It didn't used to be this way.
When Mike Carey began as WVU's women's basketball coach, he had to coach as he played back in his days at Salem. He had to scratch and claw.
High-flying state recruits Alexis Hornbuckle and Renee Montgomery paid him little attention. Mountaineer fans politely wished him well.
But everything is different now. Everything is different on this Sunday.
Because, that is, of the mushroom cloud Carey's team sent up in Oklahoma City this past Monday.
In the Big 12 tournament, WVU's women, the league's No. 6 seed, first stunned third seed Oklahoma. And then they stunned second seed Texas. And then they shocked first-seeded and No. 2-ranked Baylor.
It's no longer the early 2000s. It's a new day for the coach.
"It's been great," Carey said. "Naturally when you win a championship everything is positive. Reality, though, set in Friday when we went back to practice."
The coach, however, didn't mind reliving the moment. Not THAT moment. The Mountaineers rolled up a big lead against Baylor, allowed some of it to slip away, but finally finished off the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back Big 12 tourney champs 77-66 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
"You know what? Honestly, I felt we were very focused going into that," Carey said. "And our women knew they had to win at least one game [to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament]. We had good practices leading into the Big 12. But we've had good practices leading into games when we didn't play well."
Something there, though, was different, he admitted. There was a spark.
"We were focused for 40 minutes," said the coach. "We had a good matchup in the beginning against Oklahoma, which we'd beaten once and gone into double overtime before losing. So that was a good matchup. Too, we shot the ball well.
"In the Texas game, we started defending very well - as well as shooting. Then, against Baylor, it was the same thing."
Carey chuckled.
"It's a shame we had to quit playing," he said. "We were on a roll. Now we have to get that back."
He was asked about the celebration after the final horn against Baylor.
"It was great," Carey said. "Naturally, they were happy - and should be because they played extremely hard. We had girls that played most of the minutes, so they were tired physically and mentally."
Yes, yes, yes. There was that bit of a slip in the game.
"I felt we were playing not to lose," said the coach. "I tried to call a couple timeouts to get them going. But you could just see, man, they were about out of gas."
Understand, however, WVU is something of a Baylor killer. Back on March 2, 2014, the Mountaineers nudged the Bears 71-69 in Waco to share the regular-season title with Baylor.
This past Monday's victory, though, was even better, according to Carey.
"When we beat Baylor at Baylor, it was to win in the regular season," said the coach. "We were having a good season then anyway though. To win the other day, with the pressure to win at least a game or two, I put that ahead of the other."
Indeed, WVU had Bria Holmes, among others, in 2014 and finished 30-5.
Of course, we now know to whom the torch has been passed: Tynice Martin, who had 32 points against Baylor last Monday and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. It was basketball's version of a Heisman Trophy moment. Legend Rebecca Lobo even tweeted about Martin's excellence, typing "Tynice Martin is the real deal" on Twitter.
"I'll tell you what, man, she was by far, in my opinion, the best player in the tournament," Carey said. "She had that type of tournament. I've seen that in practice and in other games, but, man, to be focused like that for 40 minutes, and to do what she did, was unbelievable."
Carey shook his head.
"And she's only a sophomore. If she continues to work hard, she can go down as one of the best women's basketball players in the history of WVU."
Now, on Monday, WVU will find out its NCAA opponent. Its spot in the tournament has been secured by virtue of the tournament title. ESPN.com has projected that the Mountaineers could host the first round in Morgantown. ("That would be fantastic," Carey said. "It would be great. Hopefully we can have a bunch of fans there and get an advantage.") The coach said he expects the Mountaineers to be a six or seven seed.
So how far can this team go?
"If we come out and stay focused ..." he began before pausing and restarting.
"A lot of things have to happen because we have a short bench. We have to stay out of foul trouble. We have to stay healthy. There are a lot of variables. We have to stay focused.
"But if we do all we can, I like our chances against anybody."
No one in Waco is arguing.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.