Men's Hoop Notebook
December 08, 2014 02:39 PM | General
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| West Virginia and coach Bob Huggins will be making a second appearance in the Jimmy V Classic in New York City in 2015. |
| All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Although the West Virginia players are off for the next few days studying for final examinations, that doesn’t mean the Mountaineers aren’t making news this week.
Earlier today it was announced that West Virginia University is slated to play Virginia in next year's Jimmy V Men’s Basketball Classic Presented by Corona to be played at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015.
The other matchup up that night will pit Maryland against Connecticut.
“We are delighted to be invited once again to participate in the Jimmy V Classic,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “The Jimmy V Classic is one of the premier events during the college basketball season. We are honored to play in such a special event for a great cause, and I know our fans will be excited to see us play on ESPN and in Madison Square Garden, a place where we have had great memories through the years.”
The early-season event will conclude the ninth annual Jimmy V Week for Cancer Research that begins on December 2, 2015. The week-long initiative across multiple ESPN platforms is designed to raise awareness and funding for cancer research.
“The Jimmy V Classic and Jimmy V Week brings awareness to such a terrible disease because everyone of us has been affected by cancer in one way or another,” said Huggins. “When we lost my mother in 2003, my family and I started the Norma Rae Huggins Cancer Research Endowment Fund, and we have raised almost a million dollars in cancer research. We all need to join the fight to end this deadly disease.”
West Virginia’s only other appearance in the Jimmy V Classic came in 2008 when the Mountaineers lost 68-65 to Davidson.
West Virginia’s game against Virginia revives a series that has seen the two border rivals play 16 times since 1916. The last two times these two schools met was in the 1985 National Invitation Tournament when the Cavaliers defeated the Mountaineers 56-55 in Morgantown.
Meanwhile, this week’s men’s college basketball rankings were released earlier today and the Mountaineers fell to 21st in the USA Today coaches’ poll and 22nd in the AP poll following last Thursday night’s 74-73 loss to LSU at the Coliseum.
Yesterday, WVU rebounded to defeat Northern Kentucky 67-42 in Highland Heights, Ky., to run its record to 8-1.
This week marks the 30th time that West Virginia has been in the rankings under Huggins.
West Virginia returns to the hardwood on Sunday, December 14 when the Mountaineers play Marshall in the Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic in Charleston. Only upper level tickets remain for the game and those can be purchased by calling the Charleston Civic Center Box Office at (304) 345-SHOW. The game will be televised locally on ROOT Sports.
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