MORGANTOWN - It was around 3 p.m. on Wednesday during No. 10 WVU's shootaround.
Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins called over standout Devin Williams. They talked one-on-one and Huggins put his hands on Williams' face and gently pulled up, as if to tell the big man to keep his head up. It was a pep talk. And a go-get-'em tap to the chest later, the talk was over.
Later, we found out what that was about. Before the evening's Big 12 matchup with Texas Tech, we found out Williams, WVU's double-double machine, wouldn't be a starter.
"Study hall's important," Huggins said simply.
It was a head-scratching move before the "reveal" but it's something Mountaineer fans are probably used to at this point. Jon Holton was the team's best player. And yet, all of a sudden, he wasn't starting. Jaysean Paige is the team's leading scorer. Yet he doesn't start. Esa Ahmad has been in and out of the starting lineup. Teyvon Myers had been a starter - until playing not a minute Wednesday. (More study hall misses than Williams.) Nine players have now started.
Here's the key, though: No one is questioning Huggins. No one. Not now. The reason: WVU is winning in a big way. Whatever buttons the coach has pushed have sent this team straight to the penthouse at 23-7 playing within the brutal Big 12.
On Wednesday, before a nice crowd of 12,689, West Virginia played a strong, confident game against a now 18-11 Texas Tech team. ("We were just manhandled," said Red Raider coach Tubby Smith.) The Mountaineers won 90-68.
There were WVU dunks aplenty. There were 22 Tech turnovers. The Mountaineers had 27 more shots taken than the Red Raiders. It's exactly what Huggins hoped for when employing the press. Also, at least Wednesday, WVU looked like a No. 2 NCAA seed.
So that's why Holton didn't whine even though he didn't start on his Senior Day.
"Eh, the rotation has been the same lately," he said after grabbing 11 rebounds and scoring seven points. "I just want to play and try to get better ... I want to win it all."
He restarted.
"Coach Huggins is going to do what he's going to do. I can't question that. I'm just happy to be part of this team, starting, not starting, whatever."
That, my friends, is how you put together a contending team. Give West Virginia's players credit for a big win against a heretofore nice Texas Tech team on Wednesday. Give Huggins an even bigger win, however, for having his players buy in to his philosophy. It wasn't too long ago WVU's team wasn't doing so. Check the results then. Check them now.
Hey Nate Adrian, have you stopped trying to figure out Huggins?
"It doesn't matter who he starts," Adrian said after scoring 13 points and adding five rebounds. "We have stars coming off the bench."
And exactly how far can this team go?
"As far as we want to go," Adrian said before adding "as long as we play as hard as we can and do what Coach Huggins wants."
You see, this, ladies and gentlemen, is a classic Huggins team. It works. It scraps. It drives the opponents crazy.
"They come at you long and hectic," said Tech's Justin Gray. "They try to make you uncomfortable. ... They have a great press."
On Wednesday it was so effective the Mountaineer student body was calling for senior walkon reserve Richard Romeo with 6:15 left in the game. At 3:19, it got its wish. Then Romeo hit a long jumper from the left corner.
"The last hurrah," said Romeo with a smile.
(Actually, it was a double dip of joy for Greenbrier County. The newly named Mountaineer, Troy Clemons, is also from there.)
"Being on this team has been everything," Romeo said. "We've taken different trips. We've been to the coal mine. We see what this team means to the state. It's all of what Coach Huggins says."
Even the walk-on has bought in. Now we'll see where this season leads. There's an important trip to Baylor. If WVU finishes No. 2 in the Big 12, can it really not land a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament?
Time will tell. We'll also see how the Mountaineers fare in the upcoming tournaments. Nothing, however, will change the fact that 2016 was a year for Huggins.
His team has won.
And so has he.