Pastilong Gets His Man
April 08, 2007 06:28 PM | General
April 8, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Shortly after John Beilein told WVU Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong that he was going to take the Michigan job, Pastilong got on the telephone with an old friend of his going way back to the mid 1970s.
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| Ed Pastilong introduces Bob Huggins as West Virginia's 21st men's basketball coach Friday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
Blue & Gold News photo |
Pastilong’s question was a simple one: “Bobby do you want to come home?”
Bob Huggins’ answer was just as simple, “Absolutely.”
“I called him and I just had a feeling that it was time for Bobby to come home,” Pastilong told Metro News radio network Friday afternoon. “He indicated his age – mid 50s – all the wonderful accomplishments, all the wonderful places that he’s been, the wonderful student-athletes that he’s coached – I think now and this is my guess - Bobby wanted to come back and do those same things in his home state at HIS alma mater.”
The entire process of going from John Beilein to Bob Huggins took roughly 48 hours – light speed in college athletic circles today. Pastilong had a great deal of input and all of it was pointing in the direction of the sixth winningest coach in college basketball today.
“After talking with central administration, members of our staff and talking to Jerry West, we felt we needed to find out if Bobby Huggins wanted to be our coach or not. If he was interested, let’s hire him and come on. If he’s not, then let’s open it up and have a full search.”
Pastilong particularly appreciated the discussions he had with former WVU and NBA great Jerry West.
“I spoke to Jerry West I would say a dozen times in the last two to three days,” Pastilong noted. “Those discussions really had a lot of influence on our direction. The compliments that Jerry had and the compliments Jerry relayed from Rod Thorn -- we feel those two gentlemen with their association with college and professional basketball were very helpful.”
Despite the speed with which this entire process took place, Pastilong admits Huggins was torn about leaving Kansas State after just one year.
“I do think he had a very difficult time back in Kansas because their president, their athletic director, their players and the fans really enjoyed his year there,” said Pastilong. “I think they do appreciate the fact that he would not have departed had it not been for West Virginia University -- a program that he has always wanted to come back to.
“It’s clear his enthusiasm and his affinity for the state … there is one other thing I want to mention. It’s so unique that Gov. (Joe) Manchin flew up here to be with us today. That’s a real compliment to him,” Pastilong noted.
Pastilong’s first objective was to get the best possible coach to take over a West Virginia basketball program that has been to post-season play in each of the last four seasons, including trips to the NCAA Elite Eight and NCAA Sweet 16. His second objective was to get a man that was truly committed to West Virginia University.
“Any time we have a departure that takes place, we’ve got some quality student-athletes here, we’ve got fans with a lot of enthusiasm, and we wanted to make sure that we brought in a coach and he walked into the Coliseum and we all had the confidence that this person had the competitiveness and the desire to win a national championship, but equally important, one who wanted to make the run with us for a long time,” Pastilong said.
As Huggins noted in Friday’s press conference, Pastilong said the negotiations were not protracted.
“As for our final term-sheet discussions, I presented it to him, he didn’t have his glasses and he said, ‘Just give me a general overview of it.’ In about one minute I did, he said fine, signed it and today here we are.” Pastilong said. “After listening to Bobby talk I’m really going to sleep well tonight.”
Pastilong admits it has been an incredible 48 hours.
“It was an unbelievable juggling act,” he said. “There was so much information coming to you, so many people wanting to contact you, so many people wanting to help, so many people wanting to give advice. What I had to do was be selective as to who I went to for advice, then take that advice and see how it would best fit into this particular situation and quite frankly, it was tiring, but it was sure worth it.”
