In this 21-part series, IƵll count down the 100 greatest Mountaineer menƵs basketball players of all-time.

Admittedly this list is not scientific. It is completely subjective, and obviously opinions may differ. Please feel free to visit our message boards at BlueGoldNews.com to provide your own thoughts on this list, either pro or con.

Below is another installment in this lengthy series with a count down from No. 5-1.

1 Ƶ Jerry West (1958-60) Ƶ A native of Chelyan, West Virginia, West is one of the most successful and decorated individuals the game of basketball has ever known.

Ƶ a Mountaineer, he was a two-time consensus All-American (1959 and Ƶ60), led ƵU to the NCAA Tournament title game in 1959, was co-captain of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic basketball team in 1960 and was a 14-time NBA all-star and also the leagueƵs MVP in 1972 before going on to a post-playing career that included three seasons as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers (1976-79) followed by four decades as the best executive in NBA history.

It all started at East Bank High School, where he averaged 32.2 points per game as a senior and earned recognition as the state player of the year in leading the Pioneers to a 23-5 record and the Class A (large school division at the time) state championship.

ƵU won the recruiting war for the slender 6-foot-3 jumping jack, who played forward in high school and college before moving to shooting guard in the NBA. When

West arrived in Morgantown, Hot Rod Hundley was leading the Mountaineer varsity team (25-5), but NCAA rules prohibited freshmen from varsity action. So Jerry was confined to ƵUƵs freshman squad in the 1956-57 season, where he averaged 19.5 points and 17.1 rebounds in leading a frosh team (17-0) that also included Willie Akers, Butch Goode, Jay Jacobs and Jim Warren.

The success continued for West in his three varsity seasons, as he averaged 17.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore, 26.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game as a junior and 29.3 points and 16.5 rebounds per game as a senior.

Despite the fact he only was able to play three varsity seasons, no Mountaineer has ever had more points (2,309, 24.8 per game) or rebounds (1,240, 13.3 per game) at the varsity level than West, who also had 261 career assists.

In his 93 career games with the ƵU varsity, West had an amazing 70 double-doubles, which is 16 more than No. 2 on the schoolƵs list (Warren Baker).

Jerry also scored 30 or more points a school-record 29 times, 20 or more points 64 times and reached double figures in points in all but four varsity games.

Seven times in his career West had games with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. No other Mountaineer has had more than three, and none have done it more than once in the last 60 years.

WestƵs three ƵU varsity squads posted records of 26-2, 29-5 and 26-5.

They earned NCAA Tournament berths all three years, coming up a point short in the 1959 title game against California (71-70).

After claiming gold in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, West, who was the second pick of the 1960 NBA Draft, went on to play 14 seasons with the Lakers, averaging 27.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists during that span. His 42,892 career NBA points (regular season and playoffs combined) were the fourth-most at the time of his retirement in 1974 and are 23rdon that list today.

The honors for West are too many to list, but among them was induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the inaugural class of the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.

His No. 44 jersey was retired by ƵU in 2005, and he was named to the Mountaineer Legends Society in 2017.

WestƵs silhouette serves as the NBAƵs Logo, and his life-size bronze statue resides outside not only the ƵU Coliseum (unveiled in 2007) but also Los AngelesƵ Crypto.com Arena (previously known as the Staples Center), which was unveiled in 2011.

2 Ƶ DaƵSean Butler (2007-10) Ƶ Butler went from unheralded recruit to college superstar. The 6-foot-7 forward was a three-star prospect who had offers from West Virginia and DePaul coming out of Bloomfield (N.J.) Tech and wound up signing with John BeileinƵs Mountaineers as part of the class of 2006 that also included Wellington Smith, Joe Mazzulla and Devan Bawinkel.

Butler may have entered ƵU without much acclaim, but he developed into one of the best basketball players in school history.

He became just the third Mountaineer to score more than 2,000 points in his career, posting 2,095 in his four years at West Virginia, which trails only Jerry West (2,309) and Hot Rod Hundley (2,180).

Butler also proved to be a winner, as his 107 victories in a ƵU uniform are the most ever for a Mountaineer.

The winning started the moment Butler arrived in Morgantown, as he was West VirginiaƵs top reserve as a freshman in helping BeileinƵs last Mountaineer squad to a 27-9 record and an NIT championship.

Bob Huggins replaced the Michigan-bound Beilein in 2007, and the winning continued. Butler started every game over his final three seasons at ƵU, as the Mountaineers posted records of 26-11, 23-12 and 31-7.

Each of those three HugginsƵ teams earned the NCAA Tournament berths with a run to the Sweet 16 in 2008 and to the Final Four in 2010.

Butler averaged double figures in scoring in each of his four collegiate seasons, posting 10.1 points per game as a freshman, 12.9 as a sophomore, 17.1 as a junior and 17.2 as a senior.

He also rebounded at a high rate (5.5 per game in his career) for a multi-purpose player who Huggins used in every position from point guard to power forward. DaƵSean not only led ƵU in scoring as a junior and senior, but he also topped the squad in assists in 2009-10 (3.1 per game).

He left West Virginia having played the most career minutes in school history (4,491) and the most career games (146).

He also had the fifth-most 3-pointers made (205), the sixth-most free throws made (408), the 13th-most steals (154), the 13th-most rebounds (800) and the 21st-most assists (280).

Such a career brought Butler plenty of honors, as he was named to the Big East all-rookie team in 2007, second-team all-conference in 2009 and first-team all-conference in 2010.

Having led ƵU to its first-ever Big East Tournament championship in 2010, he was named the tourneyƵs most outstanding player.

He also earned first-team All-American notice as a senior from Basketball Times and the John Wooden panel, and he was named the winner of the 2010 LoweƵs Senior CLASS award.

A knee injury suffered late in West VirginiaƵs 2010 NCAA Tournament semifinal loss to Duke hampered ButlerƵs opportunity to earn an NBA roster spot, though he was drafted in the second round by the Miami Heat.

He didnƵt gain an NBA job, but he did play professional basketball for a decade with most of that time coming in Europe and Israel.

DaƵSean also got into coaching, spending a year as a graduate assistant at ƵU and another season as an assistant coach at Wheeling University.

This past year he was an assistant coach for the College Park Skyhawks in the NBAƵs G League. Butler was inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

3 Ƶ Hot Rod Hundley (1955-57) Ƶ There have been few Ƶ maybe no Ƶ personalities bigger than ƵHot RodƵ Hundley to ever grace a basketball court anywhere. The story of ƵThe Clown Prince of BasketballƵ is well known, as his rags (basically homeless as a teen in Charleston) to riches (All-American player and an award-winning broadcaster) life warranted a documentary and eventually a statue outside the ƵU Coliseum.

Hot RodƵs antics while a Mountaineer were not just myths.

For instance, he really did miss out on the Southern Conference Tournament scoring record when with 30 points in the waning moments of the 1955 title game against George Washington, Hundley tried Ƶ and missed Ƶ a pair of free throws when he attempted a hook shot and then a behind-the-back shot.

There are too many other incredible moments to list, but in between all the clowning, Hundley could play the game of basketball like no one who came before him at West Virginia University Ƶ and few who have come since.

After an all-state career at Charleston (W.Va.) High, Hundley initially appeared headed to N.C. State, but when the Wolfpack was placed on probation for rules violations prior to his freshman year, Rod turned to ƵU, which at the time was coached by Red Brown.

Hot RodƵs success was instantaneous.

He averaged 23.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore in his first varsity season, and then followed that by averaging 26.6 points and 13.1 rebounds as a junior and 23.1 points and 10.5 rebounds as a senior.

His single-game high of 54 points against Furman in 1957 still stands as West VirginiaƵs most ever.

Hundley led ƵU to records of 19-11, 21-9 and 25-5 in his three varsity seasons.

The Mountaineers won the Southern Conference Tournament in each of those three years and thus earned NCAA Tournament berths, though they were knocked out of the NCAƵ in the first round in all three.

Hundley earned Southern Conference first-team all-league and all-tournament honors in each of his three varsity seasons.

He was also the conferenceƵs athlete and basketball player of the year in 1957.

He was accorded second-team All-American recognition by multiple outlets as a junior and was a consensus first-team All-American as a senior.

The 6-foot-4 forward was selected with the first pick of the 1957 NBA Draft, chosen by the Cincinnati Royals who immediately traded his rights to the Minneapolis Lakers.

Hundley played six years with the Lakers, who moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960.

He averaged 8.4 points per outing in his 431 NBA games.

He earned a spot in two NBA all-star games Ƶ during the 1959-60 season when he averaged 12.8 points per game and in 1960-61 when he averaged 11.0 points per game.

Hundley was just 28 years old when his playing career ended but shortly after his time on the court came to a close, he moved into broadcasting, and he would spend over four decades behind the mic.

He retired in 2009 as the long-time voice of the New Orleans/Utah Jazz and received a spot in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster.

He also was inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

His No. 33 Mountaineer jersey was retired in 2010, and he became an inaugural member of the Mountaineer Legends Society in 2017.

A life-size statue of Hundley was dedicated outside the ƵU Coliseum blue gate in 2016, less than a year after his passing.

4 Ƶ Fritz Williams (1965-68) Ƶ There have been few better athletes produced anywhere than Weirton, West VirginiaƵs Ron ƵFritzƵ Williams. Ƶ a high schooler, Williams led Weir High to three straight Class AAA state basketball championship games (1963-65), winning the 1964 edition, and he was named to the all-state and all-tourney teams each season.

He earned 11 varsity letters for the Red Riders and was good enough in football to earn scholarship offers from many major powers.

In fact, he was so good on the gridiron that at the end of his ƵU basketball career, having not played football in college, he was drafted in the 14thround by the NFLƵs Dallas Cowboys, who reportedly offered him a guaranteed three-year contract.

Ƶ he had done before, Williams decided to stick with basketball. It was hoops that made Fritz a trailblazer at West Virginia University, which he picked over Michigan and Ohio State. Williams, along with fellow Weirton native Ed Harvard as well as Norman Holmes and Jim Lewis, comprised the first African-Americans ever on the Mountaineer basketball team or in the entire Southern Conference.

Williams made his debut with the ƵU varsity on Dec. 1, 1965, under first-year head coach Bucky Waters, and the young 6-foot-3 guard found immediate success.

He scored in double figures in 27 of 28 games his sophomore season, topping 20 points 16 times, including a 38-point effort in a 101-93 win over Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Williams averaged 19.7 points per game that season and then followed it by averaging 20.1 as a junior and 20.4 as a senior.

The point guard also led ƵU in assists in each of his three of his varsity seasons (5.5, 7.0 and 5.5).

In all, he amassed 1,687 points (fourth-most at the time of his graduation and currently 10th), 504 assists (fourth-most) and 374 rebounds.

Williams helped lead West Virginia to three straight 19-9 seasons, which included a Southern Conference Tournament championship and subsequent NCAA Tourney berth in Ƶ67 and also an NIT bid in Ƶ68.

He was named to the SoConƵs first-team all-league and all-tournament teams in each of his three varsity years, and he was also the Southern ConferenceƵs athlete of the year and basketball player of the year in 1968.

Williams was the ninth pick of the first round of the 1968 NBA Draft, and after turning down the CowboysƵ football offer, Williams signed with the San Francisco Warriors.

He spent five years with the Warriors, who changed their name to Golden State in 1971, averaging 10.7 points and 4.0 assists in 399 games with that franchise.

He moved to Milwaukee in 1973 and was a key reserve for the Bucks (5.1 points and 1.9 assists) for two seasons before ending his playing career in 1975-76 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In all, he averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 assists per game in his 548 NBA contests.

After his playing career concluded, Williams became a basketball coach, including time as an assistant at California and Iona.

He passed away suddenly from a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 59.

Williams has been inducted into many honor groups over the years, including the OVAC Hall of Fame, the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame (1982), the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame (1993) and the Mountaineer Legends Society (2017).

5 Ƶ Rod Thorn (1961-63) Ƶ A native of Princeton, West Virginia, few individuals anywhere have impacted basketball Ƶ at the high school, college, pro and international level Ƶ more than Rod Thorn.

A three-time first-team all-state selection who averaged more than 30 points per game as a senior at Princeton High, Thorn was such a prized recruit coming out of high school that the West Virginia state legislature passed a resolution declaring the 6-foot-4 guard a Ƶprized natural resource.Ƶ

That kind of recruiting pitch kept him from attending Duke, where he was eyeing medical school, and convinced him to remain in state.

Following on the heels of Jerry West, Thorn also proved to be an incredible player for the Mountaineers. He averaged 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore, 23.7 points and 12.1 rebounds as a junior and 22.5 points and 9.0 rebounds as a senior.

He was a first-team all-Southern Conference honoree in all three of his varsity seasons, and he was also the leagueƵs athlete of the year in 1962 and Ƶ63 and its basketball player of the year in Ƶ62.

He was named a first-team All-American by The Sporting News and the Helms Foundation after his junior year and was a consensus first-team All-American after his senior season.

He helped coach George KingƵs Mountaineers to three seasons of 23 or more wins and two NCAA Tournament berths (1962 and 1963).

After his college days ended, Thorn was taken with the second pick of the first round in the 1963 NBA Draft, starting an eight-year pro playing career that took him from Baltimore (1963-64) to Detroit (1964-65), St. Louis (1965-67) and ultimately Seattle (1967-71).

In 466 career NBA games, he averaged 10.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest.

His basketball career wasnƵt over once his playing days stopped, though.

He worked as an assistant coach with the SuperSonics and New York Nets, as well as the head coach of the ABAƵs Spirits of St. Louis, until moving into an executive role.

From 1978-85, he was the general manager of the Chicago Bulls, where his most famous decision was drafting Michael Jordan in 1984.

From 1986-2000, he served as the NBAƵs executive vice president of basketball operations, and he chaired the selection committee for USA Basketball in 1992, which put together the Dream Team, 1996 and 2000.

HeƵs also worked as president for the Philadelphia 76ers and as a special consultant for the Milwaukee Bucks.

He was inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as an executive in 2018 and the Mountaineer Legends Society in 2017.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Ƶ In this 21-part series, IƵll count down the 100 greatest Mountaineer menƵs basketball players of all-time.

Admittedly this list is not scientific. It is completely subjective, and obviously opinions may differ. Please feel free to visit our message boards at BlueGoldNews.com to provide your own thoughts on this list, either pro or con.

Below is another installment in this lengthy series with a count down from No. 10-6.

6 Ƶ Jevon Carter (2015-18) Ƶ Ballyhooed as college basketballƵs best defensive guard during his days at West Virginia, Carter was far more than just a pest to the opposition.

Yes, the 6-foot-2 guard from Maywood, Illinois, was named the NBAC Defensive Player of the Year as both a junior and senior, but he also led ƵU in scoring in both seasons (13.5 and 17.3 ppg) and topped the squad in assists in his final three years at West Virginia (3.3, 3.9 and 6.6).

And it goes without saying that he also had the most steals in all four of his seasons with the Mountaineers (1.9, 1.7, 2.5 and 3.0). His 330 career steals not only are a school record but also are the 20th-most in NCAA Division I history.

Carter concluded his four-year ƵU career with 1,758 points (eighth-most in West Virginia history), 559 assists (second-most) and 538 rebounds, while hitting 241 (fourth-most) of 678 3-pointers (35.5%, 21st-best). He helped the Mountaineers to records of 25-10, 26-9, 28-9 and 26-11, gaining the team four straight NCAA Tournament berths where they advanced to the Sweet 16 three times.

His 105 career victories at West Virginia tie him with Joe Mazzulla for the second-most in school history, as each is two behind DaƵSean Butler. Carter was a four-time member of the Big 12 all-defensive team, was twice the leagueƵs defensive player of the year (2017 and Ƶ18) and was a second-team all-Big 12 choice in 2017 and a first-team honoree in 2018.

He was a first-team Wooden and Lute Olson All-American as a senior. After his college days ended, Carter was taken with the second pick of the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2018 NBA Draft. HeƵs been in the NBA or the G League ever since, though heƵs bounced around from Memphis (2018-19) to Phoenix (2019-21), Brooklyn (2021-22) and Milwaukee (2022).

He averaged 5.6 points, 2.6 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game in 20 contests with the Bucks this past season after being released in February by the Nets. He recently signed a new contract with Milwaukee.

7 Ƶ Mark Workman (1950-52) Ƶ Born in Logan and before moving to Charleston as a teen, Mark Workman is the best big man in Mountaineer basketball history. Statistically, itƵs a little hard to quantify that statement, because all the stats weƵre used to perusing today werenƵt kept back then.

Things like blocked shots, assists and steals werenƵt tracked until years later. Even rebounds werenƵt kept in WorkmanƵs first two varsity seasons, but when they were, the 6-foot-8, 205-pound center set a standard (17.48 per game) that hasnƵt been topped in the 70 years since. In fact, Jerry WestƵs average of 16.45 rebounds per game in 1959-60 is the only one that has come close. Workman was more than just a rebounder, though.

He led ƵU in scoring in all three of his varsity seasons, posting 11.3 points per game as a sophomore, 26.1 as a junior and 23.1 as a senior. In the programƵs first half century, he was the only Mountaineer to average more than 20 points per game in a single season, and he did it twice.

He was also the NCAAƵs third-leading scorer in 1950-51 and its sixth-leading scorer in 1951-52. He once scored 37 points in a half against VMI in 1952, finishing the blowout victory with 46. That still remains the most point any Mountaineer has ever scored in a half.

Such achievements earned him third-team All-American recognition from Basketball Record in 1951, and he was a first-team All-American in 1952 according to the Ƶsociated Press, the Helms Foundation, Look magazine and United Press International. Workman finished his ƵU career with 1,553 points in 76 games, which averaged out to 20.4 points per game.

That career scoring average is still the fifth-best in school history.

WorkmanƵs West Virginia teams were good (13-11 in 1949-50 and 18-9 in 1950-51), particularly his senior year when ƵU finished 23-4 overall with a 15-1 Southern Conference regular-season mark under coach Red Brown in a league that at the time still included soon-to-be ACC members N.C. State, North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Wake Forest and Clemson.

The Mountaineers were denied an NCAA Tournament berth that year, though, when they were upset by Duke, 90-88, in the semifinals of the league tourney at a time when only the conference champion earned a spot in the NCAƵ.

Following his days with the Mountaineers, Workman was the first overall pick of the 1952 NBA Draft, going to the Milwaukee Hawks. He played 78 games for three different NBA teams (Milwaukee, Philadelphia Warriors and Baltimore Bullets) over the next two seasons before moving into business.

He worked as a salesman for the Brunswick Corporation, which was the big bowling brand, and then for a mining equipment company. Inducted into the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame in 1974, the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Mountaineer Legends Society in 2017, he passed away in 1983.

8 Ƶ Wil Robinson (1970-72) Ƶ Robinson is one of the elite offensive forces to ever suit up at ƵU. He is one of just three Mountaineers in school history to average better than 22 points per game throughout their varsity career. Jerry West tops that list with a career average of 24.84 ppg with Robinson right behind at 24.67 ppg followed by Hot Rod Hundley at 24.49 ppg.

Robinson and Hundley each reached the 40-point plateau in six different games. No other Mountaineer did that, not even West (four times).

Robinson came to ƵU after a prep All-American career at Uniontown, PennsylvaniaƵs Laurel Highlands High School, where he averaged 30 points per game as a senior in leading the Mustangs to the 1968 PA Class A state championship, defeating Cheltenham, 63-56, in the finals.

After his LH days, Robinson signed with West Virginia, thus starting a Mountaineer career that would ultimately take him to All-American status and the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame.

He had to be content with spending the 1968-69 season on the freshmen team, where he averaged 21.6 points per game, as frosh werenƵt eligible for varsity competition at that point in time. The 6-foot-1 guard moved up to the varsity level as a sophomore for the 1969-70 season, and immediately became West VirginiaƵs dominant offensive player.

He led the team in scoring in each of his three varsity seasons, averaging 20.0 points per game as a sophomore, 25.0 as a junior and 29.4 as a senior. That single-season average in 1971-72 topped ƵUƵs previous best (West, 29.29).

No Mountaineer has been within seven points of RobinsonƵs senior season average in the 50 years since. Unfortunately for Robinson, West VirginiaƵs team fortunes had started to decline a couple years before his arrival and those struggles continued throughout most of the Ƶ70s. ƵU had left the Southern Conference in 1968 and was playing a much more difficult national schedule as an independent.

Ƶ a result, RobinsonƵs varsity squads posted records of 11-15, 13-12 and 13-11 under head coach Sonny Moran. Though the ƵU Coliseum opened in the fall of 1970, Robinson never got an opportunity to play in the postseason. Still, he was named an All-American by multiple outlets in 1972, including the Helms Foundation. He is one of 13 ƵU players to earn first-team All-American honors.

After his Mountaineer career, Robinson was drafted in the fourth round by both the NBA and ABA. He spent the 1973-74 season with ABAƵs Memphis Tams. He returned to ƵU after that to complete his bachelorƵs degree and ultimately also obtained his masterƵs degree in safety. He then moved into business, becoming a district manager in western New York for a large retail company.

Robinson earned many honors after his playing career ended. He was inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, the Fayette (Pa.) County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Mountaineer Legends Society in 2017.

9 Ƶ Kevin Jones (2009-12) Ƶ A 6-foot-8 forward from Mount Vernon, New York, Kevin Jones was the epitome of consistency in his four seasons at West Virginia.

Arguably the best power forward in program history, Jones will be a first-ballot ƵU Sports Hall of Fame inductee. He finished his college career as West VirginiaƵs fifth all-time leading scorer (1,822 points) and fourth all-time leading rebounder (1,048). Only three other Mountaineers have both 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their careers Ƶ Jerry West (2,309 points and 1,240 rebounds), Lloyd Sharrar (1,101/1,178) and Warren Baker (1,556/1,070). Jones was a four-star recruit coming out of famed Mount Vernon High School, who had offers from dozens of Division I programs.

He narrowed his final list to Pitt, Indiana, Massachusetts and West Virginia before signing with Bob HugginsƵ Mountaineers as part of the class of 2008 that also included fellow New YorkersƵ Devin Ebanks and Truck Bryant. That trio combined with veterans like DaƵSean Butler, Wellington Smith and John Flowers to lead West VirginiaƵs basketball fortunes to incredible heights.

With Jones helping lead the way, ƵU put together records of 23-12, 31-7, 21-12 and 19-14 that featured four NCAA Tournament berths and included a run to the Final Four in 2010. A sophomore, Jones started all 38 games for the Mountaineers during their Final Four season and averaged 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game that year.

A heavily-used reserve as a freshman (6.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Jones started 104 straight games through his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He averaged 13.5 points and a team-leading 7.5 rebounds while earning Big East all-conference honorable mention notice as a junior in 2011.

Ƶ a senior, Jones was first-team all-conference while averaging 19.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, leading the team in each category.

No Mountaineer had averaged more points since Drew SchifinoƵs 20.1 in 2002-03 and none had performed better on the boards since Maurice RobinsonƵs 12.1 in 1977-78. Jones was more than just a big man who could operate in the paint, though. He made 110 of 349 3-point attempts in his career (31.5%), which is the 23rd-most makes from beyond the arc by a Mountaineer.

HeƵs also in the top 15 in school history in wins (ninth, 94), games started (15th, 104), games played (eighth, 139), double-doubles (seventh, 33), 20-point games (15th, 23), blocked shots (ninth, 109), field goals made (fifth, 728) and offensive rebounds (first, 450). In his first season of professional basketball after his ƵU career ended, Jones bounced back and forth between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the CavsƵ G League affiliate, the Canton Charge.

He played 32 games and averaged 3.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game for the Cavaliers, while he averaged 22.4 points and 11.2 rebounds in 12 games for the Charge. In the 2013-14 season, Jones spent all his time in the G League, averaging 16.9 points and 8.0 rebounds in 38 games with the Charge.

Jones signed with an overseas pro team after that year, and heƵs spent the past nine seasons playing professionally in the Philippines, France, Serbia, Russia, Spain and Japan. This past season with the Hitachi Sun Rockers in JapanƵs B1 League, Jones averaged 15.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

10 Ƶ Lloyd Sharrar (1956-58) Ƶ One of the best big men in Mountaineer basketball history is often is overlooked, as Sharrar played two of his three varsity seasons with Hot Rod Hundley and the other with Jerry West.

Make no mistake, though, Lloyd Sharrar is not someone to be forgotten. In those three varsity seasons, the 6-foot-10 center from Meadville, Pennsylvania, which is between Pittsburgh and Erie, helped ƵU post three straight 20+ win seasons Ƶ the program had only reached the 20-win mark twice in the previous 47 years.

With records of 21-0, 25-5 and 26-2, SharrarƵs Mountaineers spent 32 weeks ranked in the top 20 of the Ƶsociated Press poll and eight of those at No. 1. West Virginia also made three NCAA Tournament appearances in that time after never earning a berth prior.

Certainly, Hundley and West get a lot of credit for that success, as rightfully they should, but Sharrar was a major factor as well. Playing with Hundley in 1955-56 and 1956-57, Sharrar averaged 9.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore and 16.1 points and 14.8 rebounds per game as a junior.

He was a first-team all-Southern Conference selection in Ƶ57, in which he was also the league tournamentƵs MVP after averaging 16.7 points and 18.3 rebounds in a three-game sweep of Davidson (71-51), Richmond (83-62) and Washington & Lee (67-52).

The next year with West taking over for the NBA-bound Hundley, the Mountaineers spent much of the season at No. 1. Sharrar was dominant inside, posting double-figure rebounding efforts in 21 of his 27 games, averaging 13.4 boards per outing, to go along with an average of 12.5 points per game.

He was again voted first-team all-Southern Conference at the end of 1958 season and was named a second-team All-American by the A.P and a third-team All-American by the United Press International.

For his career, Sharrar scored 1,101 points (12.5 ppg) and grabbed 1,178 rebounds (13.4 per game). He remains one of just four Mountaineers ever to go over 1,000 in each category along with Jerry West (2,309 points and 1,240 rebounds), Warren Baker (1,556/1,070) and Kevin Jones (1,822/1,048).

SharrarƵs junior and senior seasons are still the third- and fourth-best in school history in rebounding average. About the only thing his career didnƵt include was NCAA Tournament success, as his Mountaineers lost first-round contests in each of his three varsity seasons. Sharrar was the 12th overall selection in the 1958 NBA Draft, going to the Philadelphia Warriors.

Instead of the NBA, though, he spent seven years playing for corporate teams on the lucrative AAU circuit, including four with the Akron Wingfoots (1961-64), who were sponsored by Goodyear.

Inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, Sharrar also became a member of the Mountaineer Legends Society in 2017. He passed away in 1984 as the result of brain cancer at the age of 47.

In this 21-part series, IƵll count down the 100 greatest Mountaineer menƵs basketball players of all-time.

Admittedly this list is not scientific. It is completely subjective, and obviously opinions may differ. Please feel free to visit our message boards at BlueGoldNews.com to provide your own thoughts on this list, either pro or con.

Below is another installment in this lengthy series with a count down from No. 30-26.

26 Ƶ Eddie Becker (1952-54) Ƶ In his three seasons with West VirginiaƵs varsity, Becker scored 1,127 career points.

He was just the fourth Mountaineer to cross the 1,000-point mark, and at the time of his graduation, he was the second-leading scorer in ƵU basketball history, trailing only Mark Workman (1,553 points from 1950-52).

Becker also pulled down 346 career rebounds, as he played in 76 games for West Virginia, starting 58 of them.

A 6-foot forward from Wheeling, Becker averaged double figures in scoring in each of his three varsity seasons with the Mountaineers, posting 11.4 points per game as a sophomore, 15.0 as a junior and 18.7 as a senior.

Under coach Red Brown, BeckerƵs teams strung together records of 23-4, 19-7 and 12-11.

He was a first-team, all-state player while leading Wheeling High to a 25-0 record and a state title in 1948.

He was voted into the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2016 and the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

27 Ƶ Lee Patrone (1959-61) Ƶ The Bellaire, Ohio, native did many excellent things on the basketball court but the greatest accomplishment of his life occurred when he dove into the icy Ohio River in March of 1961 to save the life of a drowning woman.

He was received a Carnegie Hero Foundation Award for that feat.

Compare to that, basketball was a breeze.

A two-time all-OVAC first-teamer at Bellaire High, where he scored 1,842 career points, Patrone was initially headed to Ohio State but quickly reversed course and enrolled at ƵU before his freshman season began in the fall of 1957.

After one year on the freshman team, Patrone joined the Mountaineer varsity squad led by Jerry West for the 1958-59 season (29-5) in which West Virginia made a run all the way to the NCAA TournamentƵs title game, where it dropped a 71-70 heartbreaker to California.

A 6-foot-1 guard, Patrone played a key role that season, typically as a reserve, averaging 6.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore.

He started all 58 games in his final two seasons at ƵU, averaging 14.2 points and 5.5 rebounds as a junior and 14.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and a team-best 3.5 assists as a senior.

For his three-year varsity career, Patrone scored 1,028 points, pulled down 388 rebounds and handed out 210 assists.

He was a three-time member of the Southern Conference all-tournament team, twice was voted first-team all-Southern Conference for the regular season and was a third-team Helms Foundation All-American in 1961.

After graduating from West Virginia, Patrone taught and coached at Wintersville (Ohio) High School. He was inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

28 Ƶ Rudy Baric (1940-42) Ƶ A 6-foot-3 center from Benwood, West Virginia, Baric was the driving force behind the MountaineersƵ National Invitational Tournament title run in 1942 at a time when the NIT was viewed as college basketballƵs true national championship.

After averaging 10.3 points per game in 1939-40 and 10.5 points per game in 1940-41, Baric upped his production to 14.4 points per game in 1941-42 in leading ƵU to a 16-4 regular season that earned it a slot in the eight-team NIT field.

Once in New York City, Baric teamed with Scotty Hamilton, Shorty Hicks and Dick Kesling to guide coach Dyke RaeseƵs Mountaineers to wins over No. 1 Long Island (58-49 in OT), Toledo (51-39) and Western Kentucky (47-45) to capture the NIT crown.

Baric was named the NIT MVP, having averaged 16 points per game in ƵUƵs three tourney victories.

He scored 748 points in his three seasons with West Virginia varsity, which averaged out to 11.9 points per game.

With most members of ƵUƵs 1941-42 team off to the armed services to participate in World War II by the next season, including coach Raese, Baric stayed behind to coach the varsity squad for one year. Though Scotty Hamilton was the only returning player from the NIT champions, Baric coached those young Mountaineers to a 14-7 mark.

He later continued his coaching success in the high school ranks and was inducted into the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984.

Baric, who was enshrined in the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 as part of that bodyƵs second class, passed away in 1993.

29 Ƶ Darryl Prue (1986-89) Ƶ A blue-chip recruit while putting together a first-team all-Met career at Washington, D.C.Ƶs, Dunbar High School, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound Prue initially committed to Georgetown before switching his choice to West Virginia prior to his freshman season.

Prue quickly became a starter for coach Gale CatlettƵs club, and helped the Mountaineers to three 22+ win seasons and three NCAA Tournament berths in his four years in Morgantown.

The Atlantic 10 freshman of the year in 1986, he averaged 7.8 points and 5.7 rebounds that season.

The A-10 honors kept coming after that, as he was a second-team all-league choice as both a sophomore (12.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game) and a junior (12.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game) before being elevated to first-team all-A10 as a senior (12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game).

In his career, he totaled 1,426 points (20thin school history) and 865 rebounds (11thin school history), as well as 230 steals (fourth in school history).

While PrueƵs conversion rate from the free-throw line (46.5% in his career) may have been lacking, his ability to make shots from the floor (55.8% in his career) was nearly unmatched, topped by just one other Mountaineer in school history (Chris Brooks, 60.2%).

Prue made 63.3% of his field-goal attempts his senior season (164 of 259), which is again No. 2 on West VirginiaƵs single-season list behind only Brooks (66.3% in 1990-91).

Inducted into ƵUƵs Sports Hall of Fame in 2019, Prue played professional basketball overseas for 11 years after his college career ended.

He has also coached in college and high school, and as well as working as a personal trainer for many D.C.-area players, including some from the NBA level.

30 Ƶ Joe Alexander (2006-08) Ƶ A 6-foot-8 forward, Alexander had one of the most unusual paths to stardom any basketball player has ever traveled. His father worked overseas, including a long stretch with the Nestle Corporation, so Joe spent many of his formative years in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.

He played basketball while a youngster in Ƶia and further developed his game when he returned to the U.S., first at Linganore High School in Mount Airy, Maryland, and then during a prep year at Hargrave Military (Va.) Academy.

Though his basketball skills were still raw, AlexanderƵs freakish athletic ability drew the recruiting interest of ƵU coach John Beilein.

Alexander played very little as a true freshman at West Virginia in 2005-06, averaging 1.3 points, 0.7 rebounds and 3.6 minutes per game while seeing action in just 10 contests.

He emerged as a starter in his sophomore season, averaging 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in helping BeileinƵs final Mountaineer squad to a 27-9 record and an NIT championship.

Ƶ a junior in Ƶ07-Ƶ08, with Bob Huggins in his first year as head coach at West Virginia, Alexander powered ƵU back to the NCAA Tournament by leading the team in both scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 per game).

In particular, he posted an electrifying final month of the season, averaging 28.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in ƵUƵs final nine games, with four of them being double-doubles, during a 26-11 campaign that included a run to the Sweet 16.

Twice during that nine-game stint he surpassed 30 points in showdowns against No. 15 Connecticut, and he also scored 32 points in a win over Pitt. He was named first-team all-Big East and honorable mention AP All-American at the end of the 2007-08 season.

AlexanderƵs final-month performance catapulted him into upper echelon of the NBA draft prognostications, and he heeded that advice to turn pro following his junior season.

He was the eighth overall pick in the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks in the spring of Ƶ08.

His time in the NBA lasted just two seasons, but he has spent a dozen years playing professionally overseas, including last year with Maccabi Rishon LeZion in Israel.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Ƶ Below is another installment in this lengthy series with a count down from Nos. 35-31.

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31 Ƶ Devin Williams (2014-16) Ƶ A first-team all-metro player at Withrow High School in Cincinnati, Williams spent a year playing at prep powerhouse Montverde (Fla.) Academy before enrolling at ƵU in the summer of 2013. The 6-foot-9, 255-pound power forward was perfectly built for coach Bob HugginsƵ system, as his size and strength allowed him to rebound (8.3 per game in his career) and score inside (11.1 points per game in his career) at a high level.

In his three years with the Mountaineers, Williams scored a total of 1,134 points and pulled down 846 rebounds. Only seven other Mountaineers have topped that 1,134/846 combo. Devin led ƵU in rebounding in all three seasons he was with the team (7.2, 8.1 and 9.5), and he also scored 8.4 points per game as a freshman, 11.6 as a sophomore and 13.3 as a junior.

He helped ƵU to records of 17-16, 25-10 and 26-9 with a pair of NCAA Tournament berths and a Sweet 16 in 2015. Williams passed up his final season of college eligibility to take a shot at pro basketball. He went undrafted by the NBA but has played professionally every year since leaving West Virginia. He recently signed with Vaqueros de Bayamón in Puerto Rico for the 2022-23 season.

32 Ƶ Willie Akers (1958-56) Ƶ The pairing of a slender wing from East Bank High School and a thick forward from Mullens High first took place at West VirginiaƵs Boys State in 1955. Soon, Jerry West and Willie Akers were close friends, and shortly after that, they were classmates and teammates at ƵU.

West became a star for the Mountaineers and in the NBA after that. Akers was very good himself, initially as a two-time all-state performer in high school and then as a key contributor with some of the best teams ƵU ever produced, including the NCAA runners-up in 1959. Under the guidance of coach Fred Schaus, West and Akers, the Mountaineers posted records of 26-2, 29-5 and 26-5 in West and Akers' three varsity seasons together.

They spent their entire varsity careers ranked in the top 11 of the Ƶsociated Press poll, including eight weeks at No. 1. While West did much of the scoring, averaging 24.8 points per game in his career, Akers was content doing much of the dirty work. He averaged 6.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as a sophomore, 7.4 and 7.2 as a junior and 8.0 and 6.1 as a senior. He totaled 669 points and 573 rebounds in his varsity career.

After his graduation from ƵU and a season in the ABA playing with the George Steinbrenner-owned Cleveland Pipers, Akers moved into high school coaching and turned Logan into a boys basketball powerhouse in West Virginia. He posted a record of 402-116 in his time leading the Wildcats, who won four Class AAA state titles during his reign. After coaching, Akers served as an assistant principal and the countyƵs assistant school superintendent. He was inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

33 Ƶ Floyd ƵScottyƵ Hamilton (1941-43) Ƶ Coming out of Grafton, Hamilton was a good enough athlete that he was a quarterback for the Mountaineer football team, but it was on the basketball court where he shined the brightest. Described as Ƶroly-poly,Ƶ the 5-foot-10, 190-pound guard scored 576 points (9.1 per game) in his three-year, 63-game varsity career.

While he averaged more (10.6 points) as a senior in the 1942-43 season, his junior year was the most noteworthy. In averaging 8.7 points, he led ƵU to its first-ever basketball postseason tournament. The No. 8 seed in the eight-team NIT field, coach Dyke Raese took Hamilton and the Mountaineers, who were 16-4 in the regular season, to New York City, where they faced No. 1 Long Island in the first round. LIU was coached by another Graftonian, Clair Bee, and it sported a 42-game winning streak.

ƵU emerged with a 58-49 overtime upset of the Blackbirds and then went on to defeat Toledo (51-39) and Western Kentucky (47-45) to capture the NIT title at a time when that tournament was viewed as the true national championship. Hamilton was named a HelmƵs Foundation All-American that Ƶ41-Ƶ42 season and was the first Mountaineer basketball player ever accorded All-American honors.

At the end of his West Virginia career, Hamilton served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Following his time in the service, he became the head basketball coach at Washington & Lee (Va.) College. He later became the athletic director at Marietta (Ohio) High School. Hamilton was inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and the schoolƵs Mountaineer Legends Society in 2017. He passed away in 1976.

34 Ƶ Eddie Beach (1947-50) Ƶ A native of Elizabeth, New Jersey, Beach was an important piece during the first golden era of Mountaineer basketball, which lasted over two decades from the programƵs NIT title in 1942 until Rod ThornƵs departure in 1963. ƵU had 16 seasons with 18-plus wins in that stretch and only one with a losing record.

Beach was part of the second wave of that golden era, joining the likes of Leland Byrd, Clyde Green and Fred Schaus to form the nucleus of a squad that was 77-23 in BeachƵs four varsity seasons. The team earned an NIT invite in 1947.

A 6-foot-4 center, Beach averaged 9.8 points per game as a freshman, 14.1 as a sophomore, 10.5 as a junior and 9.3 as a senior in a career where he totaled 972 points. Named a third-team all-American by the Helm Foundation, he became the first Mountaineer basketball player ever drafted by the NBA when he was picked by the Minnesota Lakers in the fifth round in 1950.

He spent one season playing in the NBA before being drafted into the U.S. Army. After two years in the service, he returned to ƵU to get his masterƵs degree in history and would go on to be a history teacher and basketball coach at Union (N.J.) High School from 1955-82. Inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, Beach passed away in 1996.

35 Ƶ Jim McCormick (1961-63) Ƶ A 6-foot-3 guard from New Martinsville, McCormick formed one half of the MountaineersƵ high-scoring backcourt in the early '60s along with All-American Rod Thorn. A graduate of Magnolia High School, where he was good enough to eventually be inducted into that schoolƵs hall of fame as well as the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame, he spent a prep year at Greenbrier Military Academy before teaming up with Thorn at ƵU.

Playing under coach George King, the duo led West VirginiaƵs varsity to records of 23-4 in 1960-61, 24-6 in 1961-62 and 23-8 in 1962-63 with NCAA Tournament berths the final two seasons. While Thorn was the MountaineersƵ leading scorer in all three of those years, McCormick was an excellent complement, averaging 12.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore, 15.4 and 4.7 as a junior and 15.2 and 3.9 as a senior.

He was also very good at distributing the ball, averaging 3.1 assists per game as a senior. In his three-year varsity career, McCormick scored 1,156 points (14.5 per game) and pulled down 318 rebounds (4.0 per game). An all-Southern Conference second-team pick as both a junior and senior, McCormick was selected in the sixth round by the Cincinnati Royals in the 1963 NBA Draft. A foot injury derailed his pro career, though, and he instead taught vocational rehabilitation. He died in 2016 at the age of 77.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Ƶ Below is another installment in this lengthy series with a count down from Nos. 55-51.

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51 Ƶ Johannes Herber (2003-07) Ƶ Many Mountaineers have gone to play basketball in Germany after their college careers. A native of Darmstadt, Germany, Johannes ƵJoeƵ Herber reversed the journey. He spent his formative years in the European country before coming to the U.S. as part of John BeileinƵs first class as ƵUƵs head coach.

Herber instantly became a starter with the Mountaineers as a freshman in 2002-03, and the 6-foot-6 guard started every one of the 128 games he played in at West Virginia. No one in school history has played more.

An intelligent player (he was a two-time first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America), Herber could do a bit of everything on the court. He scored 1,069 points in his four years at ƵU, and his 467 career assists are the sixth most in school history. He also made 135 of 409 career 3-pointers and is in the top 20 at ƵU in each category.

Most importantly, though, Herber was a winner. Prior to his arrival, the Mountaineers were 8-20, but he led them up the ladder to records of 14-15, 17-14, 24-11 and 22-11 in his four seasons. The last two of those years West Virginia not only made the NCAA Tournament but advanced to the Elite Eight in 2004 and the Sweet 16 in 2005.

A political science major, Herber returned to Germany after graduating from ƵU and spent six years playing professional basketball in his home country before becoming a writer.

52 Ƶ Alex Ruoff (2006-09) Ƶ Recruited to be a perimeter sniper by John Beilein, Ruoff was able to adjust to the rough-and-tumble style when Bob Huggins took over as coach following his sophomore season. The 6-foot-6 guard who grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, before spending his high school days in Spring Hill, Florida, didnƵt see much action his freshman season (1.0 points per game) as the 2005-06 Mountaineers went 22-11 and made it to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament.

He would start every game over the next three seasons, though, in a career in which he ultimately accumulated 1,420 points. He averaged 10.3 points per game as a sophomore in helping BeileinƵs final team to a 27-9 rebound and an NIT championship.

He found success both offensively and defensively under Huggins, averaging 13.8 points in 2007-08, when West Virginia was 26-11 and fought its way to the NCAAƵs Sweet 16 again. RuoffƵs senior campaign saw him average 15.7 points per game.

A four-time Big East Academic All-Star, he was also a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2009. Besides averaging 11.2 points per game in his four seasons at ƵU, he also dished out 410 assists (ninth-most in school history) and had 189 steals (seventh-most). Ruoff has played professional basketball in a variety of locations since the end of his college days, including spending last season with Brose Bamberg in Germany.

53 Ƶ Ira Errett Rodgers (1916-18) Ƶ Rodgers did so many great things at West Virginia University thatƵs often easy to forget he was an excellent basketball player as well. His football prowess earned ƵRatƵ first-team all-American honors in three separate seasons and ultimately gained him induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1953. He was a captain of ƵUƵs baseball team, and after his playing days coached the Mountaineer football (1920-25 & 1943-45), baseball (1921-42) and golf (1949) teams.

His No. 21 has been retired by the football program, and he was part of the 1991 inaugural class to the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame. Among the many things he did well (he also won the West Virginia Amateur Golf Championship in 1929), was basketball. Hoops was still in its infancy at ƵU, having played just six seasons prior to Rodgers joining the team. He immediately became one of the best players on the squad, averaging 7.2 points per game in 1915-16, 7.8 in 1916-17 and 4.2 in 1917-18.

That may not sound like a lot, but in an era when West Virginia rarely broke the 30-point barrier as a team, RodgersƵ output often topped the squad despite the fact that he spent so much time out of season training for football or baseball. Rodgers remained at ƵU after his playing days, not only coaching but also serving on the faculty. He passed away in 1963 at the age of 67.

54 Ƶ Herbie Brooks (1985-89) Ƶ One of the greatest prep players in the history of the state of West Virginia, Brooks led Mullens High School to three straight state championships, averaging 35 points as a senior and 34 as a junior. He was a three-time first-team Class A all-state selection and was the state player of the year in 1984.

He followed that dominating high school career with an outstanding one at ƵU as well. A 6-foot-2 forward at Mullens, he had to adjust to a backcourt role in college. To help that development, Mountaineer head coach Gale Catlett redshirted Brooks as a true freshman, and he began to progress from there.

He averaged 2.4 points per game as a redshirt freshman and 6.9 as a sophomore. He became a full-time starter as a junior (11.8 points per game) and followed it up with an outstanding senior season (14.7 points and 3.5 rebounds while making 50.8% of his field goals and 81.8% of his foul shots).

He was a second-team all-Atlantic 10 pick in his senior season, helping West Virginia to a 26-5 record and its third NCAA berth in BrooksƵ four years on the court. He moved back to the Mullens/Beckley area after graduating from ƵU and currently helps the Wyoming East High School boys basketball program, serving as an assistant under his son, Derek Brooks, who is the WarriorsƵ head coach.

55 Ƶ Dave Reaser (1966-68) Ƶ Dave ƵDeaconƵ Reaser was an excellent scorer on some of the best offensive teams in Mountaineer basketball history. In just three seasons of varsity competition, he posted 1,071 career points, as each of his ƵU squads averaged over 80 points per game. All three are still among the top 20 scoring teams in West Virginia history.

Reaser and ƵU were at their best in 1966-67, when the 6-foot-6 junior averaged 19.9 points per game and the Mountaineers averaged 87.3. The only West Virginia club that had scored more previously was the 1959-60 squad (Jerry WestƵs senior year) that posted 89.5.

The Ƶ66-Ƶ67 team is still the fourth-highest scoring team in ƵU history, and ReaserƵs average that season is still 19th. Combining with the likes of Fritz Williams, Carl Head, Cary Bailey and Bob Hummell, ReaserƵs three varsity seasons each resulted in 19-9 records, and the clubs earned an NCAA berth in Ƶ67 and an NIT spot in Ƶ68.

Besides averaging 12.9 points in his 83 varsity games, Reaser also averaged 4.9 rebounds. A native of St. Albans, Reaser moved back to the Kanawha Valley once he graduated from ƵU.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Ƶ In this 21-part series, IƵll count down the 100 greatest Mountaineer menƵs basketball players of all-time.

Admittedly this list is not scientific. It is completely subjective, and obviously opinions may differ. Please feel free to visit our message boards at BlueGoldNews.com to provide your own thoughts on this list, either pro or con.

Below is another installment in this lengthy series with a count down from No. 70-66.

66 Ƶ Greg Nance (1978-81) Ƶ Along with fellow forwards Donnie Gipson and Dennis Hosey, the 6-foot-8 Nance was part of Joedy GardnerƵs final freshman recruiting class while coaching the Mountaineers.

Nance wouldnƵt do much for Gardner in his first season at ƵU, averaging 0.5 points and 1.1 rebounds per game as a freshman, but he became an increasingly important piece to the puzzle when Gale Catlett arrived at West Virginia.

The Mountaineers hadnƵt enjoyed a 20-win season since 1963, but NanceƵs solid play, along with the flashy scoring from guards like Lowe Moore and then Greg Jones, lifted ƵU back up the ladder. Nance emerged as a starter in his sophomore season, averaging 7.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in helping West Virginia to a 16-12 mark. The Mountaineers were 15-14 in 1979-80, as the Washington, D.C., native led the team in rebounding (7.6), and he also scored 12.8 points per game. Ƶ a senior, Nance again led ƵU in rebounding (7.1) and scored 10.9 points per game, as the club finished 23-10 and made it to the semifinals of the NIT in the programƵs first postseason tournament appearance in over a decade. Nance finished his career at West Virginia with 920 points, 600 rebounds and 61 blocked shots.

67 Ƶ Jaysean Paige (2015-16) Ƶ The 6-foot-2, 210-pound guard was part of two outstanding Mountaineer basketball teams that each won at least 25 games and earned spots in the NCAA Tournaments. A native of Jamestown, New York, (which is also home of Lucille Ball), Paige spent two years in the junior college ranks after high school.

He initially committed to Southern Miss, but when the Golden Eagles underwent a coaching change, he reopened his recruitment, which ultimately brought him to coach Bob HugginsƵ Mountaineers. Paige was a member of a very balanced ƵU squad in 2014-15, as nine Mountaineers averaged more than four points per game, topped by Juwan StatenƵs 14.2. Paige started nine games early that season, but eventually found a comfortable role coming off the bench. He averaged 5.6 points per game that season and accumulated 37 steals in helping West Virginia to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Though he remained ƵUƵs sixth man the next season, he was the MountaineersƵ offensive leader, averaging 13.7 points per game, while making 32.3% of his 3-point attempts and finishing second on the squad in both assists (98) and steals (53).

Though West Virginia spent a good portion of that year ranked in the top 10 and finished with a 26-9 record, PaigeƵs senior season concluded in disappointment, as the Mountaineers suffered a first-round NCAA upset loss at the hands of Stephen F. Austin. Paige was voted the Big 12Ƶs Sixth Man of the Year and also second-team all-conference his senior season. After graduating from ƵU, Paige spent three seasons playing professionally overseas before moving back to the U.S. as a member of the NBA G League. This past January he was called up to the NBAƵs Detroit Pistons on a 10-day contract.

68 Ƶ Clayce Kishbaugh (1955-57) Ƶ A native of Clarksburg, where he was a first-team all-state player for Roosevelt Wilson High School in 1953, Kishbaugh was front and center for a golden era of Mountaineer basketball.

He entered ƵU the same year as Hot Rod Hundley, and by their senior season (1956-57), they would be joined by four others who would make this top 100 list (Lloyd Sharrar, Don Vincent, Bob Smith and Joedy Gardner), as well as two additional players who would eventually be enshrined into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame (Ronnie Retton and Bucky Bolyard).

In that group, especially with Hundley and Sharrar, Kishbaugh wasnƵt going to be the leading scorer, but he still was a do-it-all guard who could put the ball in the basket when necessary (he averaged 10.8 points per game in his three seasons on the varsity), and also rebound (287 in his career), defend and distribute the ball.

Playing for coach Fred Schaus, he was on three varsity clubs that amassed a 65-25 total record, won the Southern Conference tournament three straight years and went to the NCAA Tournament three straight as well. ƵU had never been to the NCAAƵs before KishbaughƵs arrival. After his days in Morgantown, Kishbaugh became a school teacher and eventually a principal in Zanesville, Ohio. He passed away in 2012.

69 Ƶ Tyrone Sally (2002-05) Ƶ A 6-foot-7 forward from Chesterfield, Virginia, Sally was part of an incredible transition in Mountaineer basketball, experiencing both tremendous lows and incredible highs. Coming out of the prep ranks, Sally was part of a ballyhooed freshman class for the Mountaineers in 2001 that also featured blue-chip recruits Jonathan Hargett and Drew Schifino. Sally was the only one of that trio that stayed at ƵU through his senior year.

Despite all that young talent, West Virginia fell apart in 2001-02 campaign. A 7-2 start to the season was followed by a 1-18 free fall in what would be coach Gale CatlettƵs final year on the bench. John Beilein took over as head coach the next year, and he immediately began rebuilding the program. Sally was a huge part of that rebuild. After averaging 4.4 points per game as a freshman, he upped that to 8.3 as a sophomore, 10.2 as a junior and 12.2 as a senior.

The team improved with him, as it was 14-15 in BeileinƵs first season and was 17-14 with an NIT berth in the second. The best for Sally was saved for last, as his senior year, with the likes of Kevin Pittsnoggle, Joe Herber and Mike Gansey now at his side, saw the Mountaineers finish with a 24-11 mark, make runs to the Big East championship game and the NCAAƵs Elite Eight, where it was a 93-85 overtime loss to Louisville away from the Final Four.

Sally averaged 12.2 points per game his senior year. His block of a shot by CrieghtonƵs Nate Funk on one end and then dunk on the other with time winding down was the difference in ƵUƵs 63-61 first-round NCAA win. He had 21 points two nights later in a double-overtime upset of Chris Paul and No. 5 Wake Forest.

Sally finished his college career with 1,092 points, 137 steals and 513 rebounds. After graduating from West Virginia, he spent a decade playing professional basketball, a stint that saw him lead the Dutch Basketball League in scoring with an average of 18.4 points per game for the Rotterdam Feyenoord in 2011-12. Sally has worked as a high school coach since his playing days concluded.

70 Ƶ Bob Hummell (1968-70) Ƶ A 6-foot-3 guard from Moundsville, West Virginia, Bob ƵHummerƵ Hummell was a backcourt complement to two of the greatest offensive threats in Mountaineer basketball history. In HummellƵs first of three seasons on the varsity, he emerged as a starter alongside Fritz Williams.

With Williams averaging 20.4 points per game in his senior season and Hummell posting 12.9 as a sophomore, they helped lead coach Bucky WatersƵ squad to a 19-9 record and a spot in the NIT.

With Williams off to the NBA in 1968-69, Hummell took over as ƵUƵs top scorer, averaging 15.5 points per game to go along with 3.0 assists. In HummellƵs senior season, as the Mountaineers moved into the new ƵU Coliseum, he again shared the backcourt with another talented guard, as Wil Robinson joined the varsity for his sophomore campaign.

With Robinson averaging 20.0 points per game for new head coach Sonny Moran, Hummell contributed 14.0 ppg, though West Virginia, which was no longer a member of the Southern Conference, struggled (11-15) against an independent schedule filled with national powers. Hummell finished his career with 1,117 points for an average of 14.1 per game.

At the time of his graduation, Hummer was just the eighth Mountaineer to reach the 1,000-point mark, and heƵs still No. 39 on that list. After graduating from ƵU, Hummell was a coach and teacher for several years before moving into private business.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Ƶ Below is another installment in this lengthy series with a countdown from Nos. 85-81.

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81 Ƶ Lionel Armstead (1999-2002) Ƶ Though just 5-foot-11, Armstead was an excellent offensive force in the final four years of the Gale Catlett era at ƵU, averaging 10.7 points per game in his four-year career in which he totaled 1,083 points.

The Toledo, Ohio, native finished his Mountaineer career with 186 3-point baskets, which was second in school history at the time and currently stands ninth. Armstead was especially good against Marshall, topping the 20-point mark against the Herd three straight times in leading ƵU to a trio of Capital Classic victories.

ArmsteadƵs college career didnƵt end well, though. West Virginia was just 8-20 his senior season, and Armstead was suspended for the final 11 games of the year.

82 Ƶ John Flowers (2008-11) Ƶ The energetic 6-foot-7 forward from Waldorf, Maryland, didnƵt become a full-time starter at ƵU until his senior season, but he was a key contributor to some of the best teams in school history. West Virginia earned trips to the NCAA Tournament every season Flowers was a Mountaineer, including a run to the Final Four in 2010.

Recruited to ƵU by John Beilein, Flowers stuck with his commitment to West Virginia when Bob Huggins became head coach prior to him entering ƵU. With the likes of DaƵSean Butler and Joe Alexander dominating the playing time at the forward spots in the early part of his career, FlowersƵ minutes were limited his first couple of years, when he averaged 4.6 and 4.3 points per game.

By his senior season, Flowers blossomed into a starter, a good scorer (9.2 points per game), an excellent rebounder (6.2 per game) and an outstanding defender (74 blocks and 26 steals). His effervescent personality made him a fan favorite as well. Flowers has spent the past decade since the end of his ƵU career playing professionally at spots all over the globe, including in Uruguay last season, where he averaged 14.5 points per game for Penarol Montevideo.

83 Ƶ Joedy Gardner (1956-58) Ƶ A 6-foot guard from Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, Gardner was a key player on some of the best Mountaineer basketball teams ever. Playing alongside Hot Rod Hundley his first two varsity seasons and then Jerry West his senior year, Gardner was asked to be more facilitator and defender than scorer during his ƵU career, though he could certainly find the basket as well.

He scored 669 points in his varsity stint, topped by a 12.0 average his senior season. He had a career-high 27 points in a 99-86 win over Pitt that year. The Mountaineers had never earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament prior to GardnerƵs freshman year at ƵU, but they went all three of his varsity seasons and spent eight weeks of his senior year ranked No. 1 in the country.

Following his West Virginia playing days, Gardner joined the Marines, where he was a fighter pilot. After his time in the service, he began coaching basketball, initially as the head coach of Arizona Western College, before returning to his alma mater in 1974, where he was the head coach for four seasons and amassed a 59-53 record.

84 Ƶ Mack Isner (1952-54) Ƶ A 6-foot-4 forward from Elkins, Isner, along with Red Holmes, Jim Sottile and Eddie Becker, were the forces who kept Mountaineer basketball on steady footing (19-7 in 1952-53 and 12-11 in 1953-54) between the superstar spans of Mark Workman (1950-52) and Hot Rod Hundley (1955-57).

Isner was good offensively, averaging 11.5 points in his three varsity seasons, but it was on the glass where he was a real force. In his 74 varsity games, he averaged 10.1 rebounds per outing. Even now, well over a half century after his ƵU career ended, Isner remains 17th on West VirginiaƵs all-time rebounding list with 749. His per-game-rebounding average is eighth.

His 31-rebound effort at Virginia Tech in 1952 still is the MountaineersƵ single-game best, equaled only by Jerry West (31 boards at George Washington in 1960). Isner passed away in 2017 at the age of 85.

85 Ƶ Harry Moore (1950-52) Ƶ A 6-foot-2 forward from Moundsville, ƵMooƵ Moore proved to be the perfect complement beside one of the greatest Mountaineers of all-time, Mark Workman. Inducted into the ƵU Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, Moore helped West Virginia to a 60-20 record in his three varsity seasons, including a 23-4 mark for coach Red BrownƵs club in 1951-52, which was just the second 20-win team in school history.

Moo averaged 9.0 points per game in his ƵU career, including 12.8 as a senior, which was second that year behind only WorkmanƵs 23.1. In a Southern Conference that featured schools that would split off after that season to form the ACC, ƵU finished with a 15-1 regular-season league record but was denied its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth by virtue of a 90-88 loss to No. 12 Duke in the SoCon Tournament in Raleigh (only league champs got NCAA invites at that time).

Moore was a sixth-round NBA draft choice in 1952, but he went into the Army after his ƵU graduation instead, where he played for an armed forces team in the Pan-Am games. The younger brother of three-term West Virginia governor Arch Moore, Moo passed away in 2018.