NEW ORLEANS – The lobby of the Hilton Riverside has all the warmth of an Applebee’s, with a lily-pad bar, dinging elevators and a statue of a trumpet player that seems to jump from the ferns if you glance the wrong way. But it is close to the convention center and even closer to the French Quarter, which makes it the ideal place for college basketball’s coaches to make it their headquarters during the Final Four.

And on the day before this season’s national semifinals, the Hilton lobby is clogged with opportunists and schemers, clad in double-knit golf shirts, school logos embroidered on the chest – all of them listening for rumors of jobs, looking to grab the next rung, anything that will keep them climbing. Billy Hahn hides behind them. He isn’t wearing a logo but rather a white dress shirt and blue shorts. His hair is slicked back. When he talks, his voice has the scratch of so many nights spent shouting on the sidelines.

Unlike other men here, Billy Hahn isn’t looking for the next rung up. He is looking for a job.

He doesn’t advertise this because he has a job, a good one in fact, on Bob Huggins’ staff at West Virginia. The problem is that his job is in basketball operations, which means it has limitations on how much actual coaching he can do. And all Billy Hahn knows how to do is coach.

DREW4WVU wrote:
Well, he was in charge of recruiting for the most part until this change last year. I almost wonder if it was because of some of the idiots that were brought in. Not saying it was all him, but I think he was in charge of evaluating the talent more so then anyone else.

Dan Jennings, dalton pepper, cottrill, I don't recall right off if there was someone else or not though.

DREW4WVU wrote:
Well, he was in charge of recruiting for the most part until this change last year. I almost wonder if it was because of some of the idiots that were brought in. Not saying it was all him, but I think he was in charge of evaluating the talent more so then anyone else.

Dan Jennings, dalton pepper, cottrill, I don't recall right off if there was someone else or not though.

TheMac wrote:
Quote:

DREW4WVU wrote:
Well, he was in charge of recruiting for the most part until this change last year. I almost wonder if it was because of some of the idiots that were brought in. Not saying it was all him, but I think he was in charge of evaluating the talent more so then anyone else.

Dan Jennings, dalton pepper, cottrill, I don't recall right off if there was someone else or not though.

Dalton Pepper transferred to be closer to his sick father, If Huggs didn't offer Cottrill a ship the state of WV would have been up in arms, they built him up to be the next coming of Jerry West...I'll give you Jennings, but relax with the "all the idiots he brought in" comment...Billy's the best!

wvman75 wrote:
Coach Hahn is a class act. I'd like to relate a story. I had a family member (a niece) who was a patient at the cancer ward at Ruby Memorial. We happened to meet Coach Hahn's daughter, who was there visiting her mother Kathi. She was also a patient. She insisted that we come and meet her mom. We did, and visited with her for awhile. They are great people. My niece told her how much she loved WVU basketball. We exchanged contact information, and later, she said that Coach Hahn would be sending something to my niece after the Big East tournament was over. It turned out to be a poster and a basketball that was signed by all the WVU players. We had a VERY good season that year and a very good team. That was a really nice thing that he took the time to do and I know that I appreciate it very much. In my book, the Hahn family are first rate people. I wish them nothing but the best.