‘Greatest Mountaineer of all time’: WVU community reacts to death of basketball star Jerry West

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Before the late Jerry West became the NBA logo, he was an All-American at West Virginia University, playing college hoops just an hour south of Pittsburgh.

West, who died Wednesday at age 86, was a West Virginia native and quickly became a legend in Morgantown. West’s No. 44 was retired in 2005 and a statue in his honor was unveiled in 2007.

PHOTOS: Jerry West through the years

He last played for the Mountaineers in 1960 and still leads the program in scoring.

After the news of his passing, the WVU community took to social media to share tributes and flowers were left outside of the WVU Coliseum.

WVU Men’s Basketball called West the “greatest Mountaineer of all time.”

“As the basketball world mourns the man known simply as “the logo,” I join all West Virginians and members of the West Virginia University family in remembering a true legend. There will never be another Jerry West,” WVU president E. Gordon Gee said on X, formerly Twitter.

Athletic director Wren Baker shared two statements, one to his X page and another posted by WVU Sports.

“Rest easy Logo, you done good,” former Mountaineer Pat McAfee wrote.

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