Published: May 20, 2009 11:35 pm      

HERTZEL COLUMN - Huggins is very convincing

Do not approach West Virginia University’s basketball coach with a different opinion than his, for Bob Huggins is not only one of America’s top coaches but is also one of the most convincing men you will ever come across.

That says a lot about his ability to recruit, which is nothing but a glorified con game between slick adult professional recruiters and pimply faced high school kids, and about his ability to raise funds for his program, which was what had caused this visit to his office last week.

The word had come down that the school had not yet raised enough money for the $26 million practice facility for men’s and women’s basketball situated where the university tennis courts have been.

Mike Parsons, the deputy athletic director, had admitted as much just moments earlier.

“Certainly, the economy is affecting the progress right now,” Parsons said, noting that the building would be constructed using private funding.

Now the argument that this visitor wanted to raise wasn’t that there was no need for a practice facility, for certainly there is, but that perhaps $26 million for such a building might be a rather steep price to pay at this point in time.

Parsons had noted that “this will be a first-class facility” and noted that “nothing comes cheap,” but considering that the entire Greenbrier Resort complex had been purchased for just $22.5 million, that does seem like a rather steep price to pay for a “practice” facility.

Perhaps calling it a “practice facility” is the problem, for Huggins points out immediately that it is more than just two basketball courts. It is, instead, a home for the two basketball programs, their offices, a media room and player lounges with top-of-the-line workout equipment … maybe even a new treadmill for Huggins’ version of torturous punishment.

“I think there are only two Big East schools who don’t have a practice facility,” Huggins said.

Come recruiting time, kids like the bells and whistles that tell them they are going to a first-class program in America’s toughest conference.

To Huggins, nothing short of the future of the program rests on getting such a structure.

“I’m going to live here for the rest of my life, and after I get through coaching I’ll still want the guys to win. I don’t want to come here and watch a losing team,” Huggins said.

The problem with his sales pitch is that the Coliseum seems to be more than an adequate building, until he makes you realize that its purpose is as home to the physical education department, which keeps them off the court for much of the day.

Add to that scheduling problems that are insurmountable, sharing it with volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling.

“If you look around, we’re about the only team that doesn’t have a practice facility,” Huggins said, pointing to the new wrestling building, the gymnastics building, the football facility, the indoor and outdoor tracks.

But $26 million?

“If you are going to do it, why not do it right the first time?” he asked.

Hmmmmm …

“Obviously, you could build it cheaper, but do that and two years from now you will be wishing you did it right,” he argued. “The Coliseum – they did that right. Buildings that were built 10 or 15 years after the Coliseum now look antiquated but it is still a good arena.”

However …

“Look around the building. Is there a picture up of Rod Thorn or Rod Hundley? There’s a plaque honoring the people who donate to the School of Physical Education, and that’s great. But is there anything that shows the history of the program and pays homage to the great players?”

The answer, of course, is no … at least as far as anything much beyond the WVU Athletic Hall of Fame plaques that ring the inside of the arena and the Jerry West Lounge and his retired number on the wall.

“Well, we plan to have a Hall of Fame in the practice facility,” Huggins said.

Rich Rodriguez’s most enduring contribution to the school may be the WVU Football Hall of Fame he pushed for in the Puskar Center, a tribute to West Virginia football from its beginning until now.

Huggins sees the same thing in his practice center, a tribute to the early basketball stars and those of the Jerry West era and those of the Gale Catlett era and those who followed under John Beilein and himself.

The point Huggins’ is making is this is something more than just a “practice facility” and that its purpose isn’t building a shrine to the coach who pushed for it. It is, he believes, as much a necessity as a 7-foot center who can sweep the backboards clean.

And, what the heck, what’s $26 million here or there these days? Who knows, maybe they can get it done for $24 million if they skimp a little on the media room.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.