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Gale Catlett had coached the Mountaineers from 1978-2002, until John Beilein came from Richmond ahead of the 2002-03 season.

WVU went 31-29 in Beilein’s first two seasons in Morgantown, including a 17-14 record his second year and two wins in the 2004 NIT against Kent State and Rhode Island.

Things really started to change ahead of the 2004-05 season, with many of the Mountaineers’ top players returning for another season, including Kevin Pittsnogle, Tyrone Sally and Johannes Herber.

“We got some confidence from making the NIT the year before and winning a couple of games,� Beilein said to the Gazette-Mail. “We had brought in [St. Bonaventure transfer] Mike Gansey with a group that had been together. The core group had already been together for two years. So, in addition to Mike and our returners, we felt like that was huge for us.�

Gansey averaged 13.9 points per game with the Bonnies in 2002-03 but sat out 2003-04 due to transfer rules at the time.

The Mountaineers opened the ’04-05 season winning their first 10 games, all in their nonconference slate, averaging 77 points in that stretch.

West Virginia soon hit a brick wall, losing seven of its next nine games, including losing five straight Big East Conference games.

Two of those defeats to begin their conference slate were against No. 7 Syracuse, 72-64, and No. 19 Connecticut, 68-58. The Mountaineers played UConn on Jan. 25 then four days later played a road game at Providence.

Beilein felt that something had to change going into the game against the Friars.

“I went into the Providence shoot-around and thought that we were losing [the team],� Beilein said. “I thought we were losing the team because of the losses. The Big East was a monster. In the Providence game, we were maybe ahead by one or two then Mike crawled on his hands and knees and got the ball to call timeout. We then lost our next game to Boston College, but the Providence game gave us renewed energy.�

WVU went on to lose its next game against No. 5 Boston College, 62-50. West Virginia finished its regular season winning six of its final eight games, including four of its last five heading into the Big East tournament in New York City.

One of WVU’s wins, following the BC loss, came against archrival Pitt, which was ranked No. 16 at that time, on Feb. 5 inside the WVU Coliseum.

Veteran radio broadcast Tony Caridi believes that the Pitt game was another turning point for WVU that season.

“The Pitt game was the defining moment,� Caridi said. “The place was sold out. It was a high-intensity basketball game, as you would always expect when West Virginia meets Pitt. One play in particular that I’ll never forget stands out. There was a scramble for a loose ball. There were multiple bodies on the floor. The ball squirts out and Kevin Pittsnogle picks it up and goes in for a ferocious two-handed slam dunk. The noise was deafening.�

WVU earned the No. 8 seed in the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden and were paired with ninth-seed Providence. The Mountaineers beat the Friars, 82-59.

The Mountaineers won their next two games against top-seed and No. 7-ranked Boston College and fourth-seed and No. 19-ranked Villanova by less than 10 points, setting up a date with the 16th-ranked Syracuse Orange.

“We flew commercial back in those days at West Virginia, and I convinced the administration we needed to go charter,� Beilein said. “We were on the bubble as an eight or nine seed in the NCAA tournament. We had Providence in the first round and took charter to New York City, that way we’d get there early. At that time, you had to fly to Pittsburgh to Philadelphia then to New York City. There was no direct flight to NYC. Unfortunately, an ice storm hit all of New York City. All the airports were closed.

“We had to land in Scranton, then route to New York City by bus. There was so much ice. When our bus would stop, it would start sliding off the road. It took us six to eight hours. We missed the banquet and didn’t get to the hotel until 2 a.m. with a noon game against Providence.�

West Virginia avenged a Jan. 5 loss to Villanova by beating the Wildcats, 78-76, in the Big East semifinals.

In the Big East championship game, WVU lost by nine, 68-59, to third-seed and 16th-ranked Syracuse, which was led by Gerry McNamara and Hakeem Warrick.

“That was one of the greatest runs I’ve ever seen,� Caridi said. “That, also, will be hard to beat going forward because they lost their regular-season finale to Seton Hall, after winning four straight games. They got beat 66-63, which put their NCAA tournament possibilities in some serious jeopardy. They boat-raced Providence by 23, 82-59.

“Now you’ve got the one seed, Boston College. Everyone’s eyes were on BC because they beat you on your home floor by 20, but BC was heading to the ACC — West Virginia gained a lot of Big East fans in that game because no one was happy with BC.

“Then you beat Villanova in the semifinals after Gansey hit two free throws and John Beilein looked at Gansey and said ‘I love you’ to relax him.�

WVU’s ticket was punched into the tournament, earning the No. 7 seed in the Albuquerque Regional. The Mountaineers’ first game was against the Creighton Bluejays.

Creighton had the ball in the waning seconds with the ball in the hands of guard Nate Funk. Funk shot a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but his shot was blocked by Sally.

Sally slammed in the game-winning bucket with 2.4 seconds, after Gansey passed him the ball. WVU escaped the opening round with a 63-61 victory, giving the Mountaineers a date with Chris Paul and Wake Forest.

“When you’re playing in the NCAA tournament, the scouting report is keeping your guys fresh,� Beilein said. “We had walkthroughs, and it’s not nearly as intense as we would’ve had for Creighton. Playing Chris Paul, we had the thought that we can do this. Our team was so connected as a team. We couldn’t put them away. Wake kept coming back. Our kids persevered.�

The Mountaineers captured, arguably, the biggest NCAA tournament win in program history by upsetting Wake Forest, 111-105, in double overtime.

The biggest bright spot for WVU in that game came from Gansey. Gansey had 10 points heading into the first overtime but scored 19 points after regulation to finish with a season-high 29 points.

Gansey averaged 12 points in his first season at WVU.

“Him sitting out that year was so good for him and us,� Beilein said. “He elevated his game so much from that year to the next with his practice habits without playing. It’s so good when people transfer and they sit out a year. They get so much better.�

WVU went on to take down the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Sweet 16, 65-60, before a season-ending loss to fourth-seed Louisville in overtime, 93-85, in the Elite Eight.

The Mountaineers saw three guys finish in double figures, with Sally leading all scorers, averaging 12.2 points per game.

The Virginia native finished his senior season with 24 double-figure performances, including four 20-point performances. Sally netted 21 points in the win over Wake Forest.

“All he needed was repetitions and confidence and became an elite 3-point shooter,� Beilein said. “You look at his shooting as a freshman to senior, it kept getting better. That was huge. He was a great defender, whether it was a man-to-man or zone.�

The other double-figure scorer was Pittsnogle. The former Martinsburg Bulldog took the nation by storm with his ability, as a 6-foot-11 forward, to shoot the ball from the perimeter.

Pittsnogle closed his junior season averaging 11.9 points on 46.5% shooting from the floor and 42.6% from long distance.

“This is serendipity because my teams have been playing like that since the ’80s,� Beilein said. “I always played with our big away from the basket, very little post-up and just sort of today’s game. I inherited him through Gale Catlett’s recruiting. He is a West Virginia kid and wanted to go to WVU. His impact was amazing. It was natural for us to play with him that way and coach that way. It was so natural for him to play that way. It was the perfect storm.�

Caridi has seen various WVU teams throughout his long career as a broadcaster for the Mountaineers.

However, he believes the camaraderie the 2004-05 WVU team displayed may never be seen again due to the changing landscape of college athletics.

“Unfortunately, the maturation of that team is something that we’ll likely never see again,� Caridi said. “That came in the era before the transfer portal and the world of NIL as a result. We were able to watch that team grow from their freshman season. From a Mountaineer fan perspective, every game and season got better. It was a wonderful thing to see.�