The first thing you ought to know about Jerry West and his relationship with his alma mater is that he’ll do anything to help and anything to avoid the publicity that comes with it. He’s done tons for West Virginia University and people who have come through the halls through the years, and something that does come up from time to time when you talk to people who love to talk about West and what he’s meant to them is how remarkable it is that so little honors him.

There’s the number they retired not long ago, but years and years after he’d left. There’s the media lounge in the Coliseum named for him, and it’s located next to a really modest West shrine. There’s a statue of him outside the Coliseum. The boulevard on the street that runs past the building has his name, too.

That’s … isn’t that a lot? 

Is it? I don’t know. I do know that much has happened through the years — I’m talking north of $1 million in gifts, the last time I asked — and it’s been done rather humbly, which isn’t really surprising when you consider the NBA has never acknowledged West is the model for its famed logo. Gee, how’d that happen? The Mountaineer Athletic Club established the Jerry West Society (fitting, if you get the point of all this) and doesn’t brag about all he’s done but instead trusts people will respect the name and honor his legacy.

It’s really quite interesting to think of it that way, sort of like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause, except this one couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t put shinier quarters underneath pillows or deliver all the toys faster than you.

So yesterday, WVU revealed a Jerry West scholarship, and when I saw the press release in my inbox, I thought, “Wonder how they talked him into a press release.”

Well, they didn’t. The scholarship honors West and is the brainchild of three people who couldn’t believe a scholarship wasn’t already endowed in West’s name. Ultimately, it’s a pretty neat story about how it all came to be.