Leland Eugene Byrd

One of the finest players to ever play at WVU, Leland Byrd has achieved a great deal during his outstanding career as both a basketball player and athletic administrator.

On the hardwood, the "Hammer" was praised by many as one of the finest left-handed cagers ever. During his four years as a regular while playing for Lee Patton, the Mountaineers posted records of 12-6, 24-3, 19-3 and 17-3 and three straight NIT berths. The 1945-46 team owns the distinction of being the first Mountaineer team to reach the 20-win mark.

During Byrd's junior season, he led WVU to the second round of the NIT before losing to Utah 64-62. The Mountaineers, who were ranked as high as second nationally, relied on Byrd's scoring and defense. Equally talented at both ends of the court, Byrd amassed 997 career points and helped WVU to a 57-game home win streak during his four years as a letterwinner.

For his outstanding play in 1947, Byrd was honored by the Helms Foundation as a first-team All-America selection. Playing guard and forward, the 6-3 Byrd also helped West Virginia to an incredible 72-15 overall mark during his stay at WVU.

After a brief stint in the U.S. Army from 1948-52, Byrd took an assistant coaching job with Hinton High School for three years. Then, in 1955, he accepted a position as head basketball coach, assistant football coach and athletic director at Glenville State for the next 11 years. During that time, his basketball teams won more than 100 contests and gained respect in the West Virginia Conference as a force to be reckoned with.

In 1966, Byrd accepted a position as assistant athletic director at Miami Dade Junior College and three years later became the director of athletics. In 1972, the 44-year-old Byrd became WVU's fifth athletic director.

For the next eight years, West Virginia enjoyed a considerable amount of growth under Byrd. The football team, led by Bobby Bowden, went to two bowl games. The basketball program benefited greatly from Byrd's wisdom in 1978 when he hired a young coach named Gale Catlett to take over the coaching duties. Catlett has since gone on to become the school's winningest coach.

Byrd's crowning achievement, however, came a year after he left WVU to become executive director of the Eastern Eight basketball conference. During 1980, 50,000-seat new Mountaineer Field opened as one of college football's finest facilities. Byrd was directly responsible for initiating and securing funds to build the stadium in 1978.

Byrd, a native of Matoaka, W.Va., is currently the director of athletics at Western Michigan University.