Hot Rod humbled by retired No. 33
MORGANTOWN - Hot Rod Hundley continued to spin tales on Saturday like he used to spin a basketball on his finger. During halftime of the West Virginia-Ohio State game, though, his alma mater stopped the Charleston native's spinning long enough to honor him by retiring his No. 33.
MORGANTOWN - Hot Rod Hundley continued to spin tales on Saturday like he used to spin a basketball on his finger. During halftime of the West Virginia-Ohio State game, though, his alma mater stopped the Charleston native's spinning long enough to honor him by retiring his No. 33.
"It's one of the greatest things to ever happen to me,'' Hundley said during the ceremony.
After his speech, Hundley hit a 12-foot hook shot from the right of the lane that made the crowd erupt. ("That's crazy,'' said current Mountaineer Da'Sean Butler. "I didn't know he still had it in him.'')
Hundley was given a standing ovation after WVU rolled out its old gold and blue carpet and introduced him to the sellout crowd.
A sign was unveiled, directly across from that of Jerry West, in Section 4 commemorating the retirement.
Before the ceremony, a press conference was held for the man who averaged 24.5 points per game over three seasons from 1954-57.
"I'm really excited,'' Hundley said. "It's hard to describe the feeling about having your number retired and coming back to West Virginia, which has always been in my heart.''
Hundley put his money where his heart is, announcing he'd endowed a scholarship for the basketball program.
Hundley retired last year as the play-by-play man for the Utah Jazz after a stint that stretched back to 1974. After a stellar career at WVU, he was the first player chosen in the 1957 NBA draft and played for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers from 1958-63.
Where it all started, however, was in Charleston.
The Charleston High graduate spent much of his press conference on Saturday recounting his days in the state's capital. He spoke of listening to Jack Fleming call the games on the radio. He said he used to keep track of who scored and, the next day, check his work via the newspaper's boxscores.
MORGANTOWN - Hot Rod Hundley continued to spin tales on Saturday like he used to spin a basketball on his finger. During halftime of the West Virginia-Ohio State game, though, his alma mater stopped the Charleston native's spinning long enough to honor him by retiring his No. 33.
"It's one of the greatest things to ever happen to me,'' Hundley said during the ceremony.
After his speech, Hundley hit a 12-foot hook shot from the right of the lane that made the crowd erupt. ("That's crazy,'' said current Mountaineer Da'Sean Butler. "I didn't know he still had it in him.'')
Hundley was given a standing ovation after WVU rolled out its old gold and blue carpet and introduced him to the sellout crowd.
A sign was unveiled, directly across from that of Jerry West, in Section 4 commemorating the retirement.
Before the ceremony, a press conference was held for the man who averaged 24.5 points per game over three seasons from 1954-57.
"I'm really excited,'' Hundley said. "It's hard to describe the feeling about having your number retired and coming back to West Virginia, which has always been in my heart.''
Hundley put his money where his heart is, announcing he'd endowed a scholarship for the basketball program.
Hundley retired last year as the play-by-play man for the Utah Jazz after a stint that stretched back to 1974. After a stellar career at WVU, he was the first player chosen in the 1957 NBA draft and played for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers from 1958-63.
Where it all started, however, was in Charleston.
The Charleston High graduate spent much of his press conference on Saturday recounting his days in the state's capital. He spoke of listening to Jack Fleming call the games on the radio. He said he used to keep track of who scored and, the next day, check his work via the newspaper's boxscores.
He spoke of Charleston's YMCA and how Red Hartman used to help sneak him in to play basketball during lean times.
His time on Saturday, however, was anything but lean.
"This is a very memorable day for me,'' he said.
Hundley's No. 33 and Jerry West's No. 44 are the only two former Mountaineer basketball players to have their numbers retired.
"I'm up there in pretty good company,'' Hundley said. "To me, Jerry West was one of the best five players ever - definitely one of the top 10.
"I talked to him by phone the other night and he had some very nice things to say.''
The two have been close friends since emerging from Charleston and East Bank.
Hundley's alma mater won the game by 71-65.
Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827, mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or follow him at http://twitter.com/MitchVingle.
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It would be nice to see a follow up Q & A article with Hundley.
I loved his books.
Everyone needs to read "The Clown", an audiobiography of Hot Rod Hundley.