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The staff of The Daily Athenaeum would like to congratulate the men’s basketball team for winning the 2010 Big East Tournament Championship.
Saturday evening’s win concluded three dramatic days for the Mountaineers at "The World’s Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Each came down to the final shot as the Mountaineers won three games by a combined seven points.
Da’Sean Butler was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after averaging 19.6 points per game and hitting two game-winners. He has been featured prominently by media outlets across the country.
Hundreds of screaming fans gathered outside the Coliseum Sunday afternoon to celebrate the victory and welcome the team home following one of the biggest basketball victories in school history.
The win was monumental for the team, as it solidified a No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament and gave the WVU its first ever Big East Conference Championship.
More importantly, it proved to the basketball world that this program is one of the nation’s best. What John Beilein started, Bob Huggins has taken to an entirely different level. Recruits are taking notice.
With that has come respect and notoriety like rarely before.
Not since the days of Jerry West has this program experienced such success and national recognition.
The Big East men’s and women’s Basketball Tournaments provided a week of positive press and exposure for the University.
The impact of such is almost immeasurable, as the University is discussed alongside schools like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Connecticut.
That trend will only continue heading into its respective NCAA fields.
For the state, the teams’ success have been a great escape from the struggles of the day to day and salve for past letdowns and defeats.
The basketball programs at this University have become elite.
Under the guidance of Huggins and Mike Carey, the two squads deserve all the recognition they receive.
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