Point guard Javon Small came to West Virginia for his final season of college basketball in large part because he wanted to accomplish one primary goal.
And that was to play in the NCAA Tournament.
There was of course other draws to Morgantown, including the message and belief that the coaching staff had in him as well as how he clicked with the other players on the roster. But finding his way into the postseason became the primary motivation for Small.
It was something that the team discussed in their second meeting with one another and something that the experienced guard recalled vividly when he addressed his teammates.
“That I ain't never been to the NCAA tournament and we’re going to make it,” Small said.
Small certainly did his part throughout the season, finishing tied for the lead in scoring in the Big 12 Conference at 18.5 points per game while also averaging 5.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds and shooting 42-percent from the field and 35-percent from three.
That totals have him square in the running for Player of the Year in the league when you consider how much he had to take on when Tucker DeVries was lost to injury just eight games into the season. The transfer guard rarely left the floor for the Mountaineers, playing over 36 minutes per game as the offense facilitated through him while he was highly effective on the defensive end as well.
But putting all that aside, having gone his entire career without a trip to the Big Dance, the desire to participate in one was a motivational point for Small and several of his teammates all season.
That’s why the finish to the year beating Utah 71-69 on the road and then UCF at home 72-65 to get to 19 wins on the season and essentially punch their ticket on Senior Day was so critical.
Small wasn’t going to let that opportunity pass him by as he finished with 25 points, 19 that came in the first half, along with 9 assists and 7 rebounds while playing 36 minutes. He was well aware of how important this game was to erasing any doubt with the Mountaineers' resume and the coaches and players around him encouraged him to be aggressive, which helped to fuel his start to the game.
“So, I haven't played many postseason games. And now that we're in it, I want to win the whole thing,” he said.
But first up is the Big 12 Tournament where West Virginia will play the winner of TCU and Colorado, a rematch of the final regular season game of the season where the Buffaloes won 76-56 on their home floor. If the Mountaineers can get past that, a third meeting with No. 1 seed Houston looms.
“We just need to go into the conference tournament with some confidence and belief we can win,” he said.
In the end, Small helped to lead West Virginia to a 19-12 overall mark and 10-10 finish in the Big 12 which is a resume that has the Mountaineers well on the good side of any potential bubble.
And when you consider the coaching change, roster turnover and adversity that the team dealt with throughout the year, that’s quite the accomplishment. A lot of different factors played into those results, but it certainly doesn’t happen without Small and what he was able to do on the floor.
“I just hope people really appreciate the season he had. Because I've been doing this a long time. There's only two or three guys that I can probably name that had a season like this, where he had to do so much as well on top of it. So incredible season for him,” head coach Darian DeVries said.
Small never lost confidence in himself or most importantly his teammates and in the end that leadership was critical when it came to how this team was able to close down the stretch run of the regular season after dealing with the challenges of the Big 12 Conference.
“We came in here with a whole new team, different faces, everybody was new. Everybody expected us to win no more than 15 games, no more than 13 games. So we sit in that 10-10 in the conference, we made the NCAA tournament, nobody expected us to do that. And even now, I'm sure people expect us to go into the NCAA tournament and lose first round. And that's not going to happen,” Small said.
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