By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN —
It was going to be a really nice night out for Jarrod West, the man who hit what is arguably the most improbable shot in West Virginia University basketball history.
His wife, Amber, had made plans to try the new Wingate Hotel off Jerry Dove Drive in Clarksburg and an agent and friend were coming along with them.
He and Amber had met while in college as freshmen, and while it didn’t start off as a love affair it certainly had become one.
“It definitely wasn’t love at first sight,” West was recalling the other day.
They didn’t begin to date their freshman year, remaining simply friends until they were juniors.
“She was really the first girlfriend I ever had. In high school it was sports and hanging with the boys,” West added. “But she kind of tied me down, and we’ve been together ever since.”
And so it was that the three of them walked into the Wingate and something very strange – and wonderful — happened.
“I walked in and saw a lot of people clapping and I was thinking, ‘Man, this a lot of people that I know.’ The way they were seated, most of the people on the right side of the room were from Notre Dame or Clarksburg. That’s who I saw first.”
Certainly he wasn’t thinking, three weeks or so after his anniversary, that this was his real anniversary gift from his wife … a gala surprise party.
“I asked her, ‘What are they doing?’ and then I turned to my left side and I saw my father, my mom and all my teammates standing up clapping. It was kind of like an out-of-body experience,” he said.
“Soon as I saw my father, I broke down and started crying. I love it up here, but the bad thing about being here is every time I see my parents I don’t know if that’s going to be the last time I’m going to see them. Every time the phone rings and it has a Mississippi number I worry.”
But West’s parents, his dad 69, his mom 64, are both fine and along with his older brother had come to spring the surprise on this man who has gone from West Virginia basketball hero, knocking Bob Huggins and Cincinnati out of the 1998 NCAA Tournament with a buzzer-beating last-second shot, to basketball coach at Notre Dame High.
“Soon as I saw my parents and my teammates from that team, it kind of clicked in. A lot of things that my wife has been doing lately suddenly made sense,” he said.
In all, with his “new family” from the Clarksburg-Bridgeport area and his old family and teammates, there were about 130 people gathered for this surprise anniversary dinner.
Marcus Goree had come back, along with Damian Owens and Adrian Pledger and Brian Lewin and, of course, West’s best local friend and former teammate, Brent Solheim. Greg Jones from that team also had come back along as had Greg Simpson, a former teammate who played only in 1996 and whose stay at WVU was somewhat controversial after transferring from Ohio State.
About the only teammate who couldn’t make it was Seldon Jefferson, who called to explain he had something pressing and could not come to town, cutting back on some of the stories that were flung that night.
“Everyone is a lot better player now than they really were, especially Damian,” Jones said, laughing at the thought.
Owens was something of a prehistoric Da’Sean Butler, a do-everything forward who was a team leader and scrapper, a kid who made the big basket and grabbed the big rebound and who could drive the baseline better than any player at WVU since.
In fact, it is ironic that Butler was injured against Kentucky in the Final Four trying to make Owens’ trademark move down the baseline.
“They are very comparable,” West said of the two. “Neither of them is really a shooter, but they make shots. Neither is really a polished ball handler, but they handle it just good enough to get by someone and they both stack the stat sheet. Every night they’re going to eight or nine rebounds, four or five assists, two or three steals, two blocks and four or five turnovers.”
West laughed, talking of the turnovers, knowing that Owens would have appreciated that little dig.
After the dinner, they retired to West’s house, where a lot of old tales were tossed around, Goree talking about his career in Europe, having been the most successful after graduating.
Goree is bigger and stronger now, but that’s about all that’s changed.
“He’s still a little kid in a big body,” West said.
The night went fast and morning came early and the next day everyone headed back to their own homes, each a little richer for the experience, but it was West who was feeling like the millionaire.
“I couldn’t ask for any present, any amount of money … it was the best, the best ever. Honestly, it was just what I needed.”
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
