West Virginia forward Toby Okani recognizes that the “no excuses,” mantra that the basketball team has adopted is simply more than just a slogan.
The Mountaineers have shirts that feature the phrase that they received around a month ago, but it’s something that truly first came into focus during the summer months when the team was first coming together for practice.
It’s something that quickly resonated with the entire roster and has become a calling card of sorts given the adversity that the team has faced.
“We’re here to do our job regardless of injuries or not. We’re here to do our job,” Okani said,
It’s an identity that started to take root with the head coach Darian DeVries and the rest of the coaching staff and quickly found itself spilling over into the locker room.
“It’s the identity of the coaching staff and how they coach us. He’s very open with us and tells us opportunity is always knocking and we don’t have time for any excuses because we want to win and we want what’s best for the program,” he said.
Never was that on display more than what the Mountaineers pulled off on the road at No. 7 Kansas. The Jayhawks were overwhelming favorites coming into the game with several key pieces out of the West Virginia lineup due to injury but the team never backed down.
That’s a testament to how they’ve been coached and something that Okani has learned over the course of the first 12 games of the season. This is a team that features all but one new player on the roster and they’ve shown the ability to not only deal with, but navigate adversity across the board.
The Mountaineers had to completely change their style in the win over the Jayhawks taking a more methodical approach in order to prevent them from getting out and running, But much like this team has shown throughout the year, when Kansas put together a run, they responded.
“Sometimes you see teams that break apart when you start losing the lead. I think we just came together a little more and figured out a way to win,” Okani said. “It doesn’t matter how you win, sometimes you have to win ugly.”
Okani himself has had to buy into a new role given all the shifting across the roster but recognizes that whatever the coaching staff wants him to do is how he’ll approach it in order to put his team in the best position to have success .
West Virginia now has to quickly flip the page to a capable Oklahoma State team and that has been the focus in practice in the days leading up to the game.
It still remains to be seen if the Mountaineers will have any of the trio of injured players in Tucker DeVries, Amani Hansberry or Jayden Stone but don’t expect there to be much talk about it from anybody on the team. It’s simply no excuses.
“We just line them up and let’s play ball because you tie your shoes up just like we do so we’re going to go out and give it our best shot,” Okani said.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe
