Been There, Dunn That
November 12, 2003 10:38 PM | General
November 13, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A couple of times a year Jerry Dunn would get together with John Beilein and some other coaching friends from around the country to simply talk basketball: what went right, what went wrong and other issues concerning the game.
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| Jerry Dunn becomes an assistant coach once again for the first time since 1994. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Dunn, a coaching veteran of 26 years including the last eight as a head coach at Penn State, got together with Beilein once again last spring to talk some more basketball. But this time Beilein wasn’t just interested in Jerry’s theories on the matchup zone, he also wanted him as an assistant coach.
Dunn was let go at Penn State following the 2003 season, just two years after leading the Nittany Lions to the NCAA “Sweet 16.” Dunn also guided Penn State to the NCAA tournament in 1996 and had NIT teams in 1998 and 2000.
Being able to convince Jerry Dunn to join his coaching staff was a major coup for Beilein, “Jerry right now is like the wise man that Jeff (Neubauer), Matt (Brown) and I just continue to look to for his expertise as much as possible with everything. He’s got an unbelievable knowledge that we will use.”
Long-time MSN basketball analyst Jay Jacobs, who played for WVU in the late 1950s and has closely followed the program ever since, believes the addition of Dunn gives West Virginia perhaps its most talented basketball coaching staff since Fred Schaus was able to lure George King to Morgantown from the NBA.
Because has had a great deal of experience managing games in the Big Ten Conference and also in post-season play, Jerry Dunn gives Beilein access to one more experienced sounding board.
“As an assistant coach you’re obviously in a suggestive mode,” said Dunn. “To (Beilein’s) credit, he welcomes new ideas; he is very open-minded but he’s the guy that’s calling the shots and he’s been very successful at every stop so I’m in a supportive role and whatever he needs or whatever he asks I will certainly try to be as helpful as I possibly can.”
Making the transition from being a head coach to an assistant is not an easy one. Dunn admits it had to be a special circumstance for him to consider doing it.
“The main reason that I came was because of Coach Beilein,” said Dunn. “I have a great deal of respect for what he’s done at every stop of the collegiate level. I think it’s a great opportunity for me to really learn a great deal and hopefully be of significant help in any way that I’m needed.
“There are not a lot of guys I would have gone to work for but certainly Coach Beilein was one of them,” Dunn continued. “I’ve been around a lot of great head coaches and I’ll tell you what, he is a guy who I think I’m going to be able to learn a great deal from because of the way he does things. It’s a good fit for everybody. He’s got a great staff in place with Jeff Neubauer and Matt Brown and that means everything. Hopefully I can contribute in any way that I’m needed and get done what Coach wants us to do in order to achieve the level of success he feels that we can.”
So far, Dunn has been impressed with West Virginia’s versatility.
“I think there are quite a few guys on this basketball team that have varying skills; what I should say is can do more than one thing,” he said. “It’s extremely important having guys who can score different ways. I think this team has that. They have some long guys in terms of their reach and I think that’s helpful on defense and it’s also critical in the rebounding area.”
One of those “long guys” is 6-foot-11 center D’or Fischer, who in some ways resembles lanky shot-swatter Calvin Booth, a player Dunn had at Penn State who has spent the last five years in the NBA, most recently with the Seattle Supersonics.
“I think that D’or at this point of his career is a little ahead of Calvin offensively right now,” Dunn admitted. “But certainly Calvin was a great shot blocker and I think his offense developed more during his junior and senior year. He became more of an inside-outside guy.
“D’or is stronger and obviously has a more developed body,” the assistant added. “I do think there are some similarities and if (D’or) continues to work hard, he’s got a great future ahead of him.”
In addition to being in a supportive role, Dunn must also get back in the car and chase 18-year-olds all over the East coast. Dunn says that’s nothing new to him.
“I tried to stay involved with that. I’ve been in coaching 25-plus years and I’m still hopping in cars,” he said.
Mountaineer basketball fans will get their first opportunity to see West Virginia play this Saturday at the WVU Coliseum in an exhibition game against Sports Tours. The game will start at 3 pm and admission is free.
West Virginia opens the 2003-04 season on the road at James Madison on Monday, Nov. 24 at James Madison. WVU’s home opener is Saturday, Nov. 29 against Northeastern at 6 pm following the football team’s home game against Temple.
