offensive spark off the bench.

Andre gave WVU his size and toughness, with that toughness being on full display in Tuesday’s 71-69 over Utah.

He took an elbow to the face late in the first half, only to come back out and play in the second half with his nose filled with gauze.

“There was no way I thought he was going back in that game,” DeVries said of Andre. “Even coming out of the locker room, I think the guys were like, ‘Hey, that’s pretty cool. He’s going to fight it out.’ That type of wanting to play for your teammates, I think it gave us a boost.”

DeVries would like another boost against the Knights (16-14, 7-12), because a WVU win would assure the Mountaineers, at the very least, the No. 8 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament and a first-round bye.

There are a number of different scenarios, including what could be a five-way tie for sixth place, but WVU can’t fall below the No. 8 seed with a win.

A loss and WVU could fall as far as the No. 10 seed.

The problem? UCF can put up a lot of points. In winning three of their last four games, the Knights have averaged 80 points in those three wins and they are the fourth-highest scoring team in the Big 12.

“They can really score,” DeVries said. “They are putting up huge numbers offensively and are playing well down the stretch. They are hard to keep off that scoreboard.”