About West Virginia Mountaineers Men's Basketball
While West Virginia's most prominent sports successes seem to come on the gridiron, the Mountaineers have been a recent force to be reckoned with on the basketball court. Led by former Mountaineer Bob Huggins, West Virginia has become one of the premier programs in the country.
They have regularly appeared as a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, and even made deep runs a handful of times: WVU made a Final Four appearance in 2010 and has made the Sweet 16 three more times since. Though that Final Four run ended with a semifinals loss to Duke, it signaled the arrival of the Mountaineers on the national stage, a stage they have not vacated in the years since.
The most famous player to make his mark as a Mountaineer is "The Logo," Jerry West, nicknamed such because his silhouette is the logo for the NBA. The future Los Angeles Laker first rose to prominence as West Virginia's best player ever. Before 2010, the most successful era for the Mountaineers came under West, who led them to the tournament every year of his career, peaking with a national championship game appearance in 1959. West still holds a plethora of records for West Virginia, including points, rebounds, double-doubles, and 30-point games.
More recently, West Virginia has had two stars who subsequently went pro. Jevon Carter went from a great career in Morgantown to the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, where his tenacious defense (he holds the record for most steals in a Mountaineers uniform) has translated to a solid pro career.
Da'Sean Butler looked like a surefire NBA player before a tragic injury in West Virginia's national semifinals matchup against Duke in 2010 — he tore his ACL, sprained his MCL, and suffered two bone bruises. While he never made it to the NBA after that, he's carved out a solid professional basketball career overseas in Belgium, France, Germany, and Israel.
