West Virginia
West Virginia Clashes with Georgetown in the Big 12-Big East Battle
West Virginia is coming off an incredible three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis where they surprisingly placed third in a loaded eight-team tournament, knocking off a top three Gonzaga team and a nationally ranked Arizona squad.
“I think our guys learned a lot about their ability to compete at a high level,” said West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries. “We played three really quality teams in a three-day span and got put in some adverse situations with the three overtimes. From a coaching staff perspective, team perspective, I think we got a lot of valuable things that we can take from it, good and bad, but overall, I thought the guys really competed and did some good things.”
Senior guard Javon Small averaged 23.7 points and 5.7 assists in the three games and senior forward Tucker DeVries put up a season-high 26 points on eight made threes in the last outing in the win over Arizona.
The Mountaineers (5-2) return home to play an old Big East rival in Georgetown Friday night as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle. The Hoyas (7-1) only loss came in this early portion of the season was against Notre Dame, another old Big East foe, in the third game of the season.
Ed Cooley is in his second season at the helm. Cooley became prominent name around college basketball during his time at Providence, producing seven NCAA tournament appearance in 12 seasons, including a program record five consecutive NCAA selections.
The Hoyas struggled in his first season with just nine wins but is now just two victories away from matching the total a year ago.
“Georgetown is obviously playing really well – got a good record,” said DeVries. “They’re excited, they’re doing some good things, so it’s a great game for our fanbase and a great challenge for us as well.”
The Hoyas are led by six-foot-ten forward Thomas Sorber. The freshman is nearly averaging a double-double with 15.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and has 14 blocks on the season.
“He’s good,” DeVries stated. “They throw it in there to him. He’s been really efficient down there – effective finishing around the rim. He can step out a little bit too.”
Georgetown also has a trio of guards that are averaging 41.6 points and 11 assists per game.
Micah Peavy leads the group with 14.8 ppg. The six-foot-eight TCU transfer is shooting 41.2% from three-point range. The senior was 4-3 against the Mountaineers in his time at TCU, including a pair of wins last season, and averaged 9.0 points in the seven contests.
Junior Jayden Epps has made a team-high 17 threes to average 13.9 ppg while sophomore Malik Mack is tied with Peavy for a team-best 4.1 assists per game while averaging 13.0 ppg behind a three-point shooting percentage of 40.6%.
“They’re very good scorers” DeVries said. “They’re very aggressive. You have three of them out there, with an inside presence, that certainly creates some challenges for your defense, but they can go get a bucket on their own or they can get it within the framework of a lot of the sets they run, and they run a ton of sets. So, there’s a lot of ways they try to get guys going.”
West Virginia and Georgetown tip-off at 7:00 p.m. EST and the action will broadcast on ESPN2.
— Story by David Walsh, Photo gallery by Will Wotring
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Divisions I and II are going as expected after Thursday night’s opening round in the 78th West Virginia High School State Wrestling Tournament at Mountain Health Network Arena. University, seeking a third straight large school title, and Parkersburg found themselves in the top two in the standings on a night dominated by pins as No. 1 seeds would beat up on No. 4 seeds.
University started the event minus two competitors. One did not make weight and the other, who won a state title a year ago, is not competing as he’s recovering from a football injury.
One competitor delivering big for the Hawks is Maximus Fortier, a junior who transferred in from Fairmont Senior. While there, he won the state title as a freshman at 144 with a final record of 41-1. He competes at 165 now and is 36-2 after winning with a first-round pin Thursday night.
“Come down, support the team and try to win,” Fortier said of his battle plan. “Wrestle the way we know how.”
Fortier and the Hawks won the Ron Mauck OVAC title, the WSAZ Invitational and West Virginia Duals during the season. He competed in two major tournaments as well. He went 2-2 in the Ironman and won his weight class in the Powerade Tournament which attracts the top teams in the nation.
“Wasn’t ready,” he said about the Ironman. “Did my thing at Powerade. It was big.”
Fortier said support at his new school grows every day.
“They treat me like family,” he said.
Strategy for the State Tournament is simple.
“Wrestle the way we know how to wrestle,” Fortier said.
University capitalized on a strong finish in the heavier weights and leads with 47 points. Parkersburg, which finished second here last year, trails with 39.5. Cabell Midland is third with 37.5 and Huntington fourth with 32.5.
Ripley is in year two in Division II. The Vikings placed sixth a year ago. They came to town as the Region 4 winner and qualified 11 with nine taking first and the other two second. Ripley leads after Thursday with 38 points thanks to wins by pin or major fall. Independence is second with 27 and Keyser third with 25.5. Cameron is the leader in Division III with 16 points.
The tournament continues Friday with sessions at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the girls have their state with action starting at 8 a.m. The boys begin at 10:30.
Championship finals are Saturday night at 6:30. Wrestlers are now seeded prior to the tournament and the pill breaks deadlocks.
During the season, Ripley won the West Virginia Duals, beat Herbert Hoover twice, Point Pleasant and also got wins over Parkersburg South and Huntington.
Losing to Kansas State wiped away all hope for West Virginia to make the NCAA Tournament. That seems to be the clear consensus in the Mountain State, but is there actually still a chance? Well, I guess so.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi still has West Virginia listed as a team to consider, the second team outside of the “next four out” grouping.
Lunardi’s current NCAA Tournament bubble
Last Four Byes: Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas, Ohio State
Last Four In: SMU, Santa Clara, New Mexico, Indiana
First Four Out: VCU, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati
Next Four Out: San Diego State, USC, California, Seton Hall
Next: Stanford, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona State
How is this even possible?
Short answer? I don’t really know.
My best guess as to why? Two things: the respect for the Big 12 and the opportunities left on the table, and two, an incredibly weak bubble.
Should West Virginia beat UCF on Friday, it will give the Mountaineers a 9-9 record in Big 12 play. That’s not as much of a guarantee to make the dance as having a winning record, but still, it’s an impressive mark, especially when, in this instance, they would have wins over Kansas, BYU, and sweeps over Cincinnati and UCF.
If you ask me, they still have too many bad losses for it to matter. I mean, even if they got red-hot out of nowhere and made it to the Big 12 championship game next week, is that enough? Potentially, but that’s a big IF.
The one thing WVU does have on its side is the number of Quad 1 wins, which they have five of. Virtually every other team in college basketball that has a minimum of five Quad 1 victories is expected to make the tournament. In that previously mentioned scenario, they would add at least one more Quad 1 win in the conference tournament, giving the committee something to think about.
The bubble is just incredibly weak, though. Like, how in the world is Auburn, who is 16-14 currently, the second team out of the field? Cincinnati, which WVU swept and has the same record as, is the fourth team in the “first four out” grouping.
At this point, the only path I see is for the Mountaineers to cut down the nets in Kansas City — good luck with that. We could be having a very different conversation if they didn’t lallygag their way through the first 30 minutes of the games against Utah and Kansas State.
Buckle up, Upshur County. Starting Friday, March 6, law enforcement officers across West Virginia will step up seatbelt enforcement as part of a statewide Click It or Ticket campaign running through March 23.
The West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) announced the high-visibility mobilization as a warm-up to the national seatbelt campaign in May. The goal is to ensure every occupant — front seat or back, driver or passenger — is buckled on every trip.
“During this mobilization, law enforcement officers across West Virginia will be out in full force. They will be strictly ticketing drivers who are unbuckled or who are transporting children not properly restrained in car seats,” said Jack McNeely, Director of the GHSP.
The numbers behind the campaign are sobering. In 2023, 40% of passenger vehicle occupants killed in West Virginia crashes were unrestrained. The state’s seatbelt usage rate has also slipped — from 91.9% in 2024 to 91.6% in 2025.
Rural drivers face elevated risk despite a common assumption that country roads are safer. In 2023, 65% of the state’s traffic fatalities occurred in rural areas, compared to 35% in urban centers.
Under West Virginia law, wearing a seatbelt is required. A citation carries a $25 fine, though McNeely says the real point isn’t the penalty.
“Click It or Ticket isn’t about the citations; it’s about saving lives,” he said. “A ticket is a wake-up call. It is far less expensive than the alternative — paying with your life or the lives of your family and friends.”
For more information about the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program, visit highwaysafety.wv.gov or call 304-926-2509.
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