MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bill Kirelawich knew that Jim Burner had a habit of turning up rocks and finding college football stars.

	Defensive back Aaron Beasley led the nation in interceptions with 10 in 1994. WVU Sports Communications photo

For years, college recruiters camped out at Valley Forge (Pa.) Military Academy watching players like Julian Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald, Chris Doleman, Mario Grier and Lawrence Wright dominate.

Burner told Kirelawich to take a closer look at a defensive back named Aaron Beasley and when Kirelawich first saw film of him he wasn’t exactly knocked off his feet.

“There were three guys there at that time: Lawrence Wright, who went to Miami, Lovett Purnell and Aaron Beasley,” Kirelawich recalled. “When I watched film of those three guys, I could tell right away with Wright and Purnell and I offered them immediately. When I saw Bease, I couldn’t tell right away even though I knew Jim Burner always recruited good kids there.”

Beasley was a high school quarterback who had made the switch to defensive back at Valley Forge.

“When I went to Valley Forge Military Academy I didn’t even know how to backpedal,” Beasley recalled. “I just lined up and hit somebody. I can remember using car lights to do extra drills because we didn’t have any lights in the stadium.”

Burner was persistent with Kirelawich and convinced the West Virginia coach to come up and watch Beasley one more time playing basketball.

“I watched this kid play basketball and he was faster with the basketball than everyone else was without it,” Kirelawich said. “He was just flying around all over the place and I saw then what a hell of an athlete he was.”

“Years later I can remember Kirlav saying, ‘What was I thinking?’ He didn’t say it quite in those words – you know Kirlav – you’ve got to add a few cuss words to it,” Beasley chuckled.

Despite also having firm offers from Boston College and Syracuse, Beasley said the relationship with West Virginia was sealed when Kirelawich met his grandmother.

“She loved him,” Beasley said. “She smoked those little cigarettes and she cussed, too, so they got along real well.”

Beasley arrived in Morgantown in 1992 with arguably the best class of defensive backs ever recruited at West Virginia. That group also included Mike Logan, Vann Washington and Charles Emanuel – all three later joining Beasley in the NFL.

“When Coach (Kevin) Ramsey came, and I know the other guys can attest, he changed the whole secondary philosophy. It became more technical,” Beasley said. “We were being coached like NFL players and it was a great learning experience for all of us and we all wound up playing in the NFL.”

Beasley actually finished a year ahead of his classmates because he didn’t redshirt his first year.

“I thought I was going to redshirt and I was begging Coach (Steve) Dunlap to redshirt me and it worked out that my first start was against Boston College,” Beasley said. “I don’t even remember how it happened or the circumstances surrounding it. They just said I starting.”

Beasley soon became one of the team’s great playmakers on defense. He actually had an offensive mentality when he played cornerback, returning three picks for touchdowns and producing 367 yards in interception returns.

There were times when he would zigzag the field and turn an interception at the opponents’ 40 into an 80 or 90-yard run.

“When I was in Pop Warner Football I would have a touchdown and I would start at the 30 going in and turn it into like an 80-yard run,” Beasley laughed. “I always liked the old running backs. I used to like O.J. Simpson and I remember him sliding on the turf. I don’t know if that’s where I got the 32 from or not, but I hate to bring O.J. into this.”

One particular interception that stands out to Beasley was a pick he had for a touchdown up at Pittsburgh in 1994 in a wild and wooly game that West Virginia ended up winning 47-41 on a last-second Zach Abraham touchdown catch.

“It was funny because (linebacker) Matt Taffoni came up to me before that play and said, ‘Hey Bease, I’m going to get to the quarterback and you sit on this route and take it to the end zone.’ Man, I knew it was a three-step and I just sat. I actually had to wait for the ball to get there and it was like I caught it behind me. I just believed in my teammates so much.”

Beasley’s credentials are as strong as any defensive back in school history. He led the nation in interceptions in 1994 with 10 and a year later in 1995, he became the school’s seventh consensus All-American after producing five picks and 66 tackles as a senior.

Beasley wasn’t the fastest corner around but his great size, athletic ability and instincts made his side of the field unapproachable.

“You’ve got to make the play sometimes,” Beasley said. “When I was a sophomore in high school I ran cross country. I didn’t even play football. I was running 3.1 miles in like 16 minutes. I had stamina to run all day and I never got tired.”

Beasley was the 63rd overall player taken in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tom Coughlin – the guy who tried to get Beasley when he was at Boston College – finally got his man when he went to the pros.

Beasley wound up playing six seasons with the Jaguars and three more with the Jets and the Falcons. Beasley said his nine years spent in the pros were an educational experience.

“You learn so much about people,” he said. “You learn how to relate to people and how to communicate. I got a great head start on life.”

One of Beasley’s proudest moments came a few years ago when he decided to return to WVU in the middle of his pro career to complete his degree. When he left school that was a promise he had made to his grandmother.

“I didn’t try to do it with all the fanfare - I just did it for me,” Beasley said. “That’s just the proper way of doing things.”

Today, Beasley is living in Pasadena, Md., with his wife Umme (Salim), a former gymnast at West Virginia, and their three daughters. He has an all-natural health drink on the market that he started with a group of investors that he says is doing well.

“We have got a whole group of people working their tails off right now,” Beasley said. “We just got done doing a convention up in Providence. We were the stars of the show.”

After spending a short time in college coaching, Beasley is content to settle down and perform some personal training while watching his three daughters grow up.

He also said he plans on making the four-hour car ride over to Morgantown to catch some games this fall. He knows one game he will be at for certain – East Carolina on Sept. 12 when he is officially inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.

“The one thing that I always liked was coming back because everybody was just so nice to me,” Beasley said. “I always felt like West Virginia was home.”