WVU Basketball: All-time Mountaineers team

Mar 28, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Craig Bolerjack, current announcer for Utah Jazz broadcasts, speaks prior to the game between the Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder at EnergySolutions Arena during a press conference honoring Hot Rod Hundley, a former NBA player and longtime Jazz announcer who died on Friday at the age of 80. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Guard Rod Hundley

Rod Hundley earned the nickname “Hot Rod” because of his flashy ball-handling skills. He was a player before his time. Hundley’s street ball skilss were a throwback to his childhood growing up on the streets of Charleston, W.Va. Those sly moves carried over to the collegiate basketball court, to the chagrin of many opponents.

Hundley’s jersey number was recently retired by WVU and he will soon have a statue erected outside the WVU Coliseum. Hundley is second all-time in scoring at West Virginia with 2,180 points. His 47 points in a road game against Wake Forest in 1955 ranks highest in that category for the Mountaineers.

On top of that, his 54 points against Furman in 1957 is not only a single-game record at home for the Mountaineers, it is also the most in a single-game, home or away.

Hundley was the first overall pick in the 1957 NBA Draft, being picked up by the Cincinnati Royals. He was a longtime broadcaster for the Utah Jazz, until his death in March 2015 at age 80.