The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

College Sports

June 3, 2010

Luck not interested in becoming West Virginia’s director of athletics

By Mickey Furfari For The Register-Herald

MORGANTOWN — Oliver Luck won’t be West Virginia University’s next director of athletics.

“Nothing has changed,” the former Academic All-America quarterback told me on Thursday via telephone. “I couldn’t be interested in that position at this time.”

Luck’s name has appeared among candidates for the athletic director position in some publications. But he never officially sought the job Ed Pastilong is vacating June 30 after 21 years.

Chief among Pastilong’s numerous achievements as AD was getting WVU membership in the Big East Conference. He will remain at the university two years for help in the transition.

Known to have been interviewed by the selection committee in a national search were Jim Schaus, Whit Babcock and Rob M. Mullens.

Schaus, whose deceased father served as athletic director from 1981-89, now is AD at Ohio University. He also held the position at Wichita State.

Babcock, former director of the Mountaineer Athletic Club, is an assistant director at Missouri.

Mullens has been the No. 2 man in athletics at both Maryland and Kentucky.

All have degrees from WVU.

Luck, president of the champion World Soccer League team in Houston, had said two years ago that his son, Andrew, was going to be quarterback at Stanford University and he wanted to follow him closely. The youngster received high praises last season and is listed as a preseason standout for 2010.

What’s more, one of the Lucks’ daughters is enrolling at Stanford this fall. They also have a child in high school and one in middle school.

Luck was a Rhodes Scholar runner-up at WVU from 1978-82. He was among 11 scholar-athletes honored by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame in December 1981. He capped his star-studded football career by leading WVU to a 26-6 upset of Florida in the Peach Bowl at Atlanta.

The Mountaineers finished that year 9-3, the first of three straight 9-3 seasons.

Luck was a second-round pick by Houston in the 1982 National Football League draft and played six years with the Oilers. But he found time to earn a law degree from the University of Texas.

He also was involved for several years with NFL Europe as an executive.

Text Only
College Sports