WVU and Mountain State Hoop Legend Willie Akers Passes Away
August 18, 2026 09:01 PM | Men's Basketball
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By: John Antonik
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Willie Akers, a starting forward on West Virginia University's 1959 NCAA runner-up team, died earlier today in Logan, West Virginia, following months of declining health, according to his son Darren.
An all-state performer from Mullens High, Akers teamed with East Bank star Jerry West to give the Mountaineers one of the most potent in-state duos in school history.
The two were among the most highly recruited prep basketball prospects in the region during the summer of 1956 when they struck up a friendship while attending Mountaineer Boys State together at Jackson's Mill near Weston.
It was there and then they decided to attend the same college.
Their decision was music to the ears of West Virginia coach Fred Schaus, whose use of the pair led to some of the school's greatest successes on the hardwood - today commonly referred to as the "Golden Era" of West Virginia University basketball.
Akers fielded nearly as many scholarship offers as West did and was once asked why he chose to become a supporting player to West at WVU instead of a star performer someplace else.
"Because I wanted to win, and I knew wherever Jerry went, they were going to win," he answered.
And win West Virginia did!
During the three seasons West and Akers were together on the varsity team from 1958 to 1960, WVU posted an impressive 81-12 record, three Southern Conference Tournament championships and three NCAA appearances.
During their sophomore season in 1958, West Virginia upset fifth-ranked Kentucky and top-ranked North Carolina on back-to-back nights at the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky, to reach No. 1 in the national rankings.
Nearly 70 years later, West Virginia's jump from No. 8 to No. 1 the following week remains the biggest one-week leap in Associated Press poll history.
Akers played a key role in snapping North Carolina's 37-game winning streak by coming off the bench to tally 11 points, including scoring seven in a row during one stretch, and grabbing 13 rebounds before fouling out with 2:20 to go and the Mountaineers comfortably ahead.
West Virginia spent seven straight weeks at No. 1 and finished the season in the top spot in the rankings before getting upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Manhattan – West Virginia's fourth consecutive first-round exit.
In 1959, with Akers now in the starting lineup alongside West, Bobby Joe Smith, Bob Clousson and Bucky Bolyard, the Mountaineers fielded a smaller, quicker squad and full-court-pressed their way to another Southern Conference title and top-10 finish in the polls. Willie Akers, seated, with his family at the Jerry West Memorial service held at the WVU Coliseum on Jan. 18, 2025 (All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks).
Several times that season, West Virginia's "Cardiac Kids" overcame substantial second-half deficits to pull out wins, the most unlikely one being an 18-point second-half comeback victory over St. Joseph's in the second round of the NCAA Tournament played at the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
West was superb that night, pouring in a game-high 36 points, while Akers contributed his usual all-around offensive and defensive play with 13 points and six rebounds, converting seven of eight from the free throw line in 37 minutes of action.
"Jerry always scored his most points when we needed them most," Akers once recalled. "He'd score 20 or 25 points against the teams we knew we could beat, but when we played the really good teams, he always had his best games."
West Virginia's postseason run that year continued with victories over Boston University in Charlotte, and against Louisville on its home floor at Freedom Hall in the Final Four, to reach the NCAA finals where it lost to California, 71-70.
Despite being mired in early foul trouble, West finished with a game-high 28 points and had the ball in his hands at the other end of the floor when time ran out.
Cal center Darrell Imhoff missed a 20-foot hook shot before quickly rebounding his own miss to put in the deciding basket with 17 seconds left. West later described the sequence as "the ugliest play you could ever imagine."
Akers and West played one more college season together in 1960, serving as co-captains, and led the Mountaineers to another Southern Conference Tournament championship before getting knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round by 12th-ranked New York University. The 6-foot-5 forward grabbed 12 rebounds in that contest and contributed 13 boards in the following night's consolation-round victory over St. Joseph's.
Akers tallied 669 points and grabbed 573 rebounds during his 93-game college career at West Virginia University and was named to the Southern Conference All-Tournament Team in 1960.
After playing two seasons professionally for the Cleveland Pipers in the old American Basketball Association, Akers returned to the Mountain State where he became a highly successful prep coach at Logan High. He led the Wildcats to Class 3A titles in 1964, 1977, 1978 and 1983 before assuming an administrative role in the Logan County school system.
His career coaching record at Logan was 402-116 for an impressive .776 winning percentage.
Akers was inducted into the West Virginia State Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1991, the Logan High Hall of Fame in 1994 and the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
He was also the recipient of the Outstanding Alumnus Award presented by the West Virginia University College of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences in 1991.
Akers remained an avid Mountaineer sports fan and a great friend and supporter of West Virginia University throughout his life.
West, who died in the summer of 2024, wrote affectionately about Akers in his revealing autobiography West By West.
"I feel certain that I stayed in school because of Willie," he admitted. "One of the saddest days in my life was being physically separated from him. If I hadn't gotten married before I graduated, I was going to bring his ass with me to Los Angeles. I never told him that, but that was my plan.
"He was going to be my buddy for life, my soul mate – and he's both of those things," West continued. "I have known a lot of nice people in my life, but I have never known anyone nicer than him, or more loyal. The truth is, I envy Willie, I really do. He loves his life, and he rules his corner of the world, in Logan, West Virginia, where he was a successful high school basketball coach for more than 20 years."
Akers is survived by wife Linda and sons Darren (wife Alice) and Chad (wife Michelle). He had four grandchildren, Will, McKenzie, Connor and Jackson and a great grandchild, Miles.
