Expect a Different Kind of Senior Day for WVU Basketball

When the WVU basketball seniors walk across the floor tomorrow afternoon, they won’t be reflecting on all the years they’ve spent in Morgantown playing for the Mountaineers. Instead, West Virginia’s six seniors will be thinking about what they’ve accomplished this season, their one and only wearing the Old Gold and Blue.

“For us, it’s a little bit unique being our first year and every senior’s first year,” WVU coach Darian DeVries said Friday morning. “It’s an appreciation for these guys willing to come and spend their last year playing for us and believing in what we were trying to get started.”

The seniors who will be honored before the team’s regular season finale against UCF (2 p.m./ESPN+) — Javon Small, Toby Okani, Joseph Yesufu, Eduardo Andre, Jake Auer and Haris Elezovic — transferred to WVU this offseason willing to bet their final season on DeVries and his vision for the Mountaineers.

“When you have seniors that have played a lot of basketball somewhere else, and then they’ve got to come in and get a whole new set of ideas and all be willing to give up what they did before, I think it says a lot about them and their character,” DeVries said. “They were all very willing and eager to learn.”

When DeVries got to Morgantown, the Mountaineers were coming off one of the worst seasons in program history and only a single player — sophomore Ofri Naveh — willing to return. DeVries had to build a roster by selling players a vision of winning that was not clear to see at the time. It was a risky proposition for any player entering their final college season, but it’s worked out for all parties.

“What I really loved about this group all year was that they just wanted to win,” DeVries said. “That’s all they really cared about and I think they’ve kept that as their primary focus for a good focus of the year…When everybody has that same mentality, that’s what give you a chance, because that’s what becomes the priority.”

And win the Mountaineers have, as the 2024-25 season has been a smashing success for West Virginia, which appears to be locked into an at-large bit for the NCAA Tournament following Tuesday’s win at Utah.

“Us seniors, it’s our last ride, so we’re looking to do everything we can to make is special,” Yesufu said. “A lot of the guys haven’t been to the tournament, so it being their last year, we’re trying to change that and make a deep run in the tournament. Having that winning mentality really brought us together.”

So, while Saturday’s pregame ceremony won’t be reminiscing about all the years of memories these players have at WVU, it will be an appreciation of a group that believed in their ability to win even when almost nobody else did.

“Senior Nights can go both ways,” DeVries said. “Those emotions can overcome those guys and it can be really hard to get engaged. And it can go the other way and you can see some extraordinary performances as guys just leave it all out there one last time at home. We’re certainly hoping for that side of it.”