City of Basketball Love

Matt Trabold (@TrabsMatt)
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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- There are many reasons why a young man or woman would decide to go to college in his or her hometown. Nathan Adrian was in the fortunate position of his hometown university boasting a big-time program in the sport he loves.

Having Morgantown, W.Va. residents watching his every move on the court for the West Virginia men’s basketball team even more than his teammates does not give the hometown kid any jitters, though.

“I don’t feel too much pressure. We’re just trying to come out here and play our style of game,” Adrian said. “If we play the way we know we can play, then we’ll be alright.”

A win over 13-seed Bucknell on Thursday night propelled WVU (27-8), the No. 4 seed in the West Region, into the second round of the NCAA Tournament, making up for a first-round exit a year ago. But Adrian has bigger plans in mind -- a deep run into March, with hopes of doing something the program has only done once before: make the Final Four.

Adrian was one of those very West Virginia men’s basketball fans not long ago.

“I went to the Elite Eight game against Kentucky [in 2010],” Adrian said. “They won, so it was a good one. That was in Syracuse.”

Do not let the lustrous mane Adrian is sporting on the top of his head this season fool you. He is no stranger to toughness.

In that regard, he has even impressed his head coach that just so happens to be one of the most renowned tough guys in the sports world. In a game around a month ago, Bob Huggins came out and coached the second half after a shock from the defibrillator in his chest sent him to his knees out of the blue late in the first half.

“He had a cyst in his wrist, his shooting wrist, his right wrist, his sophomore year and didn't shoot the ball very well, which nobody would have, and didn't tell anybody about it until the conference tournament,” Huggins said. “I had no idea he was hurt. And he's banged up now, but he just fights through things.”

Another way Adrian has been showing that Morgantown toughness in his senior campaign is by throwing his body on the court many a time to better his team. On a few occasions this year since the Mountaineers began Big 12 play, the 6-9 forward has dove on the deck and tossed an assist while on his back or hindquarters shortly after.

On the 2017 NCAA Tournament stage Thursday afternoon, Adrian’s hustle play of that mold found surging redshirt freshman Lamont West for a one-handed slam and a big dose of momentum.

“I just get on the floor and get after the ball,” Adrian said. “You’ve got to be the first one on the floor and get that ball. Once I do that, I just try and get my head up and throw it to the first open guy.”

Another part of the floor Adrian likes to throw his body at is the glass. This season, he has nearly doubled the rebounding average from his junior campaign. What he did versus the Bison on Thursday afternoon was arguably his most important showing on the boards this year.

Adrian unleashed a double-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks upon Bucknell at KeyBank Center. His most important rebound of the outing may just have been him grabbing one out of a cacophony of limbs over the game’s leading frontcourt scorer in Nana Foulland with 2:03 left in regulation in a two possession game.

“That’s big. Like he said, we lost Jon (Holton) and Dev (Williams),” sophomore forward Esa Ahmad said. “Those two guys alone combined for 25 rebounds. For him to do that, that’s big. We kind of knew that he had that in him.”

It is no shock that Adrian draws plenty of followers in the men’s college basketball world from those feats of athleticism and grit, but he is quickly becoming a cult hero for something that cannot be displayed on a stat line. If you watch a West Virginia men’s basketball game right now, you will assuredly see crowd shots of fans rocking variations of Adrian’s now trademark thick headband. It does not always keep those flowing locks from getting in his face though. At one point in the first half against Bucknell, Adrian was seen tossing it across the court.

“It was already coming off, so I had to get rid of it,” Adrian said. “I can’t really fix it sometimes, so I have to throw it off and get it at the next deadball.”

Adrian and his Mountaineers continue their 2017 NCAA Tournament run at KeyBank Center on Saturday against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.