Post by elp525 on Jun 9, 2011 9:20:00 GMT -5
Thursday June 9, 2011
Former West Virginia guard, 1,000-point scorer, to participate in camp hosted by Huggins
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Bob Huggins opens the locker room doors to his fourth annual fantasy basketball camp at West Virginia on Friday. The participation of one of the invited guests seems a little like a fantasy itself.
Pat Beilein, the 44th 1,000-point scorer for the Mountaineers and the son of Huggins' predecessor as WVU coach, John Beilein, is among the many guest counselors.
Even he will admit that upon his dad's departure to Michigan in April 2007 things were said and done to make the bridge back to WVU difficult to travel.
"I know it might surprise some people, but I'm an alumni at WVU and I love the school and I love those guys I played with," he said. "Even though the coaches I played for aren't there, I do root for them."
Still, it wasn't the cleanest or most amiable exit and both sides left with hurt feelings.
"There were a lot of mixed emotions at the time and I might have said a few things out of spite," said Beilein, who was a graduate assistant at Michigan and an assistant at Dartmouth and is the newly hired director of basketball operations at Bradley. "I do remember saying something like, 'This is Michigan. This is big-time.' I think West Virginia took that the wrong way. I remember Michigan and the Fab Five and all those guys from when I was little, so, to me, that was a little like a dream job."
So many years later and with an understanding since established that the Beileins were very good for the ascent of Mountaineers basketball, Beilein is back, but not looking back.
"There are no hard feelings for me and I hope it's the same the other way," he said. "For me, it was a little different. I don't think people realize it wasn't just a coach leaving. It was my dad. People were saying hurtful things about him and that gets to you."
Beilein has been in town just once since then and that was last summer when he was recruiting for Dartmouth in July's AAU event in town. He was at the Final Four in Houston in April when WVU's director of basketball operations, Jerrod Calhoun, saw Beilein and pulled him aside to share an idea. Calhoun and Huggins wanted Beilein to come to the fantasy camp.
"I kind of smiled, like, 'You know what? That's cool,'" Beilein said. "I know they'd run them before and I'd never gotten a call. I'd seen guys like Frank Young and Mike Gansey and Joe Alexander go back. Not getting a call, it didn't really bother me, but I'd love to be back and see those guys and catch up with all them and all the things we did and the memories we have."
Beilein was a part of his dad's first team at WVU in the 2002-03 season and part of the recruiting class that included Kevin Pittsnogle, Joe Herber and Jarmon Durisseau-Collins. WVU made the NIT the following year and then the Elite Eight in 2005 in Gansey's first season with the team. Beilein's last game was a Sweet Sixteen loss to Texas a year later, though he was around the team the following year as his father and the Mountaineers won the NIT.
Then came the split and a subsequent settlement to a buyout clause in his father's contract, a standoff that was decidedly more civilized than what followed when Rich Rodriguez left WVU for Michigan's football coaching job.
Huggins made great use of many of John Beilein's recruits, including Alexander, Da'Sean Butler, Joe Mazzulla, Cam Thoroughman, Jonnie West, John Flowers and Wellington Smith. Huggins made the NCAA Tournament his first four seasons using a blend of his players and Beilein's while Beilein has made two NCAA Tournaments with Michigan and figures to have a highly ranked team in the 2011 preseason.
"My dad and Coach Huggins have spoken a lot on the recruiting trail since the whole thing happened and Coach Huggins has been very complimentary of the players he had that my dad recruited, which is nice," Pat Beilein said. "I think when they hired Coach Huggins is was a great move and it's honestly worked out great for everyone."
He spent one season with Dartmouth in the Ivy League and took what he knows people will perceive as a step backward off the bench and into the office.
As the director, Beilein can't coach or recruit, but can work in the stronger Missouri Valley Conference and become more familiar with the everyday demands put on a head coach.
One day, the goal is to be Pat Beilein, head coach in a BCS league, as opposed to Pat Beilein, son of John Beilein.
"I know that's going to take some time because of just how successful my dad has been," he said. "They still refer to Pat Knight as Bob Knight's son, so it's going to take a while, but it's a process and hopefully I create my own name.
"As successful as my dad has been, there's no question I'm proud to be John Beilein's son. But if that day comes when I'm finally recognized as Pat Beilein and it's, 'Hey, that's John Beilein's son,' that'd be pretty neat."
Former West Virginia guard, 1,000-point scorer, to participate in camp hosted by Huggins
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Bob Huggins opens the locker room doors to his fourth annual fantasy basketball camp at West Virginia on Friday. The participation of one of the invited guests seems a little like a fantasy itself.
Pat Beilein, the 44th 1,000-point scorer for the Mountaineers and the son of Huggins' predecessor as WVU coach, John Beilein, is among the many guest counselors.
Even he will admit that upon his dad's departure to Michigan in April 2007 things were said and done to make the bridge back to WVU difficult to travel.
"I know it might surprise some people, but I'm an alumni at WVU and I love the school and I love those guys I played with," he said. "Even though the coaches I played for aren't there, I do root for them."
Still, it wasn't the cleanest or most amiable exit and both sides left with hurt feelings.
"There were a lot of mixed emotions at the time and I might have said a few things out of spite," said Beilein, who was a graduate assistant at Michigan and an assistant at Dartmouth and is the newly hired director of basketball operations at Bradley. "I do remember saying something like, 'This is Michigan. This is big-time.' I think West Virginia took that the wrong way. I remember Michigan and the Fab Five and all those guys from when I was little, so, to me, that was a little like a dream job."
So many years later and with an understanding since established that the Beileins were very good for the ascent of Mountaineers basketball, Beilein is back, but not looking back.
"There are no hard feelings for me and I hope it's the same the other way," he said. "For me, it was a little different. I don't think people realize it wasn't just a coach leaving. It was my dad. People were saying hurtful things about him and that gets to you."
Beilein has been in town just once since then and that was last summer when he was recruiting for Dartmouth in July's AAU event in town. He was at the Final Four in Houston in April when WVU's director of basketball operations, Jerrod Calhoun, saw Beilein and pulled him aside to share an idea. Calhoun and Huggins wanted Beilein to come to the fantasy camp.
"I kind of smiled, like, 'You know what? That's cool,'" Beilein said. "I know they'd run them before and I'd never gotten a call. I'd seen guys like Frank Young and Mike Gansey and Joe Alexander go back. Not getting a call, it didn't really bother me, but I'd love to be back and see those guys and catch up with all them and all the things we did and the memories we have."
Beilein was a part of his dad's first team at WVU in the 2002-03 season and part of the recruiting class that included Kevin Pittsnogle, Joe Herber and Jarmon Durisseau-Collins. WVU made the NIT the following year and then the Elite Eight in 2005 in Gansey's first season with the team. Beilein's last game was a Sweet Sixteen loss to Texas a year later, though he was around the team the following year as his father and the Mountaineers won the NIT.
Then came the split and a subsequent settlement to a buyout clause in his father's contract, a standoff that was decidedly more civilized than what followed when Rich Rodriguez left WVU for Michigan's football coaching job.
Huggins made great use of many of John Beilein's recruits, including Alexander, Da'Sean Butler, Joe Mazzulla, Cam Thoroughman, Jonnie West, John Flowers and Wellington Smith. Huggins made the NCAA Tournament his first four seasons using a blend of his players and Beilein's while Beilein has made two NCAA Tournaments with Michigan and figures to have a highly ranked team in the 2011 preseason.
"My dad and Coach Huggins have spoken a lot on the recruiting trail since the whole thing happened and Coach Huggins has been very complimentary of the players he had that my dad recruited, which is nice," Pat Beilein said. "I think when they hired Coach Huggins is was a great move and it's honestly worked out great for everyone."
He spent one season with Dartmouth in the Ivy League and took what he knows people will perceive as a step backward off the bench and into the office.
As the director, Beilein can't coach or recruit, but can work in the stronger Missouri Valley Conference and become more familiar with the everyday demands put on a head coach.
One day, the goal is to be Pat Beilein, head coach in a BCS league, as opposed to Pat Beilein, son of John Beilein.
"I know that's going to take some time because of just how successful my dad has been," he said. "They still refer to Pat Knight as Bob Knight's son, so it's going to take a while, but it's a process and hopefully I create my own name.
"As successful as my dad has been, there's no question I'm proud to be John Beilein's son. But if that day comes when I'm finally recognized as Pat Beilein and it's, 'Hey, that's John Beilein's son,' that'd be pretty neat."
