The West Virginia University baseball team was preparing for the Big 12 conference tournament in Oklahoma City on Monday when a massive tornado devastated the town of Moore, Okla., just a few miles away.
Victims of disaster have been met with an outpouring of support from the sports world (including OKC’s most prominent athlete, Kevin Durant, who donated $1 million dollars to the relief efforts), and Mountaineers coach Randy Mazey felt that his team should do its part to assist those affected, as well.
So, the 20-plus members of the WVU baseball team spent Tuesday morning at a local Walmart, where each was given $100 to buy clothes, food and other necessities for those impacted by the tornado.
“I think it meant a lot to [the players],” Mazey told USA Today. “Twenty years from now, when they look back at their college baseball career and the baseball tournament in Oklahoma City, I have my doubts if they’re going to remember the games at all. Just remember what we did for the families and the impact they had on people’s lives and all the devastation.”
The team was originally scheduled to open tournament play against Kansas at Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Ballpark on Wednesday, but the Big 12 decided to push the start date back to Thursday in the wake of the twister that left at least 24 dead and thousands without homes.
Check out more from the Mountaineers’ shopping spree in the photos and video below.
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Photo via Twitter/@WVU_Baseball
