(Jerry) West is best at Court Barbershop in Lewisburg, W.Va.
An autographed photo pictures a young Jerry West in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. Image courtesy of Signature House, Bridgeport, W.Va., and LiveAuctioneers archive.
“I’ve been collecting Jerry West and WVU items since I was 12 years old,” said 63-year-old John Humphreys, owner of the Court Barbershop in downtown Lewisburg. “I probably have 600 pieces (of West Virginia University and Jerry West-related memorabilia), all told.”
Humphreys displays a significant amount of his collection at the barbershop, which is practically wallpapered in photos, jerseys, license plates and banners all related to the Mountaineers and the Los Angeles Lakers, where West spent his All-Star NBA career.
On the shop’s back wall is a framed cloth banner touting all of the Lakers jersey numbers that have been retired over the years, bookended by Wilt Chamberlain’s 13 and Jerry West’s 44.
Over the sinks on a side wall, just below a display of three of West’s jerseys, is a photo collage filled with dozens of snapshots of everything from the NBA great’s five sons to his home at the Greenbrier Sporting Club. Nearby are two basketballs, one bearing West’s autograph and the other imprinted with lettering commemorating the grand opening of the Prime 44 West steakhouse at The Greenbrier, a historic resort. A Jerry West bobblehead stands guard on a shelf.
Humphreys proudly shows off a shadowbox containing an autographed section of the floor of the Los Angeles Forum, the Lakers’ home court during the West era.
Humphreys appears in several of the framed photos around the room posing variously with WVU basketball icons Willie Akers, Hot Rod Hundley and, of course, West.
Asked where he obtained all of the unique items in his collection, Humphreys notes, “I used to teach at the Barber and Beauty School in Charleston. People there gave me stuff or traded with me maybe they’d have two of one item and I’d have an extra of something else.”
The collection has not gone unnoticed by West and his family. Humphreys says West’s wife, Karen, has visited the barbershop several times, searching for one-of-a-kind photos to reproduce in her husband’s upcoming autobiography.
“Jerry’s mom’s house caught fire, and the original photos were lost,” Humphreys explains, pointing to a pair of portrait photos of West, one from high school and the other from his time at WVU.
“I ended up letting (Karen West) have about 10 pictures to copy, but I kept the originals,” Humphreys says. “She came by Sept. 14 to get the pictures, but she’s been here two or three times, picking out which ones she wanted.”
He reveals that Karen West told him the long-awaited autobiography titled West by West will be released in February.
Ironically, Humphreys did not attend West Virginia University, but his son, Jonathan, is a WVU graduate and was a member of The Pride of West Virginia, the Mountaineer Marching Band.
“My wife and I went to every home football game while our son was there,” Humphreys said.
With all the memorabilia on display at the barbershop, Humphreys says there is one item that will never leave his house until the day it passes to his son. “It’s a Jerry West college jersey, autographed, along with a picture of me with Jerry while he’s autographing the jersey. That’s my favorite piece.”
Located on Court Street in downtown Lewisburg, half a block from the Greenbrier County Courthouse, the Court Barbershop is open Monday through Saturday.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-ES-01-05-11 2002EST
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
An autographed photo pictures a young Jerry West in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. Image courtesy of Signature House, Bridgeport, W.Va., and LiveAuctioneers archive.
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