Heroes' Welcome
March 30, 2007 08:44 PM | General
March 30, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Several hundred fans greeted the victorious West Virginia University basketball team upon its arrival at the WVU Coliseum late Friday afternoon.
 |
||
| Junior center Jamie Smalligan signs autographs for West Virginia fans that greeted the team at the WVU Coliseum Friday afternoon.
All-Pro Photography Dale Sparks |
West Virginia knocked off Clemson 78-73 in the National Invitation Tournament championship game at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Thursday night, giving WVU just its second NIT title in school history. The great 1942 team led by Coach Dyke Raese that upset Long Island, Toledo and Western Kentucky to claim the school’s first NIT title.
Senior forward Frank Young scored 24 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including 6 of 8 from 3-point distance, to erase Clemson and earn tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. Young scored a career-high 31 points in an earlier NIT game against Massachusetts at the WVU Coliseum and finished the tournament averaging 22.6 points per game to boost his final season total to 15.3 points per game.
The Tallahassee, Fla., resident had a school-record 117 3-point baskets this season and also set a WVU record for the most post-season tournament games played with 15.
“I just want to say thank you for everyone’s support for all four years I was here; thank you for believing in us this year. It was an up and down year for us but we definitely proved a lot of people wrong,” Young told the crowd.
West Virginia’s other senior Rob Summers grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in the Mountaineers’ 63-62 semifinal victory over Mississippi State and contributed a basket and five rebounds in 22 minutes of action in the championship game.
“It was a great season for me and I’m happy to be going out NIT champions,” Summers remarked.
The Mountaineers return the vast majority of their roster from this year’s 27-9 team, which posted the second-most victories in a season in school history.
Six-one junior guard Darris Nichols hit the winning shot in Tuesday night’s 63-62 come-from-behind victory over Mississippi State and scored 13 points and handed out nine assists in the championship game against Clemson. Nichols finished the season averaging 10.9 points and 4.6 assists per game.
Six-six sophomore guard Alex Ruoff was the model of consistency all year, posting averages of 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game.
Six-eight sophomore forward Joe Alexander finished the year with averages of 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Six-seven freshman super-sub Da’Sean Butler scored 20 points Thursday night against Clemson to finish the season averaging 10.1 points per game. The Newark, N.J., resident is a leading contender to replace Young in the starting lineup next year.
West Virginia has several other valuable contributors returning in 2008.
Seven-foot junior center Jamie Smalligan made 31 3-point shots, finished the year with averages of 5.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game and is the top candidate to replace Summers in next year’s stating five.
Freshman point guard Joe Mazzulla played valuable minutes as a backup to Darris Nichols and averaged 3.0 points and handed out 32 assists.
Wellington Smith played key minutes in Thursday night’s victory over Clemson and will assume a much larger role on the team next year as a sophomore.
Freshman Devan Bawinkel and sophomore Ted Talkington also made valuable contributions this season. The performances of Butler, Mazzulla, Smith, Bawinkel and Talkington enabled West Virginia to redshirt five players: Cam Thoroughman, Jacob Green, Jonnie West, Dennis Gagai and Josh Sowards.
“With all of the people returning they are going to come out and do it again,” Young said. “This is just the beginning so be ready for them next year.”
The Mountaineers will also welcome outstanding 6-7 forward John Flowers from St. Mary’s Ryken (Md.) High School. Flowers signed with WVU during the early signing period.
