A Mountaineer Legend? DeVries Calls Javon Small's Season One of the Best He's Seen

If there were any shreds of doubt about West Virginia's chances to make the NCAA Tournament, that was all put to bed on Saturday evening as the Mountaineers took care of the UCF Knights, 72-65.

WVU jumped out to an enormous 27-point lead, largely due to the red-hot start from senior guard Javon Small, who had 14 points in the first nine minutes of the game. He cooled off quite a bit in the second half, but still made big plays when WVU needed it, finishing the night with 25 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.

That type of performance is just the latest example as to why he should be the Big 12 Conference's Player of the Year. There are several highly talented players in this league who are very deserving of the award, but you'd be going out on a limb saying any of those players were more valuable to their team than Small has been.

WVU head coach Darian DeVries knows how special of a player Small has been and didn't mince words when describing the type of season he just had.

One heckuva year

West Virginia University head coach Darian DeVries | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

"You could tell he was being aggressive. He was going to do everything he could to kind of get going, and then when he hit a couple, that’s always good for us. Overall, 25 and nine again. I just hope people really appreciate the season he had because I’ve been doing this a long time, there’s only two or three guys that I can probably name that had a season like this where he had to do so much as well on top of it. Incredible season for him, regular season, obviously we still want to play as long as possible but it was great to see him go out on top."

A West Virginia legend?

Mar 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Javon Small (7) watches after shooting a three pointer during the first half against the UCF Knights at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Although there are still some games left to be played, you could argue that Small will go down as one of the best players in school history, even though he only spent one year in Morgantown. What he's been able to do all year long with the focus primarily on him, is incredible. Yes, he had some help, but he shouldered the load and literally carried this bunch to an NCAA Tournament bid.

Will he be considered a WVU legend? Well, I guess that depends on your definition of the term.

For me, the answer is, yes. Although he had only one year here, he had arguably one of the best individual seasons a player has had at WVU in a long, long time. For someone who only had one year of eligibility, how much more could he have done to earn that label?

In today's era of college athletics, it's going to be rare where you see a player stick around a program for three or four years and challenge some of the all-time records in school history. They'll either transfer out, transfer in (as Small did), or leave for the NBA early.

The Mountaineers have only been to the Final Four twice in program history. They've only been to the Elite Eight three times. Small doesn't have to carry this team that deep into the tournament to earn legendary status. In my opinion, he's already there.

One heckuva year

A West Virginia legend?

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