Way back in 2010, West Virginia started five players from the metropolitan New York City area, and there’s no way the Mountaineers win the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden and then conquer Morgan State and Missouri in Buffalo and Washington and Kentucky in Syracuse without hearty contributions from Truck Bryant, Da’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, Wellington Smith and Kevin Jones.

This season, WVU has Ohioans Juwan Staten, Devin Williams and Elijah Macon, and this team isn’t here without a little or a lot from some and all. And where are they? Columbus. If one or two or three of them come together and help propel the Mountaineers to two wins here, they proceed to Cleveland. A year from now, Staten is gone (and NBA scouts are digging in, by the way) and Cleveland’s Esa Ahmad, the schools most regarded recruit since Ebanks, will have enrolled and played a full freshman season.

This, as you might imagine, has not gone unnoticed in the locker room. New York City isn’t out, but Ohio is definitely in at WVU.

This is a big state with the nation’s seventh-highest population. None of the 10 biggest cities in the country are within its borders, but four of the 75 biggest are. There are more than 1,400 high schools plus 13 Division I colleges that play sports in six different conferences. There are players. There are opportunities.

“Just being such a big state with so many players, there isn’t one style of player, but there’s a lot of talent,” Macon said. “I think there are a select few who might catch a coach’s eye because of his skill and talent and because of what we’ve done in high school and AAU.”

But this is also a state that’s left out of the conversation when the topic is recruiting hotbeds. And this is a state that really hates that in light of its successful, structured prep and summer programs.

“There are a lot of people around Ohio and in cities that don’t get the same reputation as the big cities, as New York or Chicago,” Williams said. “They have a different aggression, and as far as the way they were coached basketball on and off the court, I think everyone in Ohio plays with that chip on their shoulders because we’re not seen as New York or Chicago. We’re always going out to prove ourselves and show we can play with anybody.”