No one outside of those in the West Virginia basketball locker room likely thought the Mountaineers could pull off a shocking upset over No. 7 Kansas on Tuesday. WVU was playing a Top 10 opponent on the road in "The Phog" -- one of the toughest environments in college basketball WVU entered the game 0-11 on the road against the Jayhawks.
Furthermore, the Mountaineers were down two starters who are amongst the top-three scorers for the team so far this season in Amani Hansberry and Tucker DeVries. But WVU first-year head coach Darian DeVries didn't care.
He used the talent he did have at his exposure and played to their strengths, identified and exploited every weakness in a team that is a perennial college basketball power, and out-coached a living legend in the sport in Kansas head coach Bill Self.
It's clear that DeVries has little time for excuses or talk -- he is a man of action. He demonstrated that he has instilled that mindset in his program on Tuesday with the Kansas upset, and he did not mince words in making sure the world knew that the Mountaineers are always going to lace up and play you tough regardless of circumstances.
"There are no excuses in this program. We are going to line up and go compete. This is a great atmosphere but like I told our guys, [the fans] don't play for them. It's our five versus their five. Nothing else matters," DeVries said following the game on Tuesday,