KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A reporter asked senior Deniz Kilicli how he wanted to be remembered by West Virginia fans, and the Turkish forward perfectly deadpanned his answer.

“I played here. I was the big bearded guy — that’s enough for me,” Kilicli said.

But after WVU’s 71-69 loss to Texas Tech in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament, Kilicli offered more about the program, coaches and players who “took me in and really helped me through my basketball career.”

The college portion of Kilicli’s career ended with a disappointing 13-19 season, including seven straight losses down the stretch. But Kilicli was a part of three NCAA teams and one Final Four club, and he carries some fond reflections on his time at WVU.

“I played hard every game I played here,” he said. “I sacrificed a lot for this team and I would do it again.

“I would do anything for this team, and I did all I could do all my four years. So I want to be remembered as the guy who left nothing on the table.”

Allan Taylor

ataylor@wvradio.com
@AllanTaylorWVU
Allan Taylor joined MetroNews in August 2012, following 18 years of newspaper, magazine and multimedia work as an SEC columnist, sports editor, assistant sports editor, managing editor, news reporter and media consultant.
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Comments

  • Shannon

    We love ya Big Bearded Man. Take care and prosper. Good luck in life and you'll always be a Mountaineer!!

    March 14, 2013 at 2:43 am | Reply Report comment

  • Mister Man

    Thanks for being here. We will miss you. You are, truly, a Mountaineer forever. Good luck to you.

    March 14, 2013 at 4:46 pm | Reply Report comment

  • big tom

    we thank you for your lack of effort. For a man so big how did yo manage to rebound by getting off the floor only 2 inches.
    and sometimes you actually got a rebound when it fell into your hands.
    and thank you for missing 50 percent of your two foot layups,,,, and your passsing techniques, a fifth grader could do as well, and dribbling just wasn't part of your resume.
    but anyway, wow, we finished 13-19, what a wonder year, and you were our go to man on the inside...

    March 15, 2013 at 10:54 am | Reply Report comment

  • Charlie

    Dennis...first off, ignore "big tom's" comments...sarcasm denotes a total lack of integrity and character (I had to comment on that as it is totally uncalled for, it's childish, immature, and does nothing positive for this fine young man.) Secondly, from me, WVU grads stick together my brother and I for one thank you very much for your time with us. You overcame a lot to play for us and represent us...culture, language, etc. and you did well. Use the experience you gained here in our great state and country and move forward in life. Be a positive influence on the younger generation in your country and let them know that we cared for you as a person not just what you could do for us while on the court. I wish you well and continued success in life. Take care my brother.

    March 15, 2013 at 1:45 pm | Reply Report comment

  • TC

    I hope you understand that true Mountaineer fans love ya. Hope you do well in whatever you do. You will be missed. Heck, I even enjoyed watching you and Huggs go at it once in a while. That shows you BOTH cared.

    March 15, 2013 at 3:05 pm | Reply Report comment

  • big tom

    I am a "true mountaineer fan" who doesn't drink the kool-aid and can think for himself.
    Kilicili is a carbon copy of Miles.,but kilicili continued to fool huggins.. Remember last year ,Miles was considered the next coming of Ebank,,and started many many games and huggins kept telling us how great he was to become... well, look at him now, huggins is running him off.... huggins told us over and over how great kilicili was going to be, and it simply never happened. So who is our next superstar? Just ask Huggins, drink the kool-aid and be satisifed with mediorcrity..Numbers don't lie, compare huggies first three yrs with his last 3..Huge difference,, guess why.
    If huggie wants to start over , wow, at 10,000 per day, i guess he is running the show. Travel, wrong recruits, they don't listen , they can't rebound, they can't play defense,they don;t pass to kilicili, they can't dribble, they don't practice well, you name it , he's thrown them under the bus week in and week out,,, all he says is, i'll fix it,, in how many years?
    it's sad cause i love wvu , went to school there, and i want the best for wvu , and im not sure if we're getting it,,,, again, let his record speak for itself.

    March 15, 2013 at 5:31 pm | Reply Report comment

  • big tom

    now tell him he's a HOF coach, and he's taken us to the final four and on and on and on,,,,i want results and i don't see it happening.

    March 15, 2013 at 5:33 pm | Reply Report comment

  • Charlie

    Tom...it's all good...the season "was what it was". All I'm saying with my previous post is that no good can come from busting the chops of a twenty couple year old young man who, depending on your point of view, gave everything he had on the court. Did he hustle full speed everytime up the court? No. Did he hit every shot? No. Throwing him under the bus serves no good purpose.
    I note your frustration but this forum will not change the past and I feel confident that Luck does not reference our postings to make personnel decisions. Hang in there...things have a way of working out. Perhaps not as quickly as we want but things do change over time. I don't have the answers but cutting Dennis' legs out from underneath him will not change the past nor the future. Love your passion but channelling it better would be my suggestion to you. I want to see change myself and detest Bob's constant "launch mode" with his anger and foaming at the mouth about how he treats and talks to our players. My comparison about Bob vs. our players is how I honor our military...support the troops...our so to speak commander-in-chief is another matter.
    That said, thanks for posting your honest opinions...they're like elbows...everybody has one.

    March 15, 2013 at 6:01 pm | Reply Report comment

  • Chad

    I love Dennis but in all honesty he had a good little hook shot and not much else. As far as the Huggins comments, he is a career NCAA tournament underachiever, he won a ton of games at Cincy but look at the conference they played in. That's why he had a lack of good results in tournaments, and he went far in the tournament with WVU with someone else's players. He needs to retire. 3 very bad recruiting classes in a row, give it up. As soon as he took 0 blame and blamed everything on the players it was time to go. As a manager in a business, if the business is failing or has a bad day it's the managers fault, I provide guidance and leadership not blame everyone else. Anyone ever think the player listen to sportsline and don't want to try hard for him. Bad recruiting classes and you lost the team, time to move on.

    March 15, 2013 at 11:40 pm | Reply Report comment

  • Billy

    The grandkids were getting loud this evening and I came in the room and said you guys need to quiet down. My wife handed me a snickers and said eat this, when you get hungry you sound like Bob Huggins coaching a ball game--

    March 17, 2013 at 11:00 pm | Reply Report comment

  • Tim C

    Good luck Deniz, I'm sorry some of our fans are total jerks (aka big Tom). I can't count the times you were wide open underneath only to not get the ball due to some substandard PG play. But you are a fine young man and I wish you well in the future. You were and always will be a fan favorite.

    March 24, 2013 at 8:33 am | Reply Report comment