Do not approach West Virginia University’s basketball coach with a different opinion than his, for Bob Huggins is not only one of America’s top coaches but is also one of the most convincing men you will ever come across.
That says a lot about his ability to recruit, which is nothing but a glorified con game between slick adult professional recruiters and pimply faced high school kids, and about his ability to raise funds for his program, which was what had caused this visit to his office last week.
The word had come down that the school had not yet raised enough money for the $26 million practice facility for men’s and women’s basketball situated where the university tennis courts have been.
Mike Parsons, the deputy athletic director, had admitted as much just moments earlier.
“Certainly, the economy is affecting the progress right now,” Parsons said, noting that the building would be constructed using private funding.
Now the argument that this visitor wanted to raise wasn’t that there was no need for a practice facility, for certainly there is, but that perhaps $26 million for such a building might be a rather steep price to pay at this point in time.
Parsons had noted that “this will be a first-class facility” and noted that “nothing comes cheap,” but considering that the entire Greenbrier Resort complex had been purchased for just $22.5 million, that does seem like a rather steep price to pay for a “practice” facility.
Perhaps calling it a “practice facility” is the problem, for Huggins points out immediately that it is more than just two basketball courts. It is, instead, a home for the two basketball programs, their offices, a media room and player lounges with top-of-the-line workout equipment … maybe even a new treadmill for Huggins’ version of torturous punishment.
“I think there are only two Big East schools who don’t have a practice facility,” Huggins said.
Come recruiting time, kids like the bells and whistles that tell them they are going to a first-class program in America’s toughest conference.
To Huggins, nothing short of the future of the program rests on getting such a structure.
“I’m going to live here for the rest of my life, and after I get through coaching I’ll still want the guys to win. I don’t want to come here and watch a losing team,” Huggins said.
The problem with his sales pitch is that the Coliseum seems to be more than an adequate building, until he makes you realize that its purpose is as home to the physical education department, which keeps them off the court for much of the day.
Add to that scheduling problems that are insurmountable, sharing it with volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling.
“If you look around, we’re about the only team that doesn’t have a practice facility,” Huggins said, pointing to the new wrestling building, the gymnastics building, the football facility, the indoor and outdoor tracks.
But $26 million?
“If you are going to do it, why not do it right the first time?” he asked.
Hmmmmm …
“Obviously, you could build it cheaper, but do that and two years from now you will be wishing you did it right,” he argued. “The Coliseum – they did that right. Buildings that were built 10 or 15 years after the Coliseum now look antiquated but it is still a good arena.”
However …
“Look around the building. Is there a picture up of Rod Thorn or Rod Hundley? There’s a plaque honoring the people who donate to the School of Physical Education, and that’s great. But is there anything that shows the history of the program and pays homage to the great players?”
The answer, of course, is no … at least as far as anything much beyond the WVU Athletic Hall of Fame plaques that ring the inside of the arena and the Jerry West Lounge and his retired number on the wall.
“Well, we plan to have a Hall of Fame in the practice facility,” Huggins said.
Rich Rodriguez’s most enduring contribution to the school may be the WVU Football Hall of Fame he pushed for in the Puskar Center, a tribute to West Virginia football from its beginning until now.
Huggins sees the same thing in his practice center, a tribute to the early basketball stars and those of the Jerry West era and those of the Gale Catlett era and those who followed under John Beilein and himself.
The point Huggins’ is making is this is something more than just a “practice facility” and that its purpose isn’t building a shrine to the coach who pushed for it. It is, he believes, as much a necessity as a 7-foot center who can sweep the backboards clean.
And, what the heck, what’s $26 million here or there these days? Who knows, maybe they can get it done for $24 million if they skimp a little on the media room.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
Bob Herzel
HERTZEL COLUMN - Huggins is very convincing
- Bob Herzel
-
-
HERTZEL COLUMN - Truck drives Mountaineers to needed win
Perhaps it is what has kept him going through a West Virginia basketball career with as many turns as a trip to Pineville down in Wyoming County, but Truck Bryant enjoys being Truck Bryant.
-
WVU finds a way, wins in overtime
Truck Bryant made the headline plays, including a 3-point shot with 3.3 seconds left to play, as West Virginia saved its season with an 87-84 overtime victory at Providence, but the subheads had to be reserved for Deniz Kilicli and a pair of freshman guards.
-
Mountaineers face critical test today at Providence
The schedule tells you it’s another game in the marathon run that is the Big East season, a trip to Providence to play a team with only two conference victories, but somehow everyone connected with the West Virginia University program knows today’s noon meeting with the Friars is much more than that.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Jones on the brink of WVU history
On the one hand there is yesterday’s Warren Baker, who entered the WVU Athletic Hall of Fame in the latest class for the work he did from 1973 to 1976, and on the other hand there is today’s star Kevin Jones, who has emerged from the shadows of the likes of Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler this year to carve his own niche in Mountaineer basketball history.
-
WVU backs out of Florida State game
West Virginia University has canceled its Sept. 8 football game at Florida State.
Once again, as they have done with virtually everything since announcing they planned to move from the Big East to the Big 12, they did it behind closed doors, without any announcement or statement. -
WVU women upset Louisville
It is foolhardy to put it up there with the Baylors and Notre Dames of the women’s world just yet, but really if you look closely and see potential, much of which came out Saturday afternoon when the Mountaineers upset No. 12/14 Louisville, 66-50, you realize that this team is closer to greatness than it is to mediocrity.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Nothing guaranteed with recruits
Signing day has come and gone, and here is something to think about.
Scout, one of the most popular online rating services, has raised West Virginia University’s crop of football recruits to No. 25 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big East. -
Who really pays WVU’s medical bills?
A couple of weeks back, West Virginia University released a post-season list of injuries to its football team, and it was a lengthy list of some injuries that required surgery and rehabilitation.
-
Louisville next test for WVU women
The last time out, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team played its usual game.
It was at South Florida, facing a pretty good team. It built the big lead it normally builds, then struggled to hold on at the end, turning the ball over and missing free throws, but somehow managed. -
Smith won’t coach WVU, to stay with Jets
A couple of days ago, coach Dana Holgorsen, knowing he was going to be changing the defensive schemes West Virginia University runs, was wondering if he would have enough quality defensive linemen.
A day after recruiting letters were returned and his first recruiting class was on hand, that worry was alleviated.
But immediately a new worry cropped up. - More Bob Herzel Headlines
-
HERTZEL COLUMN - Truck drives Mountaineers to needed win
