NEW YORK, N.Y. - It’s a chance to do something the Mountaineers have never done since joining the conference in 1995. Just a few years ago they had the chance to, but fell short. Now, at 9 p.m. on Saturday night in the world’s most famous arena, West Virginia will play for its first BIG EAST tournament title.

But if you ask them, the chance to perform and succeed on this stage is only slightly for their own satisfaction. You see, a West Virginian – and a proud one at that – coaches this team.

A few weeks ago, Wellington Smith mentioned a team meeting in which Huggins sat his players aside and let them know just how important they are to the state he calls home. He said it really hit he and his teammates hard to hear their coach speak about all the eyes that are watching their every move and hoping, praying for their success.

On Thursday night, Smith sat in the team locker room and reflected on the opportunity they now have to answer the prayers of a fan base craving a championship.

Prior to West Virginia’s appearance in the conference semifinals, Wellington Smith and the WVU basketball team met a family around the city who he feels epitomizes the kind of fans the Mountaineers have all throughout the country. He remembered that family after the game and just how much it would mean to them if they could head back to the Mountain State Sunday morning knowing their team is the league champion.
 

“I met a family today from Fairmont who just got here, but they didn’t have any tickets, they just came on faith knowing that they would get tickets somewhere. It’s just huge the camaraderie that the people have for us and we love it, we appreciate it and this championship would really show our hard work and their dedication to us.”

It’s because of people like these folks out of Fairmont that Joe Mazzulla finds himself saying he’d rather win for a group of people he may have never met than for his own enjoyment.
 

“I got in the truck with this guy one time and I looked and he didn’t have a rear-view mirror. I said, ‘You don’t have a rear-view mirror.’ He said, ‘I don’t back up.’ He said, ‘We’re going forward, son.’ And that’s kind of how I’ve lived my life.”

Tonight, he will push himself and his team forward and try as hard as he can to get a championship that they can proudly represent with a banner in the Coliseum. His players are just as adamant about this as Huggins.

“We’re just trying to win it for the people back home that have faith in us to win this and bring it back home for them,” says Devin Ebanks.

So if the Mountaineers can’t pull out the win tonight and have to settle for the disappointment of being runners-up, then feel the pain of the loss and all the sorrow that comes with it. Take a few days off to recover and gather your emotions from the breakdown you will no doubt suffer – your boss will understand.

But if they win – if they somehow get the university its first tournament title – then rejoice as though you yourself went out on that court and played your heart out for 40 (or more) minutes to bring home a championship to the state of West Virginia and to all those who associate themselves with its land grant university.

Because this one is for you. Win or lose, the men who are wearing the flying WV on the court in Madison Square Garden are playing this one for you.