MORGANTOWN -
West Virginia University Head Coach Bob Huggins loves the
state of West Virginia and loves WVU. He is from the Mountain State and played
basketball at this university. There are few things he hates more than to see
his team not represent the state and the university well.
That is why he told his team after the Gonzaga game that
they would have to earn back the opportunity to wear WVU gear at practice.
"It came as a little bit of a surprise," Guard Juwan Staten
said. "Obviously it let us know he is serious about the things he says and it
woke us up. I feel like we are practicing better."
The Mountaineers not only let the state down in that season
opener at Gonzaga, they clearly let their coach down. Huggins expected his team
to play harder against the Bulldogs and felt the need to send a message.
"He just wanted us to become one," Forward Keaton Miles
stated. "He was saying we played as individuals and he is trying to get us to
earn the WVU on our chest and that we represent a state that takes pride in its
basketball. He just wants us to go out there and represent the right way and
earn that."
Representing the state and the university is a major point
of emphasis for Huggins year after year. If nothing else, he wants his team to
play hard for the people that cheer on the Mountaineers from all over the
world.
"I've seen it, but actually playing now I am getting to understand
it a little bit more," Staten said. "Huggs is from West Virginia, he played
here, so it naturally feels a little bit more to him. We have to get that same
kind of drive and intensity behind us."
The team will be wearing West Virginia gear Thursday when it
tips off the Old Spice Classic. The players certainly hope to keep wearing that
gear as the season continues.
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