Long works hard to contribute for Mountaineers

At times senior walk-on James Long still considers pinching himself just to make sure he isn’t dreaming.

The Charleston native spent hours in his driveway growing up playing the game of basketball and with each shot the same thought kept running through his mind.

“I always imagined myself in the Coliseum,” he said.

A lifelong West Virginia fan, Long left the Wofford program following his freshman season in order to pursue a childhood dream and walk-on with the Mountaineers under head coach Bob Huggins.

Electing to walk-on is not a glorious job or even one for everybody for that matter but Long entered the program with only one expectation from the start: to contribute.

That word means different things for different people but for Long it didn’t necessarily mean in the box scores. He realized early into his tenure that he could contribute to the basketball program in many ways that won’t ever show up in the stat sheets.

“Whatever I can do. Whether that’s watching film with people or giving the younger guys advice. I’m not the type of guy where I need to be playing or need this,” Long said. “I want to help everybody around me and do whatever I can to help us win.”

Now in his third year with the basketball program, Long has seen only 52-minutes of action and didn’t even see the floor last season. That never hurt his resolve and in fact only strengthened it.

Instead of hanging his head, Long worked harder in practice. Even if he wasn’t promised playing time, he understood that by giving it his all in practice it would only make the team better as a whole.

“I just try to stay in the gym every day and never try to take a day off,” he said.

His teammates took notice.

“No matter if he plays a minute or never gets into the game, he’s always positive, always level-headed and always keeps guys spirits up,” sophomore Esa Ahmad said. “Every team needs a guy like that.”

But for at least one game Long must have felt like he was in his driveway all over again making shots for his beloved Mountaineers.

Against Manhattan, Long notched his first career game in double-figures with ten points in only eight minutes of action. Among those was a shot that brought him back to his childhood as he caught the ball and released it the ball trickled through the net as the time expired.

It wasn’t a game-winning shot, but it closed the first half in style.

“Every shot was that right there,” Long added.

At the end of the game, Long seemed almost lost for words when asked about his performance, only then realizing that he had gotten into double figures. True to his mantra, his focus was on the team not his own individual accomplishments.

“I’m just trying to play hard for Huggs and not give him a reason to be upset with me,” Long said.

It’s a dream come true for Long. Just remember to remind him that he’s actually awake.

“To have the West Virginia across my chest I have to pinch myself. It’s surreal,” he added.