West Virginia Mountaineers Basketball 10-year Review

College Sports Fans reviews the West Virginia Mountaineers, one of the top NCAA college basketball programs

West Virginia Mountaineers Basketball

Much like their football program, West Virginia saw a sudden explosion in their basketball program after a long time coach was replaced by young blood. After struggling through just one winning season in his final five seasons, Gale Catlett was replaced by John Beilein, who immediately brought about an improvement in the program. After going 17-14 in his first season, the Mountaineers reeled off three straight seasons with at least 22-wins, and suddenly found themselves as players on the national scene. Led by a pair of talented players in Mike Gansey and Kevin Pittsnoggle made consecutive runs to the elite eight and sweet sixteen, and at the start of the 2005-06 season earned the schools second ever preseason national ranking. Even though the Mountaineers missed out on the NCAA Tournament last season, an NIT title does spell good things for the future of the program.

Find a great selection of WVU basketball apparel & clothing in or Team Fan Shop!

West Virginia Mountaineers Basketball Records

• 1996-97: 21-10 overall; 11-7 Big East (3rd in BE 6)

• 1997-98: 24-9 overall; 11-7 Big East (3rd in BE 6)

• 1998-99: 10-19 overall; 4-14 Big East (12th)

• 1999-00: 14-14 overall; 6-10 Big East (8th)

• 2000-01: 17-12 overall; 8-8 Big East (4th in West)

• 2001-02: 8-20 overall; 1-15 Big East (7th in West)

• 2002-03: 14-15 overall; 5-11 Big East (6th in West)

• 2003-04: 17-14 overall; 7-9 Big East (t-8th)

• 2004-05: 24-11 overall; 8-8 Big East (t-7th)

• 2005-06: 22-11 overall; 11-5 Big East (3rd)

• 2006-07: 22-9 overall; 9-7 Big East (7th)

WVU Basketball Conference Titles

• none

WVU Basketball Coaching Records

• Gale Catlett: 1979-2002 (439-276)

• John Beilein: 2003-2007 (106-60)

WVU Mountaineers Basketball All-Americans

• none

WVU Basketball Players Who Went Pro

• 1997: Gordon Malone

West Virginia Mountaineers Basketball Future Outlook

It’s going to be an interesting season in Morgantown this year. The Mountaineers will be young, with just two seniors on the roster, but they do return four players that averaged double figures last season. New head coach Bob Huggins has already said he was happy with the play of Darris Nichols, Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler, a trio of athletic players that will work well in Huggins’s style. A big concern for West Virginia though will be a lack of size in a Big East Conference that has plenty of it. The Mountaineers have just three players on their roster taller than 6’7” and Alexander was the only one that saw much playing time last season.

Don't miss the WVU football 10-year review exclusively on College Sports Fans, and be sure to check out all of the college basketball 10-year reviews.

By Joey Whelan, CollegeSports-fans.com Staff Writer
Published October 2007