I will miss Shan Phillips. I already do.
On Friday afternoon, I attended a memorial service for the former Charleston High School basketball star at Shiloh Baptist Church near the Charleston Marriott.
I sat with one of his former teammates, Dennis Harris, who showed me a picture of the 1970-71 Mountain Lions, a team that advanced to the semifinals of the Class AAA state tournament in Morgantown before losing to eventual state champ George Washington. The picture had the top six players for CHS coach Lou Romano that year - Shan, Harris, Jimmy Smith, Rickie Hurt, Ralph Burkes and Dee Whitlock. Harris was a sophomore on that team and, as a senior he, Mike Jones and Dickie Russell led the Mountain Lions to the 1973 AAA state title.
At 5-foot-6, the dimunitive Phillips was a Kanawha County fan favorite, first at the old downtown John Adams Junior High and then at Charleston High. A former Charleston Daily Mail sports writer dubbed him "The Greatest Show on Earth."
Hurt, Phillips' childhood friend, told about Shan also being a leader in Sunday school as a child, and how he always talked about others instead of himself. He was a little guy with a big, infectious personality and a big heart.
I experienced that big heart last year at this time when I suffered a major stroke. While recovering at the hospital, I received a visit from Shan at a time when I needed some encouragement. When I would try to talk about the old days of basketball, he always turned the conversation back to me, or his brother Levi, or to Levi's grandson, Justin, now a player at GW.
I will miss Shan Phillips. But those who saw him or knew him will never forget him.
n Even though Pitt is now in the Atlantic Coast Conference, many WVU fans still consider the Panthers a rival and have an interest in the Pitt basketball coaching search.
One name the Panthers should consider is current Providence head coach Ed Cooley. Cooley is a Rhode Island native and may not want to leave, but he has had success now at both Fairfield and Providence.
He also has a local connection to our region. Former Marshall player Jeff Battle is on Cooley's staff at Providence.
n Earlier this month, St. Joseph surprised many in our state by winning the Class A boys state basketball championship. While it was the first SSAC state title for the Irish, former Charleston sports writer Tom Aluise and Charleston attorney Tim DiPiero, both St. Joe alums, were quick to point out it was not the first state basketball championship for the Irish boys.
"St. Joe had a history of winning state championships at the old state Catholic tournament back in the '40s, '50s and '60s," Aluise said.
DiPiero, who led the Irish to the state Catholic title in 1967, remembers that "back then we played all triple-A and double-A teams.We didn't play many single-A schools.
"The same was true for other Catholic schools. When Fritz Williams was at Weirton competing for triple-A state titles, one year they only lost two games and both of those games were to Wheeling Central."
By the way, DiPiero is still playing. He recently played for Team USA in a 65-69-year-old age group of a Master's Basketball Association Tournament in Buffalo, New York. His team came in first place and he was named the MVP. He now plans to play in tournaments in Vancouver, New Zealand and Italy.
n Speaking of St. Joe, Irish coach Ross Scaggs was a Logan County legend as a high school basketball player for Willie Akers at Logan High in 1973 and 1974. He then signed with Joedy Gardner and WVU, where he played with Bob Huggins. He transferred to Marshall, making him one of the few players to play for both schools. An outstanding athlete, Scaggs also played golf at Marshall.
Scaggs was an all-state basketball player at Logan back when coalfield basketball was at its highest point, and he, Greg Wooten and others took the Wildcats to the 1974 AAA state title game, where they lost to Mike Jones, Curt Cabell, Sam Brooks, Ameche Watson, Lowell Harris and Charleston High.
Scaggs was a college player at our state's two Division I programs, a Division I college golfer and now he's a state championship-winning coach. There are not many in our state with that kind of resume.
n Finally, it did not make big headlines nationally, but those who know college basketball know that Drexel University in Philadelphia made a great move with the hiring of state native Zach Spiker as its men's basketball coach. Drexel is not an easy job in Philly. It's a sixth school in a city that is known for the Big Five. Success will not be easy.
But make no mistake about it, Spiker can coach. He won 102 games in seven years at Army. Last season, he won 19. At Army! Heck, Mike Krzyzewski was 9-17 in his last season there in 1980.
Spiker is a Morgantown High grad and a former guard for the Mohigans. His father, John, was a longtime athletic trainer at WVU.