With all of the excitement about Pat White ending his glorious Mountaineer career with a record-setting fourth bowl win, fans calling for his number to be retired will have to wait. A long time. Maybe until 2060.
With all of the excitement about Pat White ending his glorious Mountaineer career with a record-setting fourth bowl win, fans calling for his number to be retired will have to wait. A long time. Maybe until 2060.
West Virginia University has been fielding athletic teams for more than a century, yet only two numbers have been retired. It took the powers that be in Morgantown some 50 years before those of Sam Huff and Jerry West were retired. Compared to how other colleges and universities have honored their sports greats, WVU has been pitifully slow in honoring its greatest athletes, coaches and administrators.
Hopefully, White will not have to wait half a century for his recognition. However, he first will have to get in line behind a few other Mountaineers.
The next two numbers that should be retired, and hopefully soon, are No. 33 in basketball (Hot Rod Hundley) and No. 77 in football (Bruce Bosley).
Next week, the Utah Jazz will honor Hundley when he announces his 3,000th game for the team. He has been their only announcer since starting in New Orleans and, coincidentally, the game will be against the New Orleans Hornets.
Hundley's legacy of records at WVU would be even greater if not for the fact that he played only three years during a period that would not allow freshman to compete on varsity teams.
A consensus All-America selection, Hundley still holds eight Mountaineer scoring records. During his career, he averaged 24.5 points and 10.6 rebounds and almost always outscored the opponent he was defending. He was only the fourth player in NCAA history to score more than 2,000 points and did it in just the three years. He was the first and only WVU player chosen No. 1 in the NBA draft.
Bosley was a consensus All-America tackle in 1955. He and Sam Huff, at the other tackle position, devastated the offenses of WVU opponents. Bosley played on the 1952, '53, '54 and '55 teams, the greatest in Mountaineer history, during an era where there were no platoons, redshirts or specialists.
He was named to the College Football Hall of Fame and was an Academic All-American. Bosley was a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers and moved to center, where he was named All-Pro and went to the Pro Bowl four times.
'Rat' and Stydahar
After WVU retires the numbers of Hundley and Bosley, the school needs to then honor Ira Errett "Rat" Rodgers and Joe Stydahar. During his senior year in 1919, Rodgers led the nation in scoring with 147 points, rushed for 19 touchdowns and threw 11 touchdown passes, almost unheard of in those days. He was the first Mountaineer to be named a consensus All-American and his five touchdowns in a game stood as a WVU record until it was broken in 2005 by Steve Slaton. Rodgers also was WVU's head football coach from 1925-1930 and again from 1943-1945.
With all of the excitement about Pat White ending his glorious Mountaineer career with a record-setting fourth bowl win, fans calling for his number to be retired will have to wait. A long time. Maybe until 2060.
West Virginia University has been fielding athletic teams for more than a century, yet only two numbers have been retired. It took the powers that be in Morgantown some 50 years before those of Sam Huff and Jerry West were retired. Compared to how other colleges and universities have honored their sports greats, WVU has been pitifully slow in honoring its greatest athletes, coaches and administrators.
Hopefully, White will not have to wait half a century for his recognition. However, he first will have to get in line behind a few other Mountaineers.
The next two numbers that should be retired, and hopefully soon, are No. 33 in basketball (Hot Rod Hundley) and No. 77 in football (Bruce Bosley).
Next week, the Utah Jazz will honor Hundley when he announces his 3,000th game for the team. He has been their only announcer since starting in New Orleans and, coincidentally, the game will be against the New Orleans Hornets.
Hundley's legacy of records at WVU would be even greater if not for the fact that he played only three years during a period that would not allow freshman to compete on varsity teams.
A consensus All-America selection, Hundley still holds eight Mountaineer scoring records. During his career, he averaged 24.5 points and 10.6 rebounds and almost always outscored the opponent he was defending. He was only the fourth player in NCAA history to score more than 2,000 points and did it in just the three years. He was the first and only WVU player chosen No. 1 in the NBA draft.
Bosley was a consensus All-America tackle in 1955. He and Sam Huff, at the other tackle position, devastated the offenses of WVU opponents. Bosley played on the 1952, '53, '54 and '55 teams, the greatest in Mountaineer history, during an era where there were no platoons, redshirts or specialists.
He was named to the College Football Hall of Fame and was an Academic All-American. Bosley was a first-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers and moved to center, where he was named All-Pro and went to the Pro Bowl four times.
'Rat' and Stydahar
After WVU retires the numbers of Hundley and Bosley, the school needs to then honor Ira Errett "Rat" Rodgers and Joe Stydahar. During his senior year in 1919, Rodgers led the nation in scoring with 147 points, rushed for 19 touchdowns and threw 11 touchdown passes, almost unheard of in those days. He was the first Mountaineer to be named a consensus All-American and his five touchdowns in a game stood as a WVU record until it was broken in 2005 by Steve Slaton. Rodgers also was WVU's head football coach from 1925-1930 and again from 1943-1945.
Stydahar was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears. In the Windy City, he was named All-Pro six times and his teams won three NFL championships. He is in both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He later coached the Los Angeles Rams for two years and then the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals for two years.
Next comes Wyant
Next in line should be No. 11 for Fred Wyant, who quarterbacked the great Bosley-Huff teams to a 31-7 record, including wins over Penn State three years in a row. To put his achievements in perspective, fans today should imagine Pat White, or any quarterback for that matter, running or passing for a touchdown and staying on the field to hold the snap for the extra-point kick. He'd then line up with his other 10 teammates on the kickoff team before taking his position as a defensive back.
Wyant was also responsible for directing the offense and called all the plays. He played briefly with the Washington Redskins and then in the Canadian Football League before becoming one of the most distinguished referees in the NFL for three decades.
Schaus - three ways
While numbers can't be retired for coaches and administrators, many colleges place their names in prominent places such as a ring of honor in the football stadium or on arena banners.
Being named to the WVU Sports Hall of Fame is a great honor, but some Mountaineers are very deserving of greater recognition, like Fred Schaus. He excelled for WVU as a player, coach and administrator. Playing on the 1947, '48 and '49 basketball teams, he was an All-American and the first Mountaineer to score 1,000 points in a career.
After a successful career in the NBA, Schaus returned to Morgantown in 1954 to coach Hundley, West and others to an incredible 146-37 record and five consecutive NCAA tournaments, losing the 1959 national championship to California. He reunited with Hundley and West as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and guided the team to four conference championships in his first five years. Later, as general manager in 1972, he assembled a team that won a record 33 consecutive games and the NBA championship.
In 1981, Schaus again returned to Morgantown, this time as athletic director, to restructure a department that was on the verge of bankruptcy. In eight years, he turned deficits into large profits, made improvements to the football stadium and put away surplus money for the future.
Coaches, athletic directors and other administrators, like Schaus, need to be honored in places where thousands of fans will see their names.
Rene A. Henry was born in Charleston and was the sports information director at West Virginia University from 1954-1956. He also served at three other universities and during his professional career spent five decades at every level of sport nationally and internationally. He is a Lifetime Old Gold Alumnus of WVU, the author of seven books and writes on various subjects for HNN, many of which are published on his Web site, www.renehenry.com.
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