MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University’s winningest women’s basketball coach and one of the university’s most storied quarterbacks will officially be enshrined in the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the WVSWA announced Friday.
Retired WVU women’s basketball coach Mike Carey and two-time Super Bowl champion Jeff Hostetler will earn their spots in the Hall of Fame as part of the 2023 class. This marks the second straight year in which two prominent Mountaineer personalities dominate its induction class.
Hostetler, a native Pennsylvanian, started his college football career at Penn State before transferring to West Virginia in 1981. He debuted for the Mountaineers and, after two seasons under center, left the program as its most prolific passer, tallying 4,251 yards and two touchdowns for head coach Don Nehlen.
Marquee wins dotted Hostetler’s career as a Mountaineer, including an upset over Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma Sooners in Norman and a comeback win over Kentucky in the 1983 Hall of Fame Bowl.
Hostetler was selected by the New York Giants in the third round of the 1984 NFL Draft and went on to play a lengthy career in the NFL, earning two Super Bowl rings in New York. In 1998, he was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.
Carey signed on as the WVU women’s basketball program’s sixth head coach in history in 2001 and went on to lead the program for 21 seasons. In just six years, he led the Mountaineers to their first top-20 ranking, and in 2010, his team finally cracked the top 10.
Under Carey, WVU made the NCAA Tournament 11 times. In 2014, Carey’s squad won the Big 12 regular season title, then three years later, it claimed the Big 12 Tournament championship.
A total of 10 Mountaineers were selected in the WNBA Draft during his tenure. Most recently, guard Kysre Gondrezick was drafted by the Indiana Fever with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft.
Carey hails from the Mountain State, as he was born and raised in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He still resides in Bridgeport with his family.
Hostetler and Carey will be enshrined by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association at the 76th annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 7 at the Embassy Suites in Charleston.