MORGANTOWN — Retirement did not hit Billy Hahn with a lounge chair and a fruity cocktail with a little umbrella at the top of the glass.
That’s not to say the former WVU men’s basketball assistant coach, who announced his retirement last June, is looking to get back into the game.
“After 41 years, you know what I don’t miss?” Hahn began. “I don’t miss going out on a recruiting trip or traveling back late from a game. I don’t miss getting home at 5 in the morning.
“I don’t miss the process of the recruiting and the games and everything that goes into it.”
The people, the experiences, the relationships built and the feelings that come with a big win — that’s what coaches miss when they hang up their whistles and clipboards.
“If you don’t miss those,” Hahn said. “You didn’t love coaching.”
His fun-loving personality and his willingness to stay involved with the game and the Morgantown community has opened up a unique opportunity for Hahn.
Starting at 6 p.m. on Jan. 3, at The Greene Turtle in Morgantown, Hahn will begin hosting, “Courtside with Billy Hahn,” a weekly show produced by The Dominion Post. It can either be watched live at The Greene Turtle or by logging on later at www.dominionpost.com.
Hahn will mingle and sign autographs with patrons from 6-6:30 p.m. and the show will run weekly from 6:30-7:30 p.m. each Wednesday.
“The plan is to keep it wide open,” Hahn said. “We’ll bring in some of the WVU assistants from time to time, and we’ll have some former players on at other times. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ll get Huggs [WVU head coach Bob Huggins] on there a few times.”
According to Hahn, it was Huggins who first planted the seed.
“He called me one Sunday, at 10 in the morning,” Hahn said. “Huggs starts talking to me about finding some place where we could host a show about basketball and try to have some fun with it.”
Hahn said he was interested from the start.
“I remember getting off the phone and talking to my wife, Kathi, about this great idea,” Hahn said. “The other thing I thought about was how this really showed what kind of person Huggs is. He doesn’t have to think about Billy Hahn anymore, you know? He didn’t have to reach out to me.”
Hahn’s previous broadcast experience included radio shows during his time as a head coach at Ohio University and La Salle, but Hahn said he wanted this experience to be something different.
“More than anything, I’d like to tell some great stories,” he said. “I’ve had lots of things happen over 41 years.”
Hahn spent 10 seasons with the Mountaineers as an assistant and was also an assistant coach at Maryland, his alma mater.
Since retiring from coaching, Hahn has remained busy and involved in college athletics, starting with a speaking tour he began this summer; visiting several university athletic teams around the country and telling athletes stories of his life’s experiences.
“For the first time in my life, I get to really do what I want,” Hahn said. “I’ve really been blessed to have been around so many great people over the years.”
