The West Virginia Mountaineers Men's Basketball Team

The West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team has some great stories and traditions that have highlighted their past. They currently are a division one basketball team. They play in a conference called the Big East Conference. The team is currently coached by Bob Huggins. Huggins has been leading the gold and blue team for three years up to this point.
In the past few years the team has showed that they are one of the top teams in all of the NCAA. Although many people have noted that they have become one of the top teams recently, they did have a winning tradition in years past as well.
The first bit of major success that the team ever saw came in 1942. Most people that follow college basketball see the NCAA Tournament as the biggest tournament available to participate in throughout all of college basketball. Although that is the case today, it was not always the case. In the early years of college basketball the biggest tournament to play in was the NIT. The NIT is more of a tournament filled with teams that did not make the NCAA Tournament today, but in 1942 only the top teams in the nations would be invited to take part in that tournament. The played well through that prestigious tournament and made their way all the way to the finals of the tournament before they fell.
Although that was the first bit of success that they team had on a large scale, that trip to the NIT Final is often overlooked. The team eventually became much more famous through players such as Jerry West and Rod Hundley.
Rod Hundley went to the school and really started to turn things around. He was the star player that helped the team jump up into the top 25 of the NCAA rankings on a yearly basis while he was there. He was eventually a good enough player to take his skills to the NBA. After he left he was remembered for his legacy that he had established in West Virginia.
The team was of course sad to see the departure of Hundley, but they got something even better. One of the most famous basketball players of all time joined the squad to take over the reins. Jerry West became the new star guard to lead the squad. Although he was a guard he was a presence in the inside and outside of the court during his time at West Virginia. It was not uncommon for West to get more than 10 rebounds even as a point guard.
While West was on the team they tallied amazing records such as their 26-2 record that was achieved in his rookie season. He went on to lead the team to a number one ranking during his career at West Virginia. Eventually he led the team the furthest into the NCAA Tournament that they had ever been. They went all the way to the final of the tournament before taking on California. The finals game was a good one, but eventually the California team was able to beat the West Virginia squad by one point.