Chase Harler’s career at West Virginia has been a roller coaster ride.
From Sweet 16 appearances in his freshman and sophomore seasons, the idea of potentially transferring following his sophomore year, a rough junior campaign followed by what has been a solid senior season for the Moundsville, West Virginia native, Harler has experienced numerous ups and downs during his four years in Morgantown.
But on Saturday afternoon, Harler had a senior day to remember.
Not only did he and the team’s other two seniors in Logan Routt and Jermaine Haley get to celebrate a win over No. 4 Baylor in their final game inside the WVU Coliseum, but he also got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Lindsey, following the pregame senior day ceremony.
“We had great days in practice preparing for this game and (I) was a little nervous about the whole engagement thing,” Harler said. “But that was a great day and I’m happy we won and hopefully it gives us some momentum going forward.”
While Harler’s career at West Virginia is still ongoing with next week’s Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City on the way followed by the NCAA Tournament, Saturday was the culmination of a sporadic journey that could’ve seen the finish line elsewhere.
After averaging 10 minutes on the floor and 1.6 points per game during his sophomore season, Harler met with Huggins at the end of the season to discuss his future. The end result could’ve been Harler deciding to transfer to a smaller school where he could take on a bigger role and play more minutes or stick it out with the Mountaineers.
“He came in to (see) me when the season was over with, and everybody’s kinda doubting and he came in and it was basically, ‘What do you think I should do?’ And I’m like, ‘Chase you could own this state. Come in here, be a good player, everybody knows you everywhere you go, they know you, everybody appreciates what you’ve done. You can go to West (Liberty), get 25 (points) a game, nobody’s going to know or care,’” Huggins said. “He said OK, walked out, never brought it up ever again.”
“We just had a positive conversation about where he can see me going in the next few years and at times I’ve reached what he expected of me and sometimes I fell a little bit short, but I’m happy I definitely stuck it out,” Harler said.
What followed was a low point for Harler and the Mountaineers as West Virginia dropped a program record 21 games during his junior season in 2018-2019.
But the team’s success late in the year offered some promise heading into Harler’s senior year and the Mountaineers were determined to not experience a season like that again.
“I still had some decent moments at the end of the year,” Harler said. “But I think kinda just seeing what it takes to be a really good team and then seeing what happens when you’re not a good team, I think that’s prepared me to kinda share my experiences for this year as much as I can.”
Like his collegiate career, there have been ups and downs for West Virginia and Harler in his senior season such as the team winning the Cancun Challenge, beating an Ohio State team late December that was ranked No. 2 in the country at the time and losing seven straight road games.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound guard, though, has been a pivotal leader both on and off the floor for a young Mountaineer team that’s made up of nine freshmen and sophomores.
“He’s grown as a player,” Huggins said. “He’s been terrific for us this year. He gets guys where they’re supposed to be. He’s always trying to help the younger guys and he’s helping guys that really maybe could, should whatever take some of his minutes. Can’t say enough good things about him.”
Harler, like most people from the state of West Virginia, grew up watching Mountaineer basketball games on television. During the tough times he experienced as a player, he persisted by taking a step back and looking at the big picture and the position he’s in. Doing that made him appreciate what he had in front of him more.
Over the course of his four years with West Virginia, Harler not only improved each season, but he grew more comfortable in his own skin. The support from his family and friends over the years also helped him through the ups and downs.
That support also stretches to his hometown of Moundsville from other residents.
“Even when I go back home and go out to lunch, I’ve had multiple people come up and tell me how proud they were of me and at times you don’t play as much as you want or play as well as you want,” Harler said. “You kinda get down on yourself, but to kinda hear those reassuring words every once in a while make it all worth it.”
“There’s been times where I was thinking about leaving and things weren’t going my way, but I got a great support system behind me and it really got me through some tough times, but I think it’s just developed me into a better person, a better man and I wouldn’t change anything.”
Harler played 17 minutes against Baylor and didn’t score any points (he was 0-of-3 from the floor), but the engagement, team win and court storm at the end made all of those challenging times well worth continuing his career with the Mountaineers.
“I was thinking about that right when we won the game,” Harler said. “I didn’t have a great game, missed some shots, whatever, but just the atmosphere, being a great teammate, stuff like that, the relationships I’ve built definitely over-weigh any kind of performance.”
And thanks to the engagement, he now has a new favorite memory.
“This is No. 1, not even close,” Harler said. “To this point, probably the greatest moment of my life so far.”
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