Dear Mountaineer Men’s Basketball team,

I come to you, in this calm after the storm, with a grateful heart. Truth be told, I feel like we’re almost family at this point—I’ve watched you play basketball more than I’ve seen my little brothers in the last six months! About a week ago, all of our hearts broke for you as the nation watched what no one had anticipated. So after the end of your run in the NCAA March Madness Tournament, looking back on your season, here are some simple thoughts of gratitude I’d like to share. I’m sure most of my fellow Mountaineers would agree.

Thank you for yet another season of tear jerking, edge-of-seat sitting, jaw-dropping, breathtaking basketball. You rarely seem to disappoint. Thank you for the heart attacks and buzzer beaters that remind all of Mountaineer Nation how exciting basketball can really be.

Thank you for the slam dunks that make our faces light up, and the power plays that look beautiful when successfully completed. I can say with unwavering certainty that I would have wanted to be no other place than in the Coliseum (or in front of the TV) watching you on any given night of the week.

Thank you for being the most frequent topic of conversation when on the phone with my grandparents, and mom, and dad, and brothers and… well, you get the picture. There was never a conversation without mention of your most recent success, or comment on how they wish they were in my shoes—able to watch you play in person. Thank you for often times being the one good thing we had going for us here on campus. Thank you for sporting the old Blue and Gold, through Hell and high water, into the jurisdiction of the unknown. Thank you for having pride in your new found home, and displaying that on the court for the nation to see.

Thank you, Nathan Adrian, for being the player we love to love and love to hate. I’m sorry for the hurtful comments, but we know you possess so much more than what you sometimes display. It’s hard for us to put ourselves in your shoes, in front of millions, on ESPN, with big, sweaty guys, 6 feet tall (and then some) standing in your opposition. But your “Mean Tweets” video goes to show that you really don’t take all of our hate to heart—you know we don’t really mean it.

Thank you for proving how talented and incredible this university is, aside from the party school reputation that often hangs over us like a storm cloud. Thank you for consistently putting West Virginia on the map, as we often times go unnoticed. And thank you, Coach Huggins, for caring so much. For you are the potter and they are the clay, and you have molded for us some of WVU’s greatest.

Most importantly, thank you for giving Country Roads a reason to be played, a song to be sung, and a memory to be had. There is no greater joy than to hear John Denver’s voice boom through the great city of Morgantown after a Mountaineer win.