Timeout for a little coaches recognition
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
Not since the days of Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley has West Virginia basketball had this great a moment.
So wrote Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News.
Weiss, the dean of New York sports writers (Ray Barone notwithstanding), devoted a recent column to Coach Bob Huggins and the West Virginia Mountaineers after they defeated Georgetown, 60-58, at Madison Square Garden for the school's first Big East Conference championship.
"Bob Huggins, a proud West Virginia alum, had tears in his eyes as he hugged Da'Sean Butler, who lifted West Virginia with his sixth game-winning shot of the season, a driving layup with 4.2 seconds to play," Weiss wrote, then quoted the coach: "This is special because it's West Virginia."
"Huggins gets it," Weiss said. ..."West Virginia basketball is special this year."
For those of us in southern Ohio who are more familiar with Coach Huggins as the man who rescued the University of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball program from obscurity in 1989 or '90, we know Huggs "gets it."
Five years or so ago, I recall when a corporate controlled newspaper publicly called for Coach Huggins to step down. That was, of course, the newspaper's prerogative.
As I said at the time, "in a vague, poorly written editorial, the paper opined that Huggins must go for the good of UC."
They sure called that one right. Not!
In the ensuing five years, Coach Huggins landed safely at Kansas State and then at his alma mater, West "By God" Virginia.
In this year's NCAA tournament, Kansas State and West Virginia were both selected as No. 2 seeds. UC, meanwhile was NIT (Not In the Tournament).
Five years ago, the paper decided that "(Huggins) clearly has lost the support and confidence of university president Nancy Zimpher." Truth be told, Huggins never had Zimpher's support.
Huggins was described by his detractors as being bigger than the university. It was not an accurate description.
Coach Huggins was not bigger than the University of Cincinnati. Nor was The General, Coach Bob Knight, bigger than Indiana. The Professor, Lou Holtz, was not bigger than Notre Dame.
After Indiana and Coach Knight parted company, and after Notre Dame and Coach Holtz parted company, and after UC and Coach Huggins parted company, the end results have been eerily similar for each school.
Huggins was hired by UC to coach basketball. Not to teach physics. Not to teach calculus. Not to wipe the college president¹s snotty nose. By all measurements, Huggins did his job.
I seem to recall Nancy Zimpher saying, "We have to put our academic platform on the same level as our athletic aspirations."
What's stopping any college or university from doing just that?
Perhaps if you hire a few more administrators and professors who work as hard as a few coaches, you might just get there.
On a personal note, my wife and I met Coach Huggins at Ohio State University when his dad, Coach Charlie Huggins, along with Hillsboro's Coach John Woolums, and the true dean of Ohio sportswriters, Tom Metters, all were inducted into the Ohio High School Coaches Hall of Fame. Pam and I were Coach Woolums' guests and Coach Huggins was the guest speaker.
He was a perfect gentleman. He tells the truth and he doesn¹t stroke the media for attention.
Maybe the media do not like him. And maybe some have their reasons. But if there's one team I'd like to see advance in this year¹s tournament aside from Ohio State, Xavier and Ohio University, and since North Carolina
didn't make it it's West Virginia. (Sorry, UK fans.)
However, by the time you read this, the Mountain Men have either defeated Morgan State and moved on, or are sitting at home watching TV.
I hope its the former. Good luck, Huggs.
Coach Young, as most southern Ohio sports fans know, is one of the best high school basketball coaches in the Buckeye State. He runs a great program, with noted success on and off the court. He¹s taken a team to the Final Four and, save for one very questionable decision, could very well have a state championship to his credit.
This past season, these high school coaches, like coaches across the state and across the country, did their best to help develop the young student-athletes in their respective schools.
One of those young student-athletes from this past season is my son.
As I wrote to North Adams Principal Steve Schad recently, Coach Rob Meade deserves a lot of credit and a good measure of recognition for his hard work.
As a former "gym rat," who never was very good, I still know a little bit about basketball. And a little bit about people. After watching these coaches work with the young players, from the freshman, reserve and varsity teams, I'm convinced that they do their best to not only make these youngsters better ballplayers, but they also try to make them better citizens.
One of the highlights of this season, for me, was the night Colin scored his first high school point. (He connected on 1 of 2 from the foul line.) His mother and I were understandably excited for him.
But Coach Young put it all in perspective after the game when he told Colin: "Another 999 points and your name will be up there on the wall (with the 1,000-point club members)."
The fact that Varsity Coach Dave Young a future Hall of Famer knew that Colin, a freshman, had scored his first high school basket, and that he thought enough to comment on it, made a lasting impression.
The same is true for Rob Meade, Nathan Copas and all of the North Adams coaches.
I'm kind of sorry now that I was rooting for Whiteoak when the 2009-10 season opened at the SSCC Patriot Center. (Old habits are hard to break.)
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
So wrote Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News.
Weiss, the dean of New York sports writers (Ray Barone notwithstanding), devoted a recent column to Coach Bob Huggins and the West Virginia Mountaineers after they defeated Georgetown, 60-58, at Madison Square Garden for the school's first Big East Conference championship.
"Bob Huggins, a proud West Virginia alum, had tears in his eyes as he hugged Da'Sean Butler, who lifted West Virginia with his sixth game-winning shot of the season, a driving layup with 4.2 seconds to play," Weiss wrote, then quoted the coach: "This is special because it's West Virginia."
"Huggins gets it," Weiss said. ..."West Virginia basketball is special this year."
For those of us in southern Ohio who are more familiar with Coach Huggins as the man who rescued the University of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball program from obscurity in 1989 or '90, we know Huggs "gets it."
Five years or so ago, I recall when a corporate controlled newspaper publicly called for Coach Huggins to step down. That was, of course, the newspaper's prerogative.
As I said at the time, "in a vague, poorly written editorial, the paper opined that Huggins must go for the good of UC."
They sure called that one right. Not!
In the ensuing five years, Coach Huggins landed safely at Kansas State and then at his alma mater, West "By God" Virginia.
In this year's NCAA tournament, Kansas State and West Virginia were both selected as No. 2 seeds. UC, meanwhile was NIT (Not In the Tournament).
Five years ago, the paper decided that "(Huggins) clearly has lost the support and confidence of university president Nancy Zimpher." Truth be told, Huggins never had Zimpher's support.
Huggins was described by his detractors as being bigger than the university. It was not an accurate description.
Coach Huggins was not bigger than the University of Cincinnati. Nor was The General, Coach Bob Knight, bigger than Indiana. The Professor, Lou Holtz, was not bigger than Notre Dame.
After Indiana and Coach Knight parted company, and after Notre Dame and Coach Holtz parted company, and after UC and Coach Huggins parted company, the end results have been eerily similar for each school.
Huggins was hired by UC to coach basketball. Not to teach physics. Not to teach calculus. Not to wipe the college president¹s snotty nose. By all measurements, Huggins did his job.
I seem to recall Nancy Zimpher saying, "We have to put our academic platform on the same level as our athletic aspirations."
What's stopping any college or university from doing just that?
Perhaps if you hire a few more administrators and professors who work as hard as a few coaches, you might just get there.
On a personal note, my wife and I met Coach Huggins at Ohio State University when his dad, Coach Charlie Huggins, along with Hillsboro's Coach John Woolums, and the true dean of Ohio sportswriters, Tom Metters, all were inducted into the Ohio High School Coaches Hall of Fame. Pam and I were Coach Woolums' guests and Coach Huggins was the guest speaker.
He was a perfect gentleman. He tells the truth and he doesn¹t stroke the media for attention.
Maybe the media do not like him. And maybe some have their reasons. But if there's one team I'd like to see advance in this year¹s tournament aside from Ohio State, Xavier and Ohio University, and since North Carolina
didn't make it it's West Virginia. (Sorry, UK fans.)
However, by the time you read this, the Mountain Men have either defeated Morgan State and moved on, or are sitting at home watching TV.
I hope its the former. Good luck, Huggs.
• • •
To quickly wrap up this week's offering, I'd also like to give a public thanks to Coaches Rob Meade, Nathan Copas and Dave Young at North Adams High School.Coach Young, as most southern Ohio sports fans know, is one of the best high school basketball coaches in the Buckeye State. He runs a great program, with noted success on and off the court. He¹s taken a team to the Final Four and, save for one very questionable decision, could very well have a state championship to his credit.
This past season, these high school coaches, like coaches across the state and across the country, did their best to help develop the young student-athletes in their respective schools.
One of those young student-athletes from this past season is my son.
As I wrote to North Adams Principal Steve Schad recently, Coach Rob Meade deserves a lot of credit and a good measure of recognition for his hard work.
As a former "gym rat," who never was very good, I still know a little bit about basketball. And a little bit about people. After watching these coaches work with the young players, from the freshman, reserve and varsity teams, I'm convinced that they do their best to not only make these youngsters better ballplayers, but they also try to make them better citizens.
One of the highlights of this season, for me, was the night Colin scored his first high school point. (He connected on 1 of 2 from the foul line.) His mother and I were understandably excited for him.
But Coach Young put it all in perspective after the game when he told Colin: "Another 999 points and your name will be up there on the wall (with the 1,000-point club members)."
The fact that Varsity Coach Dave Young a future Hall of Famer knew that Colin, a freshman, had scored his first high school basket, and that he thought enough to comment on it, made a lasting impression.
The same is true for Rob Meade, Nathan Copas and all of the North Adams coaches.
I'm kind of sorry now that I was rooting for Whiteoak when the 2009-10 season opened at the SSCC Patriot Center. (Old habits are hard to break.)
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]