"I'm standing here, 56 years old and compared to when I was 26, I didn't understand,'' West Virginia assistant coach Billy Hahn said. "I didn't realize everything you have to go through and overcome in your life and when a moment like this finally comes, there aren't words. There just aren't words.''
And then Hahn covered his mouth and blinked hard to make sure the tears stayed tucked in the corner of his eyes.
For West Virginia, a 60-58 victory over Georgetown delivered the first Big East tournament title in program history -- and the school's first league tourney title of any kind since the 1984 Atlantic 10 crown.
But for the players, the coaches, the school and the state, it delivered so much more.
The Mountaineers basketball team is littered with players and coaches who have sped down the path of success only to run full throttle into hurdles and obstacles. There have been arrests and suspensions, injuries and illness, even seemingly career-killing firings.
Yet the fans have never abandoned their players or coaches.
Maybe it's because the citizens of West Virginia get it. They've spent their whole lives ridiculed as rednecks and unrefined lumberjacks, mainly by people who have never even visited the state. Their flagship university? It has earned more distinction nationally as a party school than as a pillar of academic excellence or athletic success.
So when Da'Sean Butler scored yet another buzzer-beater to guarantee a lifetime of free drinks in the state, the sing-along to John Denver's anthem, "Take Me Home, Country Roads," was as much a thumbing of the nose to the rest of the world as it was a statewide celebratory exhale.
Make sure you read the whole column. When you look at WVU's record vs. Top 25 opponents, it's better than Duke's.
