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Posted: Tuesday October 22, 2002 11:22 PM Updated: Tuesday October 29, 2002 10:43 PM West Virginia Mountaineers
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
John Beilein is used to taking over programs in need of a facelift, but the Mountaineers might be the mother of all rebuilding projects. Not only did last season provide some embarrassing losses on the court, but also the offseason search for a new coach turned into a soap opera. On Feb. 14, Gale Catlett retired after a 24-year tenure that included 565 victories. The Mountaineers were 8-15 and in the middle of a season-ending, nine-game losing streak when he stepped down. After a last-second Dec. 22 victory at Tennessee, West Virginia went 1-18 and only seven of those setbacks were by 10 points or fewer. The low point may have been an embarrassing 97-65 shellacking on Dec. 30 by Pepperdine in the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Tucson, Ariz. What a way to ring in the New Year, huh? After the season ended with a resounding thud -- a 92-65 rout in the regular-season finale at the hands of Boston College -- the Mountaineers went looking for a head coach. The search wasn’t helped by Catlett’s comments on the way out the door. He slammed some players for poor performances and a lack of pride. He said some, a few of whom were suspended, were selfish on the court. First, West Virginia went after alum Bob Huggins, the successful coach at the University of Cincinnati. Huggins teased, but didn’t jump. Kent State coach Stan Heath, who had taken the Golden Flashes deep in to the NCAA Tournament, also turned down WVU before taking the Arkansas job, and Southern Illinois coach Bruce Weber and then Tennessee Tech coach Jeff Lebo, now at Chattanooga, were considered. Athletic director Ed Pastilong also interviewed Connecticut assistant Dave Leitao, West Virginia native and North Carolina assistant Doug Wojcik, and Georgetown assistant Ronnie Thompson.
Finally, on April 4, Bowling Green coach Dan Dakich accepted the position. Eight days later, though, he resigned and returned to Bowling Green. Huh? The school said it was based on a possible NCAA rules violation revolving around the amateur status of a player, later identified as Johnathan Hargett. Dakich has been guarded with his comments. Asked in a news conference if possible NCAA infractions were the reason, he said, "No." "I am not going to get into all the things that went on," he added. Some players were unhappy with Dakich's orders to cut their hair, stop wearing earrings, shave facial hair and eliminate braids, senior center John Oliver told The Associated Press. "It's tough, and I can understand why he wanted to resign," Oliver said. "There was no future in it." Dakich admitted last August that "there were certain things in the relationships with people there that I wasn't comfortable with … it wasn’t the best move for me and my family." Enter Beilein, who may be the perfect fit for West Virginia’s reconstruction. His 447 career wins rank among the top 30 active coaches. He has compiled 22 winning seasons and 11 times has won 20 games. And he knows how to turn a program around. Over a nine-year tenure at once dismal LeMoyne College in Syracuse, he remade the Dolphins into a Division II national contender. In five years at Canisius College in Buffalo, he led the Golden Griffins to three consecutive postseason appearances, including the 1996 NCAA tournament. And in five years at his last stop, Richmond, the Spiders went 100-53, including a 23-win season in his first year and NCAA tournament upset of No. 3-seeded South Carolina. Richmond went 22-14 last season, its first in the Atlantic 10, and won three NIT games before losing to Syracuse in the quarterfinals. "This is similar in may ways to Canisius. We went 10-18 that first year, but won 22 games the next year," said Beilein, who accepted the WVU position on April 18 -- six days after Dakich’s departure. "I’d love this to be like Richmond, where we won 23 games that first year, but realistically it’s gonna be more like Canisius. We’ll get through the first year as best we can." He’ll have to do it with only six returnees. Six other players, for various reasons, won’t be back. The frontcourt was hit hardest. Oliver (2.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg) and third-team All-Big East forward Chris Moss (17.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg) graduated. Chris Garnett (1.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg), a 6-10 junior, and 7-foot Prague native Alex Chan left the school. Point guard Hargett (13.8 ppg) is gone after publicly acknowledging he was the target of the school investigation into his amateur status. Finally, on Sept. 3 junior Tim Lyles was dismissed for violating unspecified team rules. The 5-foot-11 guard, an explosive scorer who averaged 11.5 points and 5.5 assists in 2000-2001, took a medical redshirt last year with a knee injury. He and guard Lionel Armstead, a senior last year, had been suspended by Catlett in February. Beilein declined to disclose the reason for Lyles’ dismissal. He answered only by saying, "There are times in a program when you want the help kids, but there’s also a time when you have to cut your losses." Beilein also lost one of Catlett’s recruits when 6-11 center Jabbar Young asked to be released from his letter of intent. Beilein complied. Lyles’ presence would have helped greatly. Instead, 6-6 junior Jay Hewitt (1.6 ppg) and 6-3 sophomore Drew Schifino (9.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg), are the only returning guards with much experience -- and that isn’t much. Schifino started 10 games and averaged 21.8 minutes. Hewitt averaged just 11.2 minutes. Also back is 6-2 junior Tobias Seldon (0.6 ppg), but he played in just seven games. The frontcourt welcomes returning starters Chaz Briggs (7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg), a 6-7 senior forward, and 6-8 senior forward Josh Yeager (7.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg). Sophomore Tyrone Sally (4.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg), a 6-7 forward, returns after averaging 16.5 minutes. "Many of our players are very much the type of player I’ve recruited over the years. They’re versatile players," Beilein said. The newcomer on the spot is 6-10, 220-pound freshman Kevin Pittsnogle, who is from Martinsburg, W. Va. He’ll have to man the middle by default unless Beilein sticks with an all-forward front line of quick leapers. Then again, Pittsnogle is also listed as a forward. "He can pass, he can shoot," Beilein said of Pittsnogle, who averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds as a senior. "He’s a high-post center and we’ll have a lot of high-post offense." The other rookie who will have to step right in is freshman point guard Jarmone Durisseau-Collins, a 5-10 Houston native who spent last year at Redemption Christian Academy in New York. He averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and made 40 percent of his 3-point shots and 85 percent of his free throws. "He’s a strong guard and can run a team," Beilein said. Two more cerebral freshmen, 6-4 Patrick Beilein, the coach’s son, and 6-6 Johannes Herber, who hails from Germany, also will see immediate minutes. "Both are smart players who can shoot," Beilein said. Beilein was the Virginia Independent Schools Player of the Year after averaging 20 points and eight rebounds. Herber is a member of Germany’s 20-under national team. Coach Beilein is excited about 6-11 center D’or Fischer, a Philadelphia native who will sit out the season because of NCAA transfer rules. He will have two years of eligibility remaining. He played two seasons at Northwestern State in Louisiana. Last year, Fischer averaged 9.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.43 blocked shots (133 total), good for second in the country. "He will be a tremendous addition to our defense and he will also add versatility on offense," Beilein said. By the way, last year’s team blocks leader for WVU was Moss, who had all of 23. BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS Don’t pity Beilein, a no-nonsense guy all the way. He has a five-year contract worth $550,000 a year and an administration that seems prepared to be patient. It better be, because this could take a few years. "I was most impressed with his campus experience, where he makes every student count," college president David Hardesty said. "He’s hands on. He cares that his players graduate, he cares that they value education, he cares about every aspect of their lives." Beilein has been so busy putting out fires that he has barely watched any game tapes of his own players. The returning starters, led by the perimeter-oriented Yeager and Briggs, a good leaper who has worked on his outside shot, will be enough to keep the Mountaineers respectable at times. But don’t expect much. Every player on the court will need to help out rebounding because the frontcourt has little bulk. Collins, the freshman at the point, also has his hands full. It could be a long, cold winter in Morgantown, but Beilein says he’s prepared for it and wants everything to be a learning experience to help the program get back on the right track. It’s amazing how quickly a program can come apart. Heading into last year, the Mountaineers had four returning starters from a 17-win club. But the dismissal of Lyles, who could have helped West Virginia steal a couple of games, was an indication that the administration and coach want to do this the right way.
"There’s a process you have to go through. We have to get better little by little," the 50-year-old Beilein said. "We’ll do it, there’s no question about it, but it’s going to take time. I’ve had tremendous support from the administration and I know they’re behind me. They’ve given me a long contract to make sure I get it done."
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