West Virginia’s men’s basketball team was already on its way south to host Saturday’s free youth camp sponsored by Hope Gas at the Chief Logan Recreational Center in Chapmanville.
The squad made a stop along the way Friday that will likely leaving a lasting impact.
Some 72 hours after the Lewis County community was devastated by heavy rain that caused some of the worst flooding Weston and surrounding communities have endured, the Mountaineers tried to do their part to make a difference.
WVU went to the old Weston Kroger, the sight of a disaster relief hub, to drop off donations to flood victims.
“At first, I was super sad, because the only store in this town, a WalMart was shutdown. Once I got to be around the people there and how positive they were about there situation, even though it was really hard, it made me feel a lot better and uplifted,” guard Finley Bizjack said as a guest on CityNet Statewide Sportsline. “Especially once they saw some of the big guys on my team, the smiles and joy that went around made me feel a lot better. It felt good to be doing a good thing for that town.”
Weston, Buckhannon and several communities in between and nearby were ravaged by Tuesday storms that required assistance from the National Guard.
By offering assistance, the Mountaineers helped those in need and lifted spirits among part of their passionate fanbase.
“Going around, being seen and kind of showing that we’re people, too, and we want to help in any way that we can is super important,” Bizjack said. “I feel like it builds a good backbone for the program and the precedent we want to set as a team and also just as people.”
A piece of what is essentially an entirely new-look roster, the 6-foot-4 Bizjack is a transfer from Butler who averaged 17.1 points last season and earned All-Big East third-team honors.
While he’s only been with West Virginia the last several months, Bizjack has developed an understanding of the meaning of Mountaineer athletics across the state, and Friday provided more context of that.
Bizjack credited head coach Ross Hodge for the team offering assistance.
“We’re very happy to help,” he said. “Our staff has done a great job of instilling that in us. It’s also the guys that coach Hodge recruited. We haven’t had one guy that’s complained about having to bus 4 hours, stop for an hour and do everything we’ve done. We’re fortunate to even do it and have this influence.”