Boston Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla talks to the Mountaineer football team, during a practice in Aug. 2023. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Thirty-five-year-old, one-time West Virginia University guard Joe Mazzulla just became the youngest head coach to win the NBA championship since Bill Russell.

Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics buzzed through this season’s league playoffs with a 16-3 record and recently completed their season by beating the Dallas Mavericks four games to one in the league finals.

It was the much-acclaimed Brad Stevens who brought Mazzulla to the Celtics. Stevens had coached at upstart Butler University in the collegiate ranks before ascending to the front office of the Celtics. He has been given numerous accolades and ongoing praise, building a Celtics roster that could compete for an NBA championship.

Stevens brought Mazzulla to Boston as an assistant in 2019 after the former Mountaineer had been the head coach at Fairmont University for two seasons.

What Stevens saw in Mazzulla were the same attributes that had been wanted by then-Mountaineer coach John Beilein and then for three years by Bob Huggins. Those coaches saw his on-the-court and off-the-court intelligence, competitive spirit, ability to play and accomplish things “basketball” while enduring physical pain and win games with more than just basketball skills.

They liked his toughness and willingness to do on-court work, while not physically at his best for lengthy periods of time.

And they liked his leadership and organizational traits.

Mazzulla was loyal and he was still humble enough even after his collegiate success (where he scored 700 career points) to show a thirst for learning that could not be quenched.

After being tabbed as Boston’s interim coach in Sept. 2022, Mazzulla’s Celtics went through a 57-25 record season that seemed to end all too suddenly, with a loss in the Eastern Division finals of the playoffs.

With the iffy “interim” title removed, Mazzulla and company started the 2023-2024 season with their winning ways. The Celtics had the league’s best regular season record and completed their limousine ride of a campaign with the league championship.

Toughness. A craving for more knowledge and managerial skills. The reassuring backing of Stevens and the front office.

And now a rising career that is at its crest with an NBA championship.

It’s something not usually seen by a 35-year-old former assistant in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.