The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

College Sports

February 21, 2012

WVU’s Carey deserves to be Coach of the Year

By Mickey Furfari For The Register-Herald

MORGANTOWN — With just one senior on the squad, this obviously was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the West Virginia University women’s basketball team.

But Mike Carey has done an amazing job in his 11th year as the Mountaineers’ head coach. So much so, the Clarksburg native most certainly is deserving of being voted Big East Coach of the Year.

Yes, there are a handful of coaches in the conference whose teams have better records than WVU’s 19-7 overall and 9-4 Big East.

But those mentors have teams with much more experience and talent than Carey has had to work with since last November.

West Virginia owns upset victories over four nationally ranked teams, bringing to 20 under his guidance. The 65-63 win at No. 2/2-ranked Notre Dame was the greatest in the women’s program history.

Making that triumph even more impressive was the fact Natalie Burton, the team’s lone senior, was unable to play in that game.

The win against Notre Dame was in the middle of three consecutive wins over ranked opponents. The other two were against No. 14/12 Louisville 66-50 and No. 21/18 Rutgers 60-50, both at the Coliseum.

The first of the four wins over ranked teams was against No. 25 UCLA 63-54 in the Woodland Holiday Thanksgiving Classic.

Two of WVU’s four league losses also came against ranked teams: at No. 2/2 Connecticut 79-60 and No. 24/20 DePaul 77-63 at home last Saturday.

The Mountaineers, who had built a 14-point first-half lead, melted down the stretch. They hope to bounce back Tuesday night in a conference game at St. John’s.

“We just quit playing (in the second half), against DePaul,” said Carey. “It’s a shame. It was a game we should have won.

“We had too many turnovers and didn’t get back on defense. But you’ve got to give DePaul credit.”

The defeat ended a five-game winning streak.

Carey has won the Big East Coach of the Year twice. This is his 24th year in college coaching, the first 13 as men’s coach at Salem College.

He also should be in contention for West Virginia College Coach of the Year for 2011-12.

After visiting St. John’s, the WVU women closes the regular season with at Cincinnati on Feb. 25 and then hosts Pitt on Feb. 27.

Text Only
College Sports
  • 052513 luck ‘I always thought the university was missing an opportunity’

    West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck has been on plenty of tours around the state. Now approaching his fourth year as AD, the former Mountaineer quarterback is used to fielding questions during the spring and summer months about the approaching football season and even a few about basketball.

    May 24, 2013 1 Photo

  • WVU baseball tops TCU, stays alive in Big 12 tournament

    In its second game of pool play at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, the West Virginia University baseball team trumped TCU, 10-3.

    May 24, 2013

  • Miners' roster has proven producers

    While the entire West Virginia Miners roster will be new — except for pitcher Kolin Stanley, whose arrival will be later than expected because of a bout with tendinitis — the players are definitely no strangers to high-caliber baseball.

    May 24, 2013

  • Howley considered best all-around WVU athlete

    Chuck Howley’s greatest fame came in football at West Virginia University and then with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

    May 24, 2013

  • Mountaineers drop Big 12 Tournament opener

    In its first game of pool play against Kansas at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, the West Virginia University baseball team was defeated, 7-2.

    May 24, 2013

  • Months of waiting ends: Weeks signs with Marshall

    Adam Weeks probably could have helped usher in a historic first season for the Mountain East Conference at any member school he wanted. Instead, he waited — and waited — for the offer he really wanted.

    May 24, 2013

  • 052413 huggs WVU coaches looking for talent inside state’s borders

    At the West Virginia University Coaches Caravan Thursday at The Resort at Glade Springs, both head football coach Dana Holgorsen and men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins spoke about the Mountain State’s love for the state’s flagship university and its athletic teams.

    May 23, 2013 2 Photos

  • Six Concord baseball players selected for honors

    Six Concord University baseballplayers were recently honored with All-Atlantic Region accolades by either the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) or the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

    May 23, 2013

  • WVU baseball changes up pitching lineup for Big 12 Championship

    Randy Mazey’s attention has been on everything but baseball in recent days, as the West Virginia University coach has been out in front of his team’s effort to help the tornado victims in Oklahoma, where his team has been this week preparing for the Big 12 Baseball Championships, which begin today at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla.

    May 22, 2013

  • 1MUSGRAVE1.jpg Musgrave, WVU teammates see tornado devastation up close

    West Virginia University pitcher Harrison Musgrave has spent his entire life in the hills of West Virginia. He didn’t know what a tornado siren was — let alone the damage that can be done by swirling winds.
    “I didn’t even know that they were going off,” Musgrave said. “I didn’t even know that they had sirens. I know I feel like a total idiot, but I heard them go off and I just thought it was an alarm going off.”

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo 6 Stories