As much as I talk about professional basketball, boy oh boy do I love some college hoops. Every year I’m just enthralled with the new talent coming to the school, I love the college game atmosphere, and most importantly who doesn’t love March Madness? There are schools that I really enjoy watching play like Florida Gulf Coast University a few years ago, Kansas is always a solid program and Bill Self is an amazing head coach, and I love watching Duke games when there are fans just because of how seriously they take their basketball program. All these schools are fun to watch but they can never take the place of WVU as the #1 spot in my heart.
I’ve been watching WVU basketball forever. Like, literally forever. I started watching WVU hoops when Kevin Pittsnoggle was a freshman which was 18 years ago now. I’ve had my ups and my downs, my triumphs and defeats, my heights of bliss and the crashing sense of heartbreak. I’ve seen it all as my time as a fan, so I believe that I have a good sense of who is among the pantheon of WVU basketball greats. We’ve had many come and go, but some stand out above the rest. Without further ado, here is my WVU Basketball Mount Rushmore.
Jerry West
The Logo. Zeke from Cabin Creek. Mr. Clutch. Who better to start this off? Every good building needs a foundation, and I can’t think of someone more influential on the game of basketball than Jerry West. The man is LITERALLY the NBA logo, and for good reason too. Jerry West had three varsity seasons at WVU, because at the time in the late 50’s the NCAA didn’t let Freshman play varsity. In those three seasons West set the whole country on fire. He averaged 24.8 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in his time wearing the Old Gold and Blue. He shot over 50% for his entire WVU career, and these weren’t just layups. Another nickname for Jerry West was “Mr. Outside” because this dude would pull up from 30 feet before it was cool, and before there was a three point line. There wasn’t anything this guy couldn’t do, and because of that in 1960 he was the second overall pick in the NBA draft, behind some guy named Oscar Robertson who had a decent career I guess. West played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 14 seasons where he averaged 27 points, almost 6 rebounds, and almost 7 assists a game. He won one NBA championship and one Finals MVP award (in a series he didn’t win might I add) in his time as a player, and after a successful playing career, West went on to be a successful GM who masterminded the trade for Kobe Bryant to the Lakers, being a board member for the Golden State Warriors in their championship runs, and now is advising the Clippers. West was one of the first star players in the NBA, and has made WVU and the entire state of West Virginia proud.
Da’Sean Butler
Where do I start with Da’Sean? Butler was the first player I think I ever really took a liking to. Him wearing #1 looked cool in my 6th grade eyes. As far as his playing style, what was there to complain about? He had an outside jumper, he could attack the rim, he rebounded well, he had a smooth crossover, a hella clean jab step, and a good post game. In my eyes he was one of the best players in the entire country. Watching Butler play with guys like Truck Bryant, John Flowers, and Kevin Jones, it always seemed like an actual basketball family, instead of just some guys playing ball, which I still admire to this day. Butler averaged 14.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 44.8% from the field in his time at WVU, along with getting honored with 2nd Team All-American and 1st Team All-Big East in 2010. Butler was part of the great 2010 WVU team who won their first, and only, Big East tournament title, he had one of my favorite college basketball moments of all time with the shot he hit over Lance Stephenson to advance to the semi-finals of the Big East tournament, and made it to the Final Four in the March Madness tournament, knocking off the John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins led Kentucky powerhouse. Butler was also a part of the first time I ever had my heart broken over a sport. Butler suffered a torn ACL in the Final Four game against Duke, and when I say I cried, I mean I BAWLED my eyes out. My favorite player, on my favorite team, going down like that in his last college game. My heart is still recovering from the sadness, but Butler has gone on to do some great things. He was drafted by the Miami Heat as the 42nd overall pick, and has made a good living playing internationally playing in France, Germany, and most recently, Israel. I feel as if I’m still connected to Butler in a way because I listen to his Final Fourcast podcast with John Flowers and Kevin Jones which you can subscribe to here. Butler was inducted to the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 2020, and is still a pride and joy of this state.
Jevon Carter
I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who loves Jevon Carter’s game more than I do. Great defender, good playmaker, good scorer, good leader. This is the guy you want on your team. An absolute dog that will do anything it takes to win the game. We all know about #TreadmillMentality and #BulldogSZN, and Carter is the face of all of that. Carter spent four years at WVU and did not disappoint. He averaged 12.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.3 steals per game in his time at WVU. Carter holds the records for most steals in a career at WVU (330,) the single season steal leader for WVU with 118 in 2018, the single season assist leader for WVU with 246 also in 2018, and he is the ONLY 4x Big 12 All-Defensive Team member. He was a 2nd Team All-American in 2018, a 2x NABC Defensive Player of the Year, and the FIRST EVER Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Talk about a list, huh? Carter made the NCAA tournament every year he was at WVU and only lost 39 of his collegiate games. When his time at WVU was over, I was hoping and praying that he would land to the Celtics. A backcourt of him and Marcus Smart makes my mouth water. Since getting into the league he has played for the Memphis Grizzles and the Phoenix Suns, with WVU fans following him no matter where he plays. WVU and West Virginia love Jevon Carter for everything he did for our school and state, and for what he continues to do in the NBA. I, like many others, were so excited when it was announced that Carter had signed a three year, $11.5 million extension with the Suns. I think Carter will have a nice career in the NBA; he’s already made a name for himself on defense, and with playing behind Chris Paul, I don’t see any reason as to why he wouldn’t get even better after learning so much from Paul. Jevon Carter has made this entire state proud, and he will continue to support him no matter what.
Bob Huggins
Who better to round off this list than the man who is responsible for the past decade of success for the Mountaineer program? Huggins did play for WVU in the 70’s and was a decent player averaging about 10 points and 3 assists per game. After coaching at Akron, Cincinnati, and Kansas State, Huggins finally came home and took over the WVU program in 2007 after John Beilein left for Michigan. At the time of writing this, Bob Huggins has won nearly 300 games for WVU while maintaining a 64% win percentage. In his 14 year tenure with WVU he has only failed to make the NCAA Tournament 3 times, has made it to the Sweet 16 four times, and based on the team this year, will likely make the NCAA tournament again. Huggins has coached a lot of the WVU greats: the aforementioned Jevon Carter and Da’Sean Butler, along with Kevin Jones, John Flowers, Joe Mazzulla, Truck Bryant, Dax Miles, Miles McBride, Derek Culver, the list goes on and on. He has also created a reputation at WVU for being a place where you’ll earn your minutes by playing defense. “Press Virginia” took the nation by storm a few years ago, showing the entire country why you’ll have a rough go against WVU. This may be in my own head, but it seems like, since Bob Huggins took over the head coaching position, that fans are more excited to be at the games and cheer. I’ve been to a few games at the Coliseum since Huggins has been the coach and it was deafeningly loud. I could hardly hear myself think at some points, and I can’t help but think that the reason is Huggins. His demeanor strikes fear in most people, but it gets the people of West Virginia so fired up we can’t help but yell and burn couches. I’ve been very thankful that Huggins has been the head coach of a school I love. It is no secret that whenever he decides to hang up the coaching boots (hopefully not before hitting 1000 career wins,) that he will transition into being the Athletic Director at WVU. We love Huggy Bear, and I couldn’t imagine a list like this without him. It’s a great day to be a Mountaineer, and no one embodies that more than Bob Huggins.
Round The Game 
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