Men's Basketball — The Rich History
Jerry West — The Logo Himself
Before he became the silhouette on every NBA basketball, Jerry West was a Mountaineer. The Chelyan, WV native played at WVU from 1956–60, averaging 24.8 points per game and leading the program to the 1959 NCAA Championship Game — where a 71-70 loss to California remains one of the great what-ifs in college basketball history. West was a two-time consensus All-American and set program records that still echo through every corner of Hope Coliseum. The Logo is Gold and Blue, full stop.
2010 — The Final Four & Big East Glory
Under the Hall of Fame guidance of Bob Huggins — Morgantown's own — the Mountaineers tore through the 2010 NCAA Tournament all the way to the Final Four in Houston. Da'Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, and Kevin Jones had all of Mountaineer Nation holding its breath. That same season, WVU claimed the 2010 Big East Tournament Championship, finishing one of the program's finest campaigns in modern history. Huggy Bear built something special, and that run reminded the college basketball world that WVU belongs on the biggest stages.
2025–26 Era — Ross Hodge Takes the Helm
The program enters a new chapter under head coach Ross Hodge, who takes over in what everyone acknowledges is a rebuilding era. The bones are good — Hope Coliseum is still one of the most intimidating home courts in the Big 12 — and Mountaineer Nation is patient but hungry. The next great WVU run starts now. Country Roads, we're building again.
Women's Basketball — Competing in the Big 12
The WVU Women's Basketball program calls Hope Coliseum home alongside the men's squad and competes at the highest level of the Big 12 Conference — one of the toughest women's basketball leagues in the country. Mountaineer Nation shows up for the women's team with the same passion that fills the stands on the men's side. Gold and Blue, no asterisk.
Check the official schedule and follow the team's push through Big 12 play as they represent West Virginia on the national stage.
The Blue Carpet — A Tradition Since 1955
Walk into Hope Coliseum on game night and you'll see it: the gold-and-blue carpet rolled out for the pregame walkout. It's not just decoration — it's history.
- 1955: Head coach Fred Schaus introduced the gold-and-blue carpet as part of the pregame ceremony, giving WVU one of the most distinctive entrance traditions in college basketball.
- 1978: Coach Gale Catlett revived the tradition after it had faded, bringing back the pageantry and cementing it as a permanent fixture of game night at WVU.
- Today: The carpet rolls still. Players walk it, fans know it, opponents respect it. It's a small detail that carries the weight of seven decades of Mountaineer basketball.
Want to know more about what makes WVU game day different? Head over to our Mountaineer Traditions page for the full story.
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