Without two key pieces from an Elite Eight team and with really no additions of note (Rob Summers, I’m looking at you), the Mountaineers still managed to go to the Sweet 16.

For a program that considered back-to-back NIT berths a solid effort only a few years ago, to go to back-to-back Sweet 16s (and get past that point last year) was huge.

Mike Gansey and Kevin Pittsnogle also will likely be the first two Mountaineers to actually play in the NBA in about 20 years.

Eight straight losses and a 1-8 mark since All-American Meg Bulger’s injury did not inspire optimism in 12^th-seeded West Virginia’s chances in the Big East Tournament.

In fact, the only three media members in attendance in Hartford initially were the radio crews from WWVU and the Mountaineer Sports Network.

Some of the people on the trip didn’t even pack enough clothes for the entire week.

Four days later, Louisville, St. John’s, and Rutgers (all NCAA participants when the field was released a week later) all were home, having all been unable to break 50 points against the Mountaineers.

Even UConn in victory only managed 50 points in the title game, and the Mountaineers look like an NCAA team-in-waiting next year with all but two players back and all five (or six, if you count LaQuita Owens, who filled in when Bulger went down) starters back.

Brandon Rader, wrestling for his state’s university, had quite a freshman year.

The rookie from Parkersburg finished sixth in the NCAA Tournament, extending WVU’s string of All-Americans to five years.

Rader is the first true freshman All-American in program history, and already has tied the school record for single-season wins for his weight class with 30.

Despite an injury-filled year that rarely allowed Linda Burdette to field her first-choice slate, the West Virginia Mountaineers spent most of the season nationally ranked and went to the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Mehgan Morris and Janae Cox, the two stars of the team this year, also missed time. Morris was unable to compete in her usual full slate of events at the NCAA’s due to injuries.

Atlanta’s been good to the Mountaineers. From the Sugar Bowl to the NCAA Basketball Tournament, WVU has swarmed the Peach State.

But let’s not forget the men’s swimming team, who qualified Chris Hagedorn, Pablo Marmolejo, Andrew Langenfeld, Nick Delic, and Kyle Williams in individual and relay events for the NCAA Championships. Marmolejo and Delic both finished 13^th in their events.

Coach Sergio Lopez, who medaled for Spain in Barcelona, has the swimming teams on the up-and-up. Lopez was the Big East Coach of the Year on the men’s side.

Women’s Swimming: A young team finishes eighth in the Big East Championships 

Racing almost exclusively freshmen and sophomores, WVU finished eighth out of eleven schools at the Big East Championships and built the framework for a very exciting for next year.

It’s hard to be competitive when your program was dead and buried for a year, even for a traditional power like West Virginia.

Some light appeared late in the year, when WVU won three matches against Akron, TCU, and Ohio State in late January and early February.

Any comments? E-mail me at