May 19 Notebook
May 19, 2007 11:35 AM | General
May 19, 2007
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| Ed Pastilong |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong is wrapping up his most successful year of service to West Virginia University. The school is enjoying its highest ranking in the Director’s Cup standings at 35th, the Mountaineer football program has had back-to-back Top 10 seasons, and Pastilong recently lured Bob Huggins back to his alma mater to guide the men’s basketball program.
Bill Kirelawich, who played a year for him at Salem College in 1969 and has been on the WVU football staff for all 18 of Pastilong’s years as West Virginia’s AD, says WVU’s man at the top hasn’t changed a bit from his Salem days.
“He always made you feel special,” Kirelawich said. “He made you feel important and Mona was a lot like that, too. The two of them compliment each other perfectly.”
Kirelawich says there is rarely a time when he doesn’t run into someone from Salem on the road asking about Pastilong.
“I’m on the road recruiting and I bump into Salem guys and the first thing they always ask me, ‘How’s Eddie? What’s Pastilong doing?’ That has always been like that,” Kirelawich said.
“When I was there Donnie (Young) was coaching and Eddie was the assistant. As a kid coming up I couldn’t have been blessed with better mentors than I was with those guys,” Kirelawich recalled.
Kirelawich wishes he had more of Pastilong’s temperament in dealing with his own players.
“My personality is different than Eddie’s. I’m a type-A. I really felt that the way Eddie did it was the right way. I wish I could be like Eddie,” he said. “I wish I could have had the kids like me the way we liked him. I know I get off the field and I say to myself, ‘I know that guy doesn’t like me too much today.’”
Kirelawich believes that patient approach has served Pastilong well through the years.
“He has carried that demeanor with him and it has worked well for him in his public life,” Kirelawich said. “He’s very, very patient; a very methodic, good teacher and it works.”
Pastilong’s 18-year tenure at West Virginia University is the second-longest to Harry Stansbury in school history, and is the fourth-longest among present ADs at BCS conference schools.
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| Erik Martin |
“If I compare this team to the K-State team we definitely have more talent and their basketball IQ is there,” Martin said. “Sometimes at K-State we had to go over things over and over because maybe one or two people just didn’t get it. This stuff these kids will pick it up quickly.”
Martin said Huggins plans on adapting some of the things West Virginia did very well last year.
“Certain coaches have systems and certain coaches would come in here and try and force their system,” Martin said. “Huggs is going to take these guys’ strengths and make them stronger and he’s going to take their weaknesses and make them stronger.”
According to Martin, Huggins won’t sit down this summer and break down the tape on every player, but he will incorporate some of the things he likes in John Beilein’s offense.
“He is going to watch their offense because Huggs likes Beilein’s offense – it’s sort of like what we run with the back door, open post,” Martin said. “I think he wants to take parts of it and he would be a fool not to. When I saw it people couldn’t stop them.”
Martin believes the most important piece to the puzzle will be getting a couple of big, physical post players to compete with the Syracuses, Connecticuts and the Pitts of the Big East.
“We played small-ball last year and it works but against great teams … we could have played Kansas seven more times and they would have beaten us seven more times,” he said. “They just had too many bigs for us. You’ve got to have big bodies or guys that don’t mind playing big.”
“Huggs’ name everywhere is pretty strong,” Martin said. “I didn’t know that until I got out on the road at Kansas State. Everybody knows Huggs – California, Arizona – you say Huggs and they know him.”
Martin will recruit the entire state of Ohio and he says he will also try to get California into the mix.
“I was good with JUCOs in California,” Martin said. “In this situation here, if there is a player -- go get him.”
“I don’t remember how we got involved with Will but that’s Cleveland and Huggs had been up there a few times to see him play and Huggs really liked him,” Martin said. “That’s the one thing about Huggs, he’s very involved in recruiting: Not just who you’re recruiting, heck, he’s recruiting some people, too. It’s either about getting players with a high skill level or players that fit your system.”
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| Jessica Czaikowski |
Senior Jessica Czaikowski has qualified in both the 100-meter dash (11.61) and the 100-meter hurdles (13.36) where she ranks 25th in the country.
Senior Abbie Stechschulte has the nation’s 12th-best score in the heptathlon and has already qualified for the NCAA championships in that event, but she will only be competing in the long jump (6.13 m) at regionals.
Freshmen Kerri Bland (4:23.71) and Mary Louise Asselin (4:25.52) have qualified in the 1,500, while sophomore Clara Grandt (10:31.27) will be running the 5,000.
Bland, a Fairview, W.Va., resident, reminds West Virginia coaches of a young Megan Metcalfe. If you recall, Metcalfe was an NCAA champion in the 5,000 in 2005.
WVU is looking to make back-to-back Big East tournament appearances for the first time since 1998-99.
According to ACC financial figures reported by the Associated Press, the 12 ACC institutions received roughly $11 million, or about the same amount each school received before expansion.
In 2003-04 – the last year the ACC had nine members – each school earned $10.88 million from the conference according to Guidestar, a Virginia company that tracks non-profit organizations and charities. In 2005-06, the ACC awarded its 12 schools an average of $10.85 million.
Florida State ($12.47 million), Georgia Tech ($12.2 million) and Virginia ($12 million) received the largest allocations.
Miami’s take was about the same as its final year in the Big East, while Boston College and Virginia Tech had slight increases although Tech was not yet receiving its full allotment from the Big East when it left for the ACC.
Have a great weekend!
