Mazzulla

SHEPHERDSTOWN — He’s never been a head coach in the NBA. He’s never been a collegiate coach in the upper crust NCAA Division I ranks.

But after being tabbed as the interim head coach of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, former WVU player Joe Mazzulla has recently been elevated to the status of permanent coach of that famed organization.

Mazzulla is a familiar name to WVU fans. And he’s also remembered by people associated with Glenville State and Fairmont State where he has previously coached.

He came to Morgantown, after being a highly regarded high school soccer player in his home state of Rhode Island. Recruited by John Beilein, he brought a goodly amount of grit with him to Mountaineer basketball. He’d been a scorer and a cerebral point guard in high school when Beilein recruited him with a class that also included Da’Sean Butler and Wellington Smith.

When Mazzulla’s first year in Morgantown was completed by West Virginia’s winning the 2007 National Invitational Tournament, Coach Beilein left to become the coach at Michigan. Bob Huggins took over the Mountaineer reins and Mazzulla had three years of eligibility remaining.

In his last seasons, Mazzulla began to impress his teammates and coaches with his expanding grasp on the how-to’s of basketball. He had a certain leadership by example quality about him as well a deep well that thirsted for the ways to motivate the people around him.

And then he suffered a shoulder injury that stopped one season in its tracks.

Returning the next season, he still had not fully recovered but wanted to play.

His impaired shoulder kept him from doing much on offense. Yet he was on the court and his courage became his basketball badge.

In a particularly memorable game late in 2009, he couldn’t shoot his normal way and famously began to try free throws with his off hand. West Virginia beat Marquette, 63-62, in an important Big East game on Dec. 29 to improve its overall record to 11-0. Mazzulla’s legacy of courage was stamped in West Virginia history.

Later in 2010, the Mountaineers chased Kentucky out of the NCAA Tournament, eliminating the Wildcats in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four. Mazzulla was celebrated for his defense when WVU’s reconfigured zone defense double- and triple-teamed Kentucky center Demarcus Cousins. In the win over Kentucky, he scored 17 points and had five assists.

When he graduated, Mazzulla went to Glenville State for his first steps as an assistant college coach for the Division II Pioneers. He was there for two seasons and then moved the short distance to Fairmont State.

Before leaving Fairmont State, he eventually became the school’s head coach and also coached the Fighting Falcons into the Division II national tournament.

Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens brought Mazzulla to the pro ranks. Stevens then became that team’s general manager and kept Mazzulla on as an assistant coach.

When the Celtics head coach was suspended for the whole of the 2022-2023 season, Mazzulla inherited the interim title of head coach from General Manager Stevens.

Boston jetted out to a first place beginning to this season. The team was 42-17 as the NBA season reached the All-Star break. Just recently, Mazzulla had the “interim” tag removed from his title as he became the fourth former WVU basketball player to become an NBA head coach, joining with Fred Schaus, Jerry West and Rod Thorn.

Not many coaches have ever risen to be a head coach in the NBA after never ever having been a coach at any other NBA stop or NCAA Division I post.

Mazzulla had played on WVU teams with Frank Young, Darris Nichols, Alex Ruoff, Joe Alexander and Wellington Smith. When quizzed about Mazzulla’s recent rise in the coaching ranks several of those Mountaineer dignitaries have said he always had the heady ingredients of intelligence and people skills to mix with his determination to learn as much as he could about being a successful coach through knowledge, some patience, much willingness to work, a full measure of grit/bravery and his feel for the game.

Nobody who ever saw him attempt free throws with his off hand and play with a disregard toward discomfort would be surprised to see the pinnacle that Joe Mazzulla has now reached.