Friday, April 19, 2002
College hoops: WVU lands Richmond's Beilein
The Associated Press
![[img]](http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/04/19/beilein_150x200.jpg)
New West Virginia basketball coach John Beilein addresses a news conference in Morgantown, W. Va., Thursday.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM | |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Richmond's John Beilein was hired as basketball coach at West Virginia on Thursday, a few days after the school's first choice resigned a week after accepting the job.
“Our fans and players will definitely like him,” West Virginia athletic director Ed Pastilong said of Beilein. “He is a very good fit for us.”
Since Gale Catlett resigned at the end of the season, the Mountaineers were hard-pressed to find a replacement. They offered the job to Cincinnati's Bob Huggins, who played for the Mountaineers, but he turned it down.
Last week, WVU thought it had its man in Bowling Green's Dan Dakich, but he discovered problems he wanted addressed and ended up returning to his former job.
Beilein was 100-53 in five seasons at Richmond, with the Spiders going 22-14 this past season. WVU was 8-20 overall, the worst in school history, and 1-15 in the Big East.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to coach at West Virginia University,” Beilein, 49, said in a statement. “I have a lot of respect for West Virginia, the tradition of the program and Gale Catlett.”
“He was a tremendous coach who had a fabulous record at WVU,” said Beilein, a 1975 graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University.
Beilein received a five-year contract that will pay him $550,000 a year.
The contract includes a $150,000 base salary and $400,000 in guaranteed promotional income.
from Mountaineer Athletic Club appearances, radio, television, the Internet and endorsements.
He will have an opportunity to earn another $175,000 from summer camps and incentives.
based on team grade point averages, tournament appearances, ticket sales and Big East championships.
CINCINNATI: The University of Cincinnati will have free admission for its annual men's basketball awards May 7 in Shoemaker Center. Unlike the formal banquet setting of previous years, this ceremony will be an informal gathering on the Shoemaker court.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with player autograph sessions from 5:45-6:45. The awards ceremony begins at 7.
FREY DRAFTED: Xavier senior forward Kevin Frey was a sixth-round pick of the St.Louis SkyHawks in the United States Basketball League draft. He was the 57th player taken overall.
Frey played one game last week for the Kentucky Pro Cats of the American Basketball Association. His agent, Doug Newstadt, said he will begin sending tapes of Frey to club teams in Europe.
— Neil Schmidt, nschmidt@enquirer.com
JACKSONVILLE: Travis Robinson, a 6-foot-6 guard, will skip his senior year and make himself eligible for the NBA draft.
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![[img]](http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/04/19/beilein_zoom.jpg)
College hoops: WVU lands Richmond's Beilein