Better Days Ahead
March 24, 2004 11:49 AM | General
March 24, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite losing to Rutgers 67-64 in the second round of the NIT on Monday night, the West Virginia University men’s basketball program took a major step forward in John Beilein’s second season guiding the Mountaineer program.
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| West Virginia's Joe Herber gets tied up trying to drive to the basket Monday night at Rutgers. (AP photo) |
WVU’s 17-14 overall record and two post-season wins have accelerated the hopes and aspirations of Mountaineer fans that just two seasons ago witnessed their program disintegrate into an 8-20 campaign in 2002.
“I think it was April 18th when I got the job and by May 1 if anybody said that over two years we’d be over .500 and have a couple of postseason wins I’d say they were absolutely crazy,” said Beilein.
That improvement was evident to Rutgers, which had an easy time defeating West Virginia by 21 points just a month earlier.
“That first game was an easy game. We smacked them,” said Rutgers freshman guard Quincy Douby. “But this game they made it real hard. We had to work for every shot.”
“My hat goes off to West Virginia because they didn’t back down,” said Rutgers coach Gary Waters.
In addition to a 14-15 record last year that saw the Mountaineers return to the Big East tournament, Beilein has engineered a 31-29 mark during a two-year period with a team made up primarily of freshmen and sophomores playing in the Big East.
Don’t forget, the Big East had six teams make the NCAA tournament this season and four go to the NIT; three are still alive in the Sweet 16 and three are still playing in the NIT.
“To get here right now is a credit to everybody: the coaching staff and the kids,” said Beilein. “I told the kids after the game that there were some rough spots and I think people sort of counted us out but these are tough kids. They learned to be tougher this year.”
For the second straight year, Beilein will have a starting lineup returning intact. Joe Herber, Tyrone Sally, J.D. Collins, D’or Fischer, Kevin Pittsnogle, Patrick Beilein, Tyler Relph and Frank Young got the bulk of the minutes this season.
In two years Herber has already started 60 career basketball games. Collins has made 59 career starts and Pittsnogle 55. Also, Patrick Beilein has played in all 60 games over a two-year period as the team’s top backup coming off the bench.
“I don’t worry about those four because they know how they got here,” said Beilein.
Yet the mantle of leadership for next year’s team will be passed on to seniors Tyrone Sally, D’or Fischer and Duriel Price.
“Tyrone and D’or are seniors and if they want to make things happen and they want to play at another level in either Europe or the NBA they have to take things up to a different level,” said Beilein.
Sally played strong in the NIT scoring 17 points in back-to-back games against Kent State and Rhode Island and contributing 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the loss to Rutgers Monday.
“The last time Tyrone Sally played here I think he had zero assists and five turnovers,” said Beilein. “He’s really benefited from this increased playing time playing the three-man. I’m so proud of that young man.”
Beilein also has a legitimate weapon returning in 6-foot-11 shot-blocker D’or Fischer. The Northwestern State transfer blossomed in his first season in the WVU program, blocking a school-record 124 shots while also improving his offense around the basket. Fischer scored 19 points in back-to-back games against Syracuse and Miami to end the regular season, and contributed 16 points, five rebounds and six blocks against Rutgers.
With another off-season in the weight room, Fischer could be a major force in the Big East during his senior season.
Freshmen Frank Young, Tyler Relph and Jerrah Young managed to get quality minutes during the year; Frank Young and Relph came on strong during the NIT by hitting some key three-point shots.
In addition to those nine returning players, Beilein is anxious to get 6-foot-4 Mike Gansey and 6-foot-6 freshman B.J. Byerson out onto the floor next season. Gansey, a St. Bonaventure transfer, possesses the athletic ability and toughness on the wing that will help West Virginia better defend bigger wing guards and smaller shooting forwards.
Byerson, a former Richmond area player of the year who redshirted this season, will give the Mountaineers more muscle in the paint to snag rebounds and get loose balls. Both will be able to play with the team when it makes its trip to Europe this summer.
“Brad Byerson and Mike Gansey will only add to our strength and athleticism and make the trip with us this summer,” said Beilein. “We will have a few more athletes and we’ll be able to get a few more of those loose balls and balls above the rim that we couldn’t really get this year.”
And although Beilein is disappointed the season can’t go on, he says now is the time for him to sit down with his coaching staff and dissect the strengths and weaknesses of his program and plot a course for next season.
“We need this week right now to reflect a little bit on it and just tell the kids that we love them and how much they did for us,” he said. “We need to regroup and start focusing on what we need to do for the future.”
