WVU Sports: Kevin Pittsnogle headlines 2017 WVU Hall of Fame Class

For WVU sports, the 27th class of Mountaineer Hall of Famers is headlined by former basketball star Kevin Pittsnogle.

Pittsnogle was the leading scorer for the Mountaineers as a senior in 2005-06, pouring in 19.3 points per game on 40 percent shooting from 3-point range. The ‘Eers lost to the Texas Longhorns in a heartbreaking thriller to end Pittsnogle’s career, but his contributions will forever live on in Morgantown after that Sweet 16 run.

Seven other Mountaineers are to be inducted into the WVU Hall of Fame come September, including Chrissie Abbott, Eddie Becker, Willie Drewrey, John Havlik, Charles Hickman, Dan Mozes and John Spiker.

Chrissie Abbott was a member of the WVU women’s soccer team from 2000-03. The ‘Eers first-ever NCAA Tournament win had Abbott’s footprints all over it; her 20 goals and seven assists were good for a team-high 47 points that season. In 2002, she was dubbed the Big East’s Offensive Player of the Year.

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Eddie Becker played basketball for the WVU men’s team in the ’50s and was quite the scorer. From 1952 through the ’54 season, Becker scored 1,127 points in 58 career starts. According to SportsReference, he scored 18.7 points on an amazing 19.8 field goal attempts; he still managed to shoot 41 percent.

Incredibly, Willie Drewrey’s name is misspelled in SportsReference‘s college database, but his NFL page is correct. During his four years in Morgantown though, Drewrey was a special teams star. From 1981-84, he returned 104 punts for 1,067 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned 53 kickoffs for 1,302 yards and this touchdown below against Syracuse as a senior.

As an offensive weapon for the ‘Eers, Drewrey caught 46 career passes for 783 yards and five touchdowns; he also ran the ball six times for 20 yards.

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The next Mountaineer to be inducted is John Havlik, former swimmer and diver for the men’s team in the late ’70s. Havlik was named Most Outstanding Swimmer in both 1979 and 1980. He joined the Navy after school and spent 29 of his 31 years serving as a Navy SEAL; he spoke to a group of students in Morgantown just a few weeks ago. The accolades piled high for the hardworking Havlik, as he was WVU’s first United States Olympic Swimming Trials qualifier his senior year in 1980.

Charles Hickman played baseball for West Virginia 121 years ago – back in 1896. The  most prominent Mountaineer to ever play in the major leagues to some, Hickman spent 12 years playing for almost as many teams, with stints for the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

The final player joining the Mountaineer Hall of Fame in the 2017 class is four-year starter (2003-2006) for the football team Dan Mozes. Mozes was the best center in the country in 2006 – a Rimington Trophy winner – and was the anchor for an offensive attack that ranked second in the country in rushing (303 yards per game), third in scoring (38.9 points per game) and fifth in total offense (461.4 yards per game). He played in the Senior Bowl following his final season, just like Tyler Orlosky this past year.

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John Spiker is also being inducted in the Class of 2017 for his athletic training duties over the course of 40 years. From overseeing the athletic training services for all sports, to being involved inindividual recoveries, Spiker saw it all before retiring in 2015. What started as just a student, Spiker has spent much of his adult life with the Mountaineer family.