People sometimes forget just how great a player Hot Rod Hundley was as a collegian and as a pro. (By the way, $15 to sponsor Hot Rod’s page!) When he left WVU, he was the all-time leading scorer and he’d still be No. 1 if Fred Schaus hadn’t recruited that kid from Chelyan. Hundley was even the first pick in the 1957 NBA draft, which is perhaps as surprising now as it was then.

“Do you know how I found I was the first pick in the NBA draft?” he said. “I was driving down a highway in West Virginia and I heard it on the radio.”

His legacy, though, is as something of a joker and he remains a character today. Hundley gave the game years of his voice with the Utah Jazz and years of thrills with his skills, which included maybe the first crossover dribble.

“The first time I remember clowning around was in our first freshman game at the old Field House against Washington and Lee,” Hundley explained. “We were coming down the court and I was in the middle on a fast break. I came up face to face with a defender, did a little shake and he fell down.”

Hundley had a clear path to the basket, but rather than take it, he stopped, reached down, helped the defender up, then went by him to finish the play.

“The crowd loved it,” Hundley said, then recalled thinking, “What have I got here? I think I’ll try something else.”