Marlon LeBlanc led West Virginia to its first Big East regular-season championship, its first appearance in the Big East tournament final and a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, their highest ever. Not bad for a coach hired on the first day of preseason practice.
LeBlanc took over a West Virginia program in turmoil when Coach Mike Seaboldt was fired in July amid allegations of NCAA recruiting violations. LeBlanc, the first assistant at Penn State for five years, left his family behind so he could be in West Virginia for the start of preseason practice.
LeBlanc, who credits the team's fast start to the work of assistants Bryan Green and Keith Wiggins in allowing for a smooth transition, preached an attacking style of play that resulted in New Zealand international Jarrod Smith having a career season.
Besides the success in the Big East, where it went unbeaten in the regular season, West Virginia's accomplishments included non-conference wins over conference champions Fairfield (MAAC) and Bucknell (Patriot) and its first win over Penn State since 1973.