Here's a nice article on Joe Mazzula from his hometown newspaper...

projo.com Wrote:Bill Reynolds: Amazing ride sinking in for Mazzulla
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, April 11, 2010

It’s a week later.

It’s a week since Joe Mazzulla played in the Final Four, his West Virginia Mountaineers losing to Duke in the national semifinals.

A week after the month that changed his life.

Mazzulla achieved a slice of Rhode Island immortality in the last two weeks, went places few Rhode Islanders ever have gone. It had been 37 years since Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes did it in 1973, and the memory of that always has been part of their enduring resumés.

So it will be for Mazzulla, even if he’s not aware of it.

In those two weeks he got close to the fire of true celebrity in this country, having the game of his life in the Final Eight against Kentucky, the star of the game, profiled in the New York Times, constantly interviewed. He was the best story on the West Virginia team, the kid from Johnston, R.I., of all places, the kid who overcame a serious injury and some off-the-court issues, to reclaim his career on college basketball’s biggest stage.

So few of us ever get to put our sports fantasies in the palm of our hand.

That’s what Mazzulla did.

He got to a place where every little kid in every little league dreams of getting to, a place that so few kids ever get to. He got to the place that’s the reward for all those endless hours of working out and lifting weights, all those hours that nobody ever sees, the dues that take years to pay. The place that most people never get close to, because it takes so many things, luck included.

And now it’s over, basketball flash paper.

“I didn’t watch the championship game,” he said. “I couldn’t watch it.”

The fans back in West Virginia helped them all get over the hurt of losing in the semifinal game, the fans that told them that they made history just by getting to the Final Four in the first place. So did the realization that they lost to the national champions.

Then there was seeing teammate Da’Sean Butler go down late in the second half with an excruciating knee injury, one that took the heart out of the West Virgina team, and came with coach Bob Huggins coming out on the floor and lying over Butler, all the while cradling his head in his hands, his face inches away from Butler’s, talking to him, reassuring him. It was an amazing scene, and if nothing else it put West Virginia’s impending loss in perspective.

“I cried when I saw him go down.” Mazzulla said. “He’s one of my best friends. I just walked away. I couldn’t even look at it.”

When they came into the locker room they had to wait for Huggins to get there, because he had done a TV interview immediately after the game.

“The first thing he did was go see Da’Sean, who was in the training room,” Mazzulla said.

The message was that Butler came first, not the postmortem of the game, as painful as it was.

Was Mazzulla surprised at Huggins reaction?

“Not at all,” he aid. “Why do you think his players perform so hard for him? Why do you think his former players all love him?”

Now it’s a week later.

The sports world has gone on to Tiger and the Masters and the start of the baseball season, the passing parade. The NCAA Tournament already is yesterday’s news.

And Mazzulla?

If nothing else, he got his confidence back, the realization that once again he can go into a big-time college game and be a significant factor. That’s one of the things that got lost with his injury to his shooting shoulder, the one that not only caused him to miss a season , but also made him play this year tentatively, limited, simply trying to stay in the game rather than have an impact on it.

He starts lifting again this week. When school ends, he wants to go to Los Angeles and train with Rob McClanaghan, the former Hendricken star who used to work him and Jimmy Baron out when they both were at Hendricken together.

“I got my confidence back, and that feeds into this offseason,” he said.

That’s the legacy of his great ride through the NCAA Tournament, this sense that he’s been given another chance, that this long basketball journey he’s been on since he was just a little kid in Johnson, has another year. The knowledge that he has one more year at West Virginia, one more year in the Big East, one more year in this life he used to yearn for, back when he was just a kid, his dreams all ahead of him, back when the thought of playing a year in the Big East was just a fantasy.

It’s not the only legacy of the last month, of course.

Regardless of what happens in the future, Mazzulla always will have that game against Kentucky in the Final Eight when he stole the show. He always will have his slice of Rhode Island immortality, one of the rare kids who ever played in a Division I basketball Final Four. He always will be the envy of all those little kids in all those little leagues around the state, all those little kids with their big dreams.

“I can’t wait until next year when they raise the Final Four banner here,” said Joe Mazzulla.

No wonder.

He’s a big reason why it will be there.

breynold@projo.com

The best thing about this article is that it shows Mazzula plans to come back next year. He's already graduated, and will have his post graduate degree before next season ends. But he's coming back for another year with Huggins and the Mountaineers, and another chance at the Final Four...

I guess he'll just have to wait at least another year before starting his coaching career. Of course, if he performs like he did against Kentucky regularly next season the NBA could call, delaying his coaching career for another few years...