MORGANTOWN - As hard as it is to believe nowadays with a spot seemingly reserved in the top 25 and high seeds awarded for the NCAA tournament, West Virginia basketball was in need of a change not too long ago.
Bob Huggins missed the 2013 postseason altogether and merely made the NIT the next season. Since that dip, he's advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and - well, he lost to Stephen F. Austin in the first round last March, but the Mountaineers were the No. 3 seed in the East Region after spending six weeks in the top 10.
Certainly, the major and most notable difference between then and now is how the Mountaineers play - and that's not the right word. You have fun when you play. You don't have fun playing the Mountaineers. They dictate, and they do so with their defense. They press and harass and generally irritate teams across 94 feet and 40 minutes.
But what they do now doesn't matter as much as who does it now. Ironically, the team that relies on turnovers was forced to change following turnover. Eron Harris, Terry Henderson and Remi Dibo each left the team following the 2013-14 season and continued a concerning trend that saw a long list of recruits either never play or fail to stay with the team.
Huggins knew something was wrong, and he even called an impromptu news conference on the morning of graduation that May to address the unexpected and inexplicable. Since then, the Mountaineers are 51-19 overall and 24-12 in the Big 12.
"Think about who was here, where they went and how productive they are or they had been where they were," Huggins said.
No need to elaborate there, but it's necessary to add this: Think about who stayed. Juwan Staten had an excellent 2014 season, good enough to earn him the Big 12's preseason player of the year award the next fall. But he considered leaving. The transfer from Dayton had a decision to make about the NBA.
He opted for his senior year with the Mountaineers, and the way he transitioned from one style to another was extremely beneficial for the Mountaineers, for Huggins and for players on that team and on future teams.
Staten played 37.3 minutes per game in 2014, when he was first-team all-Big 12. He averaged six minutes less the next year, which was the first year WVU pressed and taxed its players.
"I think the people in his circle felt like he wasn't playing enough," Huggins said. "So we went back and charted possessions, and he actually played more possessions playing the way we play now."
Staten bought in, and the Mountaineers were on their way. You have to remember, players and their handlers, friends, family and whoever else was in their circle had become a problem. Henderson transferred before he even told his father.
"I think people got in their lives and didn't really have their best interests in heart with all the B.S., like, 'You're a pro, man. They need to let you do this. They need to let you do that,' " Huggins remembered. "It's my fault."
That doesn't happen now, and Huggins will admit it takes a different player to play a different style. But when Jevon Carter, Tarik Phillip and Dax Miles are only lightly recruited, they're willing to do what their coach asks and what it takes to win. When Nathan Adrian and Chase Harler grow up in the state and hope to play for WVU, they'll take orders and ask no questions.
When a talent as promising as Esa Ahmad stays patient through a quiet freshman year, you know it's working. When a high school coach is looking for someone to mold and develop prospects like Sagaba Konate or Maciej Bender, he trusts Huggins will be up to the task.
And now, when a recruit like 6-foot-10 Derek Culver or 6-6 Teddy Allen is looking for a place to play, WVU seems pretty inviting.
"I think the guys we have now are more physical," Huggins said. "They're more competitive. It's just a different attitude. They love to play. We had guys on that one team we had to chase into the gym. Now we have guys who can't stay out."