West Virginia’s 2025-26 men’s basketball season comes to a closure in the coming days.
Exactly when depends how the Mountaineers fare Thursday night when they face Stanford at 8 p.m. (EST) in an opening-round matchup in College Basketball Crown, a second-year postseason event in Las Vegas.
The second meeting between WVU (18-14) and the Cardinal (20-12) and first in 67 years will be played inside MGM Grand Garden Arena and broadcast nationally on FS1.
Financial incentives are on the line in CBC, which is in its second year of existence and has reduced its field size from 16 to eight teams, but maintains a prize pool of $500,000.
Teams are awarded $50,000 for reaching a semifinal, $100,000 for playing in the final and $300,000 for wining the event.
“We haven’t talked much about that,” first-year WVU coach Ross Hodge said. “This is how crazy this time period that we’re in has shifted, because when they put this idea together and they said you can win this amount of money, it probably felt very significant. It’s kind of sad to say and maybe disgusting to even say. I hate that I’m even about to say this, but in two years, it went from probably this is a good amount of money to inconsequential maybe. And that’s sad to say.
“You’re talking to somebody that their first job as a junior college assistant, I made $80,000 for the year, had a meal card and lived in a dorm and there are people out there that work 12 hours a day that would say, ‘how could that be?’”
With Big 12 Conference tie-ins to CBC as a result of its partnership with FOX, the event has become the main attraction for league teams that don’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Colorado and Baylor are among this year’s field and five Big 12 squads participated in the inaugural version, which ended with Nebraska defeating UCF in the title game.
That money is on the line would only seem to increase the motivation and significance of the matchups, though senior guard Honor Huff says the Mountaineers are carrying the mindset of creating a lasting memory through a strong finish — something the team failed to do down the stretch of the regular season while playing themselves out of consideration for a NCAA Tournament at-large berth.
“The purpose and motivation of playing is far from the money,” Huff said. “Being able to have this experience with each other, because we truly do love each other, that’s what motivates us more than money. People get paid now anyway. If it was a couple years ago, maybe it’s I want to win so I can get some money.”
WVU has lost five of its last seven contests, including a rough showing in a 68-48 setback against BYU in the Big 12 Conference Tournament three weeks ago.
That marks the Mountaineers’ recent game, while it’s an even longer layoff for Stanford, which last played March 10 when it suffered a one-point loss to Pitt.
“It’s very similar to what football does with their bowl games when you a have month or even more than that,” Hodge said. “What this situation allows you to do more than others is get away a little bit. Our guys had a spring break. Coming off the conference tournament, everyone kind of wants to get away from each other for a little bit. A lot of our guys ended up spending time with each other on spring break. That first week back, you’re really just trying to get their legs back under them, get them some conditioning and back to playing, and now you lead into the Stanford game.
“It’s not like you sat around for two weeks solely prepping and focusing on them. A lot of it was focus on yourself and get back to playing basketball.”
As the focus has shifted to a more Stanford-specific approach, Cardinal freshman sensation Ebuka Okorie is undoubtedly a major focus.
The 6-foot-2 guard leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring at 22.8 points per game and has scored in double figures in 28 of 30 games, including 18 contests with at least 20 points.
“They have one of the best players in the country. He’s another one of those freshman that maybe didn’t have the same level of hype as far as some of the freshman in our league, but he’s certainly had that level of production and that level of impact,” Hodge said. “He’s dynamic. He wasn’t a great shooter in high school. That wasn’t a strength of his, but he’s added that to his game since he’s gotten into college. That’s really made him a tough cover. He’s fast and aggressive and can really get his own shot. He gets other guys involved. It starts with him. Coach [Kyle] Smith does a good job using him and manipulating his gravity.”
WVU freshman guard Amir Jenkins will not draw the assignment on Okorie after he underwent his first of two labrum surgeries Wednesday.
Jenkins is out for CBC, along with freshman Jayden Forsythe and senior Jackson Fields, who last played January 13.
With Jenkins not traveling to Las Vegas, Huff is expected to see more action at point guard along with increased playing time for Morris Ugusuk.
The winner of Stanford-WVU plays again at 4 p.m. (EST) Saturday against the winner of Rutgers-Creighton.
Oklahoma faces Colorado and Baylor battles Minnesota in Wednesday opening-round CBC matchups.
“The ultimate goal is always the [NCAA] Tournament, but I was fortunate enough to be in this situation last year with Chattanooga and we ended up winning the NIT,” Huff said. “At that point, only three teams end the season with a win and that was us, Nebraska and Florida. To keep the momentum growing and end it off like that with confetti going down and being in such a great mood with each other would be the opposite of what we felt after BYU with the tears and emotions.”