West Virginia will hold their first senior day under head coach Darian DeVries and it’s a group that should be remembered for what they were able to accomplish.
The Mountaineers were coming off a tumultuous 9-23 campaign with an interim head coach and DeVries had to rebuild practically the entire roster with only one returning player. That made the seniors that he selected for the roster critical as they would need to take a leap of faith in the coaching staff and their vision.
“It’s an appreciation of these guys willing to come and spend their last year to play for us and believe in what we were trying to get started,” he said. “And I think that says a lot for us that they believed in us. And also, a reflection on the year they’ve had and been able to put together.”
The senior class consists of point guard Javon Small, forward Tony Okani, guard Joe Yesufu, center Eduardo Andre, forward Haris Elezovic, guard Jake Auer and guard Jayden Stone. The latter has been injured all season and hasn’t been able to participate but the rest have had to buy into varying roles on the team and handled those well throughout the course of the year.
Small has been the heartbeat of the team, especially after losing forward Tucker DeVries after just eight games, and is one of the premier players in the Big 12 Conference.
“I think may be as good of an individual season that I’ve been a part of,” DeVries said.
The others have done everything they can to complement Small and put the Mountaineers at 18-12 overall and 9-10 in the Big 12 with a potential bid in the NCAA Tournament likely in their future.
That was the goal when DeVries put the roster together to find players that would mesh well and fit exactly what he wanted to see out of the leadership category on his team.
“I knew this team was going to be special, even though, you know, people might not have thought so. I saw it in us, so, you know, just being able to show it day in and day out, you know, and some days, you might not have it, but, you know, those days happen. So, you know, I saw it from the summer,” Yesufu said.
That isn’t always easy as upperclassmen are coming from different backgrounds and different roles on their previous teams, but this group did it flawlessly even with some of the adjustments that had to occur throughout the year.
“To be able to all be willing to give up what they did before to learn something entirely new, I think it says a lot about them and their character,” he said.
But the thing that has stuck out the most to DeVries about this group of seniors was the fact that nothing mattered above winning. Statistics and roles aside, this group kept their primary focus on trying to accomplish as much as they could with what they had available.
That was the pitch from DeVries when he recruited each of them and was the mindset he sought after.
“We're going to call them winners. They want to come and win. When everybody's got that same mentality, it gives you a chance because that's what becomes a priority. When you make that at the top of the list, then you give yourself a chance every night,” he said.
DeVries is hoping that this group of seniors leaves it all out on the floor in their final home game against UCF and met with each of them before practice Friday to discuss their senior day and thank them for what they were able to accomplish on the floor.
“I'm excited for them, and I know they'll be excited to play,” he said.
It’s a group that DeVries believes will be fondly remembered because of not only the good moments, but most importantly how they fought throughout the course of the season. He hopes that is this group’s legacy.
“I just think the fans really appreciate what these guys give every night out on the floor. They see the effort. They see the unselfishness. They see the enthusiasm that they play the game with,” DeVries said.
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