When the final buzzer sounds in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Saturday afternoon, and the NCAA Division II national basketball championship game has concluded, it will officially close the book on college basketball season in West Virginia.
And it was a pretty good season at that.
At several levels, both in men's and women's basketball, college teams from all over West Virginia showed this little state can hold its own nationally on the hardwood.
There remains the chance for a West Virginia school to take home a national title, with Fairmont State and Northwest Missouri State squaring off for the Division II crown at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Falcons barreled through the regular season and have been tripped up only twice, both by West Liberty - once in the regular season and once in the Mountain East Conference title game. The MEC can be plenty proud this year, and not only for being a win away from a national title. The league took three spots in the six-team regional bracket with FSU, West Liberty and Wheeling Jesuit, with Jesuit and Fairmont facing off for the right to reach the national quarterfinals.
West Virginia University enjoyed success on both the men's and women's sides. The men's Sweet Sixteen game against top-seeded Gonzaga came down to the final seconds before the Bulldogs could wrestle away a win, ending a Mountaineer season that saw the team once again play for the Big 12 tournament title. The WVU women were able to secure their first Big 12 crown with a scintillating run through that tournament, vanquishing three straight ranked opponents, including behemoth Baylor in the tournament championship to earn an automatic bid when they figured they had to win at least one conference tournament game to even make the NCAA field. The WVU women finally met their match against an under-seeded Maryland team.
And while Marshall's men's basketball team didn't earn a postseason berth, it reached plenty of important marks. The Thundering Herd finished with 20 wins for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign, played in its second Conference USA title game and saw former George Washington and South Charleston star Jon Elmore earn a spot on the All-C-USA first team. That's a pretty good jump from the 11 wins the Herd finished with in both former coach Tom Herrion's final season and current coach Dan D'Antoni's first season.
(And for those grumbling that Marshall didn't accept a bid to one of the lesser postseason tournaments, relax. The university was better off not shelling out tens of thousands of dollars in entrance fees so they could extend their seasons for a few more games against small-conference foes.)
The Mountain State made some rumblings even at the NAIA level. WVU Tech had a home in the NAIA Division II rankings for most of the season, finished with one of the best records in the River States Conference and earned a berth in the NAIA national tournament. It was a memorable run in a memorable season for the Golden Bears, their last in the Baisi Center and in Montgomery before they head to their new campus in Beckley.
When the greatest basketball player in your state's history is the logo of the NBA, chances are folks inside the borders know a thing or two about hoops. The colleges around West Virginia showed that this year, and should have a great chance of reinforcing that when the next season tips off in the fall.
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.