Deniz Kilicli's happiness as a freshly minted West Virginian extends beyond basketball.
Deniz Kilicli's happiness as a freshly minted West Virginian extends beyond basketball.
Even after an injury-plagued season that ended on some discouraging notes, the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Mountaineer forward has reason to be upbeat.
"I love West Virginia. If you're trying to do anything for this state, people really appreciate that. That's what I love,'' Kilicli said Monday evening at West Virginia University's 2012 Charleston Scholarship Dinner at the Civic Center.
Kilicli and about 20 other Mountaineer athletes, as well as basketball coach Bob Huggins and football coach Dana Holgorsen, participated in the fund-raiser, chatting with fans, signing autographs and posing for photographs during a social gathering in the lobby. The dinner took place later in the Civic Center banquet room.
The Istanbul, Turkey, native, who will be a senior this fall, attended high school at Mountain State Academy in Beckley before enrolling at West Virginia. He quickly took a liking to the state's people.
"This is a great place for me, man,'' he said. "More than anything, it's the people and how they treated me. I wasn't from here. It's how they treated me when I first came here and how they still treat me. This state has something. Whoever comes here, it doesn't matter whether they're from Ohio or New York or wherever, they kind of get an ownership of the state because of the people.''
He's already planning a future as a state resident. After what he hopes will be a lengthy professional career, he expects to return to West Virginia.
"I'm going to live here because of the people,'' he said. "As soon as I have enough money and status or whatever, I'll be coming here and living here.''
In a season in which the Mountaineers lost nine of their final 13 games to finish 19-14, Kilicli struggled with injuries, most notably a hip pointer, as well as twisted ankles. He averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 32 games.
"I was injured three or four times,'' he said. "The most painful one was a hip pointer, but I played through it. But if you don't take time off, it doesn't get better. I couldn't take the time off. Some days it was good, some days it was bad. Probably 70 percent of the season, I had to play through pain. But I'm good now. I needed two or three weeks of rest, and in the season, you can't do that. I needed to get off my feet.''
The Mountaineers relied heavily on freshmen last season, and their first exposure to high-stress Division I basketball took a toll, he said.
"When you're playing at that kind of level - Big East tournament, NCAA tournament - those are big games. [The freshmen] didn't have that kind of experience, and it affected them a lot,'' Kilicli said. "They were getting nervous. That takes away a lot from your game because they have to think before acting. It slows you down a lot. That was a lack of experience. It doesn't matter how good you are. It's a long season for a person just coming from high school. And it's really hard to keep that consistency.''
Because the Mountaineers have been schooled on the Big East's physical style of play, Kilicli believes next season's Big 12 opponents will be forced to adjust.
"I think we're going to be really physical,'' he said. "It's going to be a different type of game. We're going to bring a new style of play in the Big 12, and that's how we can win games. We'll play a Big East style. As much as we have to adjust to them, they have to adjust to us. We have to play our ball. We'll see if they can adjust to us.''
Earlier in the day, Holgorsen signed autographs at the Charleston Department Store to help raise money for the Huggins Cancer Foundation. The Mountaineer coaches also made a stop at the South Charleston Cardiology open house at Thomas Memorial Pavilion.
Some observations by Mountaineer notables at the Civic Center dinner:
Huggins on the amount of time his team practiced this year: "We went less time this year with these guys than I ever have in 30 years. We were on the floor less time ever in 30 years. They just pretty much shut down at the end, and we didn't get anything out of them.''
Deniz Kilicli's happiness as a freshly minted West Virginian extends beyond basketball.
Even after an injury-plagued season that ended on some discouraging notes, the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Mountaineer forward has reason to be upbeat.
"I love West Virginia. If you're trying to do anything for this state, people really appreciate that. That's what I love,'' Kilicli said Monday evening at West Virginia University's 2012 Charleston Scholarship Dinner at the Civic Center.
Kilicli and about 20 other Mountaineer athletes, as well as basketball coach Bob Huggins and football coach Dana Holgorsen, participated in the fund-raiser, chatting with fans, signing autographs and posing for photographs during a social gathering in the lobby. The dinner took place later in the Civic Center banquet room.
The Istanbul, Turkey, native, who will be a senior this fall, attended high school at Mountain State Academy in Beckley before enrolling at West Virginia. He quickly took a liking to the state's people.
"This is a great place for me, man,'' he said. "More than anything, it's the people and how they treated me. I wasn't from here. It's how they treated me when I first came here and how they still treat me. This state has something. Whoever comes here, it doesn't matter whether they're from Ohio or New York or wherever, they kind of get an ownership of the state because of the people.''
He's already planning a future as a state resident. After what he hopes will be a lengthy professional career, he expects to return to West Virginia.
"I'm going to live here because of the people,'' he said. "As soon as I have enough money and status or whatever, I'll be coming here and living here.''
In a season in which the Mountaineers lost nine of their final 13 games to finish 19-14, Kilicli struggled with injuries, most notably a hip pointer, as well as twisted ankles. He averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 32 games.
"I was injured three or four times,'' he said. "The most painful one was a hip pointer, but I played through it. But if you don't take time off, it doesn't get better. I couldn't take the time off. Some days it was good, some days it was bad. Probably 70 percent of the season, I had to play through pain. But I'm good now. I needed two or three weeks of rest, and in the season, you can't do that. I needed to get off my feet.''
The Mountaineers relied heavily on freshmen last season, and their first exposure to high-stress Division I basketball took a toll, he said.
"When you're playing at that kind of level - Big East tournament, NCAA tournament - those are big games. [The freshmen] didn't have that kind of experience, and it affected them a lot,'' Kilicli said. "They were getting nervous. That takes away a lot from your game because they have to think before acting. It slows you down a lot. That was a lack of experience. It doesn't matter how good you are. It's a long season for a person just coming from high school. And it's really hard to keep that consistency.''
Because the Mountaineers have been schooled on the Big East's physical style of play, Kilicli believes next season's Big 12 opponents will be forced to adjust.
"I think we're going to be really physical,'' he said. "It's going to be a different type of game. We're going to bring a new style of play in the Big 12, and that's how we can win games. We'll play a Big East style. As much as we have to adjust to them, they have to adjust to us. We have to play our ball. We'll see if they can adjust to us.''
Earlier in the day, Holgorsen signed autographs at the Charleston Department Store to help raise money for the Huggins Cancer Foundation. The Mountaineer coaches also made a stop at the South Charleston Cardiology open house at Thomas Memorial Pavilion.
Some observations by Mountaineer notables at the Civic Center dinner:
Huggins on the amount of time his team practiced this year: "We went less time this year with these guys than I ever have in 30 years. We were on the floor less time ever in 30 years. They just pretty much shut down at the end, and we didn't get anything out of them.''
Holgorsen on the passion of Mountaineer fans: "It exists here just like it exists in a whole lot of other places across the country. Not only do we have to continue to do what we have and continue the support and the passion as it exists, it's going to be even more important to do that now that we're going to the Big 12 because that same passion exists at the other schools in the Big 12. And we've got to do what we have to do to make sure we compete.''
Holgorsen on the Mountaineers' scrimmage Saturday in Morgantown: "I quit thinking about the scrimmage approximately two hours after the scrimmage was over. It went fine. You get to the point in spring where you're really not going to get a whole lot better until you prepare to play somebody. So they were tired of playing. But with that said, we still snapped the ball about a hundred times and got something out of it.''
Huggins on the season that started encouragingly but ended in disappointment: "We lost 10 games by 29 points. We were just too young. We didn't make plays at the end. It was a myriad of things. We didn't make free throws we needed to. We missed shots. We didn't guard when we needed to. We made dumb fouls, turned the ball over. I think with each one of those, we learned, and I think we'll be a whole lot better for it.''
Huggins on the Mountaineer freshmen's struggles with the long college season: "I think that gets in their heads. Honestly, I don't think you wear down. I think sometimes the monotony makes it more of a mental thing than a physical thing.''
Associate athletic director Mike Parsons, a Charleston native, on the Mountaineers' need to add a sport as part of their Big 12 membership: "There's a minimum number in their bylaws, and we'll probably have to add one more sport, and I think that will be somewhere in the next three or four years. That'll give us time to get up to speed and not have to fund it that quickly. We're looking at several. Where we're short is men's sports, so we'll have to weigh in the Title IX situation. The ones we're focusing on are golf, tennis and track and field. Maybe we'll add one of those.''
Kilicli on playing in the Big 12: "I think the Big 12 is going to be great for us. I don't think we have a disadvantage against anybody.''
Kilicli on a possible career in coaching: "Not every player is a coach, and I don't think I have the patience or the skill coaching people. I could never do what Hugs does. I can never see myself doing it.''
Huggins on the Charleston Civic Center: "I love it here.''
Reach Mike Whiteford at mikewhitef...@wvgazette.com.
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