Bolen sees Glenville job as "perfect opportunity"

May 6—When Bob Bolen left East Tennessee State after two seasons as an assistant coach with the Buccaneers, he thought he had coached his last game.

Not that he didn't have more opportunities. But he could plainly see his life was going in another direction.

"My kids wanted to come back to Beckley, and when I left East Tennessee State, I had some job offers that I liked," Bolen said. "One of them was a head coaching job in Florida. And when I looked at my kids and I saw those tears rolling down their face — they wanted to move back to Beckley. They wanted to be near their grandparents and their friends. I saw that look on their face and I said, 'That's it.'"

Bolen and his son stayed in Johnson City for a year as he remained at the university in an administrative position as provided in his contract. Once he returned home to Beckley, he assessed the trajectory of his life.

"When I came home, I just said, 'I had a great career,'" he said, "and I was fine with it."

He got to stay directly involved with the game anyway, with a newfound career in broadcasting for ESPN and Video Productions. This past season alone, he served as color analyst for 78 college and high school games.

But, as people often discover, life is about timing. Bolen's daughter Katie has earned a graduate degree, son Jaysen is studying aviation at Fairmont State and Andrew business at West Virginia University.

Last month, the men's basketball head coach position at Glenville State came open. If there was ever a time to get back in the game, this was it.

"I thought Glenville just seems like a perfect fit, and then when I looked up all the stuff on that arena (Waco Center) I thought, 'My goodness. This is just a great opportunity,'" Bolen said. "So at that point I started to pursue the job."

And it worked out in his favor.

Glenville State officially announced late Friday night that it has hired Bolen to be its next head men's basketball coach. He replaces Justin Caldwell, a Wyoming East graduate who left to join the staff of Dan D'Antoni — another Wyoming County native — at Marshall.

Glenville was no doubt impressed — and familiar — with Bolen's credentials.

Bolen restarted the basketball program at The College of West Virginia — which was later renamed Mountain State University — in 1994. The Cougars went 17-16 in his first season and followed that up with a 14-18 record in 1995-96.

That was the only losing season Bolen ever had as head coach. In fact, his teams never won fewer than 22 games over the next 16 seasons.

He took MSU to 14 straight NAIA national tournaments, advancing to the national championship game four times. The 2004 team finished 38-1 and defeated Concordia (Calif.) for the school's only national championship.

The Cougars lost to Oklahoma Baptist in the 2012 NAIA semifinals and finished with a 26-7 record. It was the final game for MSU, which lost its accreditation three months later.

Bolen finished his 18-season career with an overall record of 489-125.

"With Coach Bolen, we are getting a proven winner; someone who has shown an ability to build a roster and produce at a high level," Glenville State Athletic Director Jesse Skiles said in a statement.

"We are very excited about the addition of Coach Bolen," Glenville President Dr. Mark Manchin added. "He is a state native who has shown he can both recruit and also win at the highest level."

Bolen exhibited during his tenure at MSU an ability to stay with and ahead of the times. That will serve him well as he makes the jump from NAIA to NCAA Division II.

"At Mountain State, we were playing this way 25 years ago, the way teams play now," he said. "Shooting all the 3s. We were playing this style of basketball many years ago, so just how the game has changed, I don't think that will have any bearing on the coaching.

"It's a new world in recruiting. With the transfer portal, you have to recruit more players every year. I mean, it's changed the game and I just have to make the adjustments to it. I think we have to get a mixture of high school, junior college players, and I still have some great connections overseas."

Bolen said he did indeed miss coaching, and is now enthusiastic about the place where he will resume his career.

"I had the itch for college coaching, more so after my youngest son graduated from high school. I knew that itch was there, but I didn't want to leave West Virginia. It wasn't there bad enough to move 10 hours from Beckley," Bolen said.

"When I saw that job come open, I just thought that was the perfect opportunity, and then when I met with the athletic director, Jesse Skiles, and the president, Dr. Manchin, I knew when I left the first interview that I wanted that job. I knew 100 percent that that's the kind of people that I want to work for. Then I had another interview with the committee and there was about 10 people on it. Just the friendliness and the togetherness of the campus just seemed like a great working environment."

Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5