MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Former West Virginia University basketball player, assistant coach and University administrator Bill Ryczaj passed away recently in Bonita Springs, Florida.

According to family friend Lori Quertinmont-Martin, he died on Monday, Sept. 29, following a lengthy illness.

Ryczaj was a standout two-sport athlete at Elizabeth High in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, where he earned first team all-section honors in basketball, helped his prep baseball team to the state championship game, and was offered a scholarship to play basketball at West Virginia University by coach George King.

In 1963, Ryczaj led the freshman team in scoring with an average of 26.6 points per game, the fourth-best freshman scoring total in school history, and the next three seasons he averaged 7.8 points in 53 career games playing on the varsity.

During his senior season in 1966, playing for coach Bucky Waters, the 6-foot-6 forward averaged 10.5 points per game while shooting an impressive 52.1% from the floor.

The team's sixth man, one of his finest moments occurred in the Charleston Civic Center on Feb. 7, 1966, when he came off the bench to score 19 points in West Virginia's 94-90 upset victory over top-ranked Duke.

Following graduation from WVU in 1966 with a degree in journalism, Ryczaj was a high school coach in Virginia and worked as an instructor for youth sports camps in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania before landing a spot on Joedy Gardner's Mountaineer coaching staff in 1975.

He later coached at Southern Methodist University for coach Sonny Allen.

Afterward, Ryczaj spent 20 years working in business sales for Bike, Schutt and Russell Athletic before returning to his alma mater in 2001 to serve in the role of special assistant to President David Hardesty while living in Charleston, West Virginia. In this capacity, Ryczaj was a key contact for WVU in the Kanawha Valley school system and also with alumni and University friends in the Capital City.

He later worked for the University Relations Division under former vice president Chris Martin until his retirement in 2013.

A popular motivational speaker, he was inducted into the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

Ryczaj, 80, is survived by his wife, Cheryl, daughters Bethany Grose and Ashley Vickers, and four grandchildren.