West Liberty University Athletics

    A four-year letterman and 1,000-point scorer, Joe Blaha earned multiple All-WVIAC honors with the Hilltopper basketball team during the late 1950s before going on to a highly-successful coaching and business career. The Bridgeport (Ohio) native earned back-to-back All-WVIAC and WVIAC All-Tournament Team laurels as a junior and senior basketball star and was West Liberty's 1958 Athlete of the Year.
    Honored in 1974 with a berth on the WVIAC's 50th Anniversary All-Time All-Conference basketball team, Blaha began his coaching career at the high school level with Bishop Donahue (W.Va.), Bridgeport (Ohio) and Barnesville (Ohio) High Schools. After obtaining his master's degree from West Virginia University, he moved into the collegiate ranks as head basketball coach and athletic director at Wheeling College.
    After a decade with the Cardinals, Blaha left the coaching profession in 1972 to start a business career as buyer and manager of frozen foods for Wheeling Wholesale Grocery.