T-MOBILE ARENA (LAS VEGAS) — After practically two and a half hours of seesawing leads and pendulum-esque momentum swings, after an time beyond regulation session during which one staff scored six consecutive factors and the opposite — the eventual winner — reeled off the ultimate 13 to seize the second annual Faculty Basketball Crown, a celebration befitting this metropolis awaited anybody and everybody related to West Virginia.
Out got here the championship hats and necklaces. Out got here the cellphone cameras and social media apps for reside broadcasting straight from heart courtroom. Out got here the finger-rubbing cash gestures from seemingly each participant on the Mountaineers’ roster. And thru all of it, moments earlier than the blue and yellow confetti rained down on the would-be recipients of $300,000 in NIL prize cash, the lyrics to “We Fly Excessive” by rapper Jim Jones blared by the sound system.
We keep fly, no lie, and this… ballin’! Hips and thighs, oh my, keep targeted!
To the victors went the spoils and the crown: West Virginia 89, Oklahoma 82.
“Like this group can do and has proven a capability to do all 12 months lengthy,” head coach Ross Hodge stated within the post-game information convention, “when it appeared like we had been nearly carried out for, , their aggressive spirit and their competitiveness and love for one another kicks in.”
Listed below are my takeaways from the championship recreation of the Faculty Basketball Crown:
1. West Virginia level guard Honor Huff steals the present
(Picture by Candice Ward/Getty Pictures)
When the precise crown that doubles because the trophy for this occasion was delivered to heart courtroom amid the championship celebration, the Mountaineers tried to put it on Honor Huff’s head. Huff, a diminutive level guard generously listed at 5-foot-10, had poured in a game-high 38 factors whereas splashing eight 3-pointers and making all 12 of his free-throw makes an attempt. He was, concurrently, the smallest and greatest participant on the ground.
“A few of the pictures they hit, you’ve simply bought to tip your hat to Honor Huff,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser stated throughout the post-game information convention in response to my query about West Virginia’s perimeter taking pictures.
“I imply, he made some unbelievable pictures. We talked about, ‘What may we do?’ Our ball-screen protection wanted to be higher. And you may’t take a swimmer’s breath on him. He’ll get separation. He doesn’t want a lot separation. He’s hitting step-backs, he’s flying off screens. I imply, [he scored] 38.”
It was greater than sufficient for Huff to be named the Most Worthwhile Participant, an award that got here with a shimmering necklace containing two gold cube. He was dubbed King of the Crown and flashed his newly received chain for all to see within the post-game photographs. The one purpose his teammates didn’t achieve inserting the crown on his head was as a result of Huff already donned a championship hat.
Minutes earlier, one Mountaineer fan had screamed “West Virginia, child!” as Huff stepped to the free-throw line with 55.2 seconds remaining in time beyond regulation. When he arrived on the stripe once more 18 seconds later — by which period the Sooners had been deliberately fouling — one other West Virginia supporter shouted, “Oklahoma is choking!”
Nonetheless, Huff’s facial features by no means modified. At the same time as he dribbled out many of the clock within the waning seconds, he wouldn’t enable himself to smile.
However when Huff walked towards the West Virginia bench and was engulfed by coaches and teammates alike, an ear-to-ear grin stretched throughout his face. He’d willed his staff to a win, a championship and a hefty payday with the third 30-point recreation of his collegiate profession.
“He’s a very nice shooter,” Mountaineers energy ahead Brenen Lorient stated throughout the post-game information convention in response to my query about watching Huff’s efficiency. “Most likely the very best shooter I ever performed with. I’m simply blissful I used to be right here to play with him.”
2. Surprising 3-point prowess propels the Mountaineers to victory
When this 12 months’s Faculty Basketball Crown started, there was little or no about West Virginia’s analytic profile that advised the Mountaineers would grow to be 3-point marksmen right here in Las Vegas.
Oklahoma Sooners vs West Virginia Mountaineers The Crown Championship Highlights 🏀 FOX Faculty Hoops
The Mountaineers entered the championship recreation ranked 251st nationally in 3-point discipline purpose share (32.5%) and solely relied on perimeter jumpers for 32.9% of their complete factors, which ranked 137th general, in keeping with KenPom. They had been, by a reasonably huge margin, the worst 3-point taking pictures staff throughout Large 12 convention play, trailing Fifteenth-place TCU by practically two full share factors.
And but, following a decidedly poor taking pictures effort in an opening-round win over Stanford (2-for-20 from past the arc), the Mountaineers ignited over the ultimate two video games of the event. Hodge’s staff buried 12 of its 30 makes an attempt (40%) to tug away from Creighton, 87-70, within the semifinals on Saturday afternoon. A day later, West Virginia scorched from the opening tip by making seven of its first 9 makes an attempt by the 11:47 mark to construct a double-digit lead earlier than Oklahoma appeared to understand the sport had begun.
[CBB CROWN RECAP: How WVU Outlasted Oklahoma in OT]
The barrage began with Huff, a 34.6% shooter, who made 5 consecutive 3s immediately, matching the purpose complete for the complete Sooners’ staff with 9 minutes remaining within the half. When his fifth straight try swished by the ring, to the slack-jawed disbelief of everybody alongside the Oklahoma bench, Huff bounced on his toes with glee whereas the Mountaineer trustworthy roared.
“Honor led the nation in 3s final 12 months,” Hodge stated throughout the post-game information convention in response to my query in regards to the Mountaineers’ perimeter taking pictures. “He didn’t make one within the first recreation, so legislation of averages tells you he’s going to make a pair.”
A pair, as Hodge phrased it, wound up being eight within the championship recreation alone — all of them essential. The remainder of Huff’s teammates mixed to make seven triples on a day when West Virginia outscored its opponent by 21 factors from past the arc.
By the point this event ended, the Mountaineers had drilled 27 3-pointers over their ultimate two outings mixed. It’s a quantity they solely reached as soon as in some other two-game stretch this season.
3. Elite Oklahoma offense can solely carry the staff to this point
(Picture by Candice Ward/Getty Pictures)
Along with having the strongest general résumé of any staff on this 12 months’s Faculty Basketball Crown, one of many the explanation why Oklahoma was such a well-liked choose to win the occasion centered across the Sooners’ prolific offense. Moser’s staff entered the event with an offense that ranked among the many high 20 nationally in effectivity, in keeping with KenPom, and the group entered Sunday’s title recreation at No. 20 precisely. That’s a greater rating than the offenses for groups like Iowa State, Michigan State, Tennessee and UConn, all of whom made deep runs within the NCAA Match.
Such efficiency on the finish of the ground was on full show in Sunday’s title recreation towards West Virginia. The Sooners had been blitzed from the 3-point line early, falling behind by double digits on the halfway mark of the primary half. However then the free-flowing group that carried out so nicely all season flashed its would possibly.
Oklahoma unleashed a panoramic 24-4 run within the span of eight minutes to stun the Mountaineers and upend the unique script. When prolonged to the early portion of the second half, the Sooners loved a run of 15 made discipline objectives in 18 makes an attempt to construct a 10-point lead of their very own.
“Simply an unbelievable basketball recreation,” Hodge stated within the post-game information convention. “A whole lot of ebbs and flows.”
Slowly however certainly, although, an Oklahoma protection that now ranks 99th nationally in effectivity started to splinter. Along with the Sooners’ struggles defending Huff, who was outstanding, they allowed the Mountaineers to shoot 52% from the ground within the second half.
At one level, West Virginia made seven of eight discipline objectives to start digging out of a double-digit deficit. There have been solely two situations in the complete second half and time beyond regulation when Moser’s staff compelled greater than two consecutive missed pictures.
4. Lengthy and winding profession for Sooners guard Nijel Pack ends in defeat
(Picture by Candice Ward/Getty Pictures)
It’s wonderful to consider a lot has modified since Oklahoma level guard Nijel Pack, a well-traveled redshirt senior, made his authentic collegiate dedication to Kansas State on June 12, 2019, as a four-star prospect and the No. 126 general participant within the nation.
Again then, the COVID-19 pandemic was nonetheless six months from arriving en masse in the US. Bruce Weber, who resigned from Kansas State following the 2022 season, was nonetheless the top coach of the Wildcats and the person who recruited Pack. His tenure has since given solution to Jerome Tang, interim coach Matthew Driscoll and, presently, Casey Alexander, previously of Belmont. The Large Ten had but to annex Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA. The SEC hadn’t snared Oklahoma and Texas from the SEC. Heck, NIL didn’t even exist.
Between then and now, Pack spent two seasons at Kansas State (first-team All-Large 12 in 2022) and three seasons with the Miami Hurricanes (together with a Remaining 4 in 2023) earlier than finally touchdown at Oklahoma, the place he averaged 16.6 factors, 3.1 rebounds and three.1 assists this season. The championship recreation for the Faculty Basketball Crown marked his 159th collegiate recreation and his 158th begin. Solely a choose group of gamers, all of whom benefited from an additional 12 months as a result of pandemic, have ever logged extra appearances.
“And each a kind of video games, he gave his all,” Moser stated throughout the post-game information convention in response to my query about Pack’s profession.
“He gave each follow his all. I imply, he practices and he prepares unbelievably. He’s a rare teammate, extraordinary teammate. He’s crushed proper now. He simply performed his final recreation. However man, extraordinary teammate [and an] unbelievable profession.”
Although his staff finally fell brief, Pack did all he may to maintain the Sooners afloat down the stretch. He scored a team-high 24 factors on 50% taking pictures and dished out a game-high seven assists. It was his 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining in regulation that, for a second, appeared like a possible capstone for an unbelievable profession. However time beyond regulation quickly arrived, and Oklahoma shortly wilted.
4½. What’s subsequent?
(Picture by Candice Ward/Getty Pictures)
Three groups that participated in final 12 months’s Faculty Basketball Crown used that have as a launching level to qualify for the NCAA Match in 2026: Villanova, UCF and Nebraska, which loved the very best season in program historical past and reached the Candy 16.
Based mostly on the way in which Oklahoma and West Virginia carried out over the previous couple of days in Las Vegas, dealing with opponents with relative ease within the semifinals, it’s definitely doable for each groups to make comparable leaps subsequent season. The Sooners, who’ve publicly dedicated to giving Moser extra NIL assets, might want to make investments closely within the switch portal to replenish a roster that features six seniors. Moser’s highschool recruiting class for 2026 solely consists of one participant in four-star energy ahead Gage Mayfield (No. 72 general, No. 12 PF).
West Virginia is also dropping the core of its roster, which featured seven gamers listed as seniors or older on the Faculty Basketball Crown. However Hodge has put collectively the nation’s Twenty third-ranked recruiting class so far, led by five-star level guard Miles Sadler (No. 23 general, No. 3 PG) and two further prospects rated among the many high 200 nationally. That’s a robust nucleus to construct round.
The switch portal opens on April 7.
