Former WVU basketball assistant Billy Hahn dead at 69

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Longtime West Virginia men’s basketball assistant coach Billy Hahn has died. 

Hahn, 69, was taken off life support Friday afternoon and passed away at Ruby Memorial Hospital. He had recently suffered a heart attack.

A native of Indiana, Hahn had a lengthy and successful coaching career in college basketball that spanned from 1974-2017 with the exception of two years.

His final of six assistant coaching positions came at West Virginia where Hahn worked under head coach Bob Huggins from 2007-2017 before retiring.

Sending our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of coach Billy Hahn.

Forever a Mountaineer.

➡️ https://t.co/p3zS4eoGg8#HailWV pic.twitter.com/bb0voDvSGt

— WVU Men’s Basketball (@WVUhoops) April 7, 2023

Huggins brought Hahn on staff one month after accepting the head coaching position in Morgantown. Hahn was an assistant coach on the 2010 WVU team that won the Big East Conference Tournament and reached the Final Four for the second time in school history.

Over the 10 seasons that Hahn was part of the Mountaineers’ coaching staff, West Virginia reached the NCAA Tournament eight times and advanced to the Sweet 16 on three occasions excluding the year it was a national semifinalist.

After a successful playing career at Maryland, Hahn’s coaching career began in 1974 as an assistant at Morris Harvey College — now known as the University of Charleston.

He went on to also serve as an assistant at Davidson, Rhode Island and Ohio, before accepting his first head coaching job with the Bobcats.

Hahn was 42-45 over three seasons as head coach at Ohio before returning to his alma mater, where he became an assistant at Maryland, which had recently hired Gary Williams as head coach at that time.

Hahn is perhaps best known for his work with the Terrapins. He was an assistant at Maryland from 1989-2001 and is one of two people in program history to reach the NCAA Tournament as a player and coach.

Hahn’s recruiting prowess on the east coast, particularly in and around Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia, helped elevate the Terrapins’ program.

Maryland reached the Final Four in Hahn’s final season with the program, before he left for his second head coaching gig at La Salle.

In his first year guiding the Explorers, Maryland won the National Championship and later honored Hahn with a ring.

During Hahn’s time at UM, his son, Matt, was a member of the Terrapins’ roster for four seasons before he went into coaching.

Hahn was La Salle’s head coach for only three seasons before being forced to resign as a result of a rape scandal that involved players within the program. 

Hahn did not coach the next two seasons before joining the staff at WVU.

His wife, Kathi, gained national attention for first beating ovarian cancer and then overcoming leukemia, both of which she battled during his tenure at West Virginia.

Following his retirement, Hahn continued to reside in Morgantown.