My Father, WVU and Meeting the Legends

Back in 2009 I attended the West Virginia – Louisville game at WVU Coliseum. It was a pretty special night because it was the last game of the season, College GameDay was there, both teams were good, and the 1958-59 Mountaineer team was being honored at halftime. That legendary team, of course, was led by Jerry West and coached by Fred Schaus. As everyone knows Jerry West went on to become of the best players in NBA history. As for Fred Schaus, he only achieved the following . . .

Coach Fred Schaus and Jerry West.

After a 146-37 won-loss record at WVU, he left to coach both Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley (who I’ve written about before) in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers. After leading the Lakers to 7-consecutive NBA playoffs, Schaus left coaching to become the Lakers’ General Manager. He put together the team that in 1972 won an NBA-record 33-straight games and captured an NBA Championship. He then returned to college coaching at Purdue and led the Boilermakers to a 104-60 record. His 1974 team advanced to the NIT finals. That feat got him the distinction of being the nation’s only coach to take teams to the finals of the NCAA, NIT and NBA.

So yeah, Fred Schaus was a pretty big deal. Anyway, a couple days before I headed out to Morgantown I was telling my father about the game. You can imagine my shock when he casually mentioned he and Fred Schaus were old friends.

Wait. What? I’d been involved in basketball, coached at various levels, and Dad had never mentioned he was an old buddy of a bonafide basketball legend?

Sure, he told me. They’d served in the Navy together and were close friends. Seems they met at the ship’s mail boxes because Schaus and Shoemaker were so close in spelling and their letters from home were in the same slot.

Again. Dad, you just decided to tell me this?

Anyway, I get out to Morgantown, check-in to my hotel, and head to the early morning walk-through. I remember walking through the parking lot and passing the GameDay bus where I saw Jay Bilas standing there and taking one last look in the mirror to check his hair (back when he had more hair). I said, “Hey man, you need to take the plunge and join me” as I pointed to my shaved head. He just laughed and said, “Soon man. Soon!” I just laughed and walked into the coliseum.

Later that day game time is approaching so I head back to the coliseum. Coach Huggins has a hospitality room for family and friends that I go to sometimes, so I stopped in there at some point. I’d just grabbed a beer and a sandwich when I looked up and there he was – Jerry West. Now, I’ve been lucky enough to have met a lot of famous people in my lifetime but Jerry West was on a whole other level. This was my childhood hero. I walked up with the intention of introducing myself, and . . . I froze. What can I say? I was overcome with emotion, man. This was Jerry West. The NBA logo. Mr. Clutch. Zeke from Cabin Creek. My freakin’ hero.

Yeah. That logo.

Finally I muttered something about what he’d meant to me, how I’d idolized him, read his book, blah-blah-blah until he finally patted me on the shoulder, smiled and dismissed me for the groveling fanboy that I was.

But let’s get to the point of the story. As the first half was winding to a close I went down in the tunnel where the locker rooms are, basically because I wanted to see the guys from that 1958-59 team. They were all there waiting to be introduced, including legends Jerry West, Willie Akers and Head Coach Fred Schaus. Coach Schaus was in a wheelchair and clearly not well. He was at the end of the line and was the last to be introduced to the crowd, right after Jerry West. I walked up to him and we had this quick conversation:

“Coach, my name is Dave Shoemaker. You served in the Navy with my father. He was . . .”

“Ralph? Hell yes! Great guy. You look just like him. Tell him I said hello.”

I was shocked. According to Dad he hadn’t seen Fred Schaus since 1945. That was 64-years from the year 2009. Pretty amazing really.

Believe me, when I told Dad later that Fred Schaus remembered him he just beamed. It was a special moment. However, and even bigger moment was to come.

The other players from that 1958-59 were being introduced one by one as I was having that conversation, and as I heard the announcer reading Coach Schaus’s accomplishments and the two guys behind his wheelchair (his sons maybe?) began pushing him out from the tunnel, towards the famous Mountaineer carpet and onto the coliseum floor. Then, something pretty cool happened. I watched him hold up his hand, stop them, and proceed to stand up. He stood proudly, head held high, and walked onto to court as the crowd went wild. The guys with him protested, but only for a second. He wanted to walk onto that damn floor, and by West By God Virginia he did.

I’ll never forget it. Here’s the video:

Wait for Coach Schaus at the end of the video.

Fred Schaus died about 3-years later, but I’ll never forget that night. Although he was obviously not well he displayed a grace and dignity that was astounding. And the fact that he remembered my father from 64-years prior was icing on the cake.

Unforgettable memory.