Big Lead Sports Bar

4/05/2007

WVU Huggins it Out

Numerous sources are reporting that Kansas State hoops coach Bob Huggins is returning to his alma mater, the West Virginia Mountaineers. He will replace John Beilein, who left to re-ignite the NIT-contending legacy of Michigan.
West Virginia, fresh off the legacy of PacMan Jones and Chris Henry (who both played on the same WVU team, don't forget), shooshed off Huggins' questionable past, which includes, most infamously, a 2004 DUI incident.
For those of you who've forgotten, here are some of the details from that night. I'll highlight the best parts in bold:
The report said Huggins was stopped because his car was straying out of its lane, and he sat at a light for 10 seconds after it turned green. Officers noticed vomit on the inside of the driver's side door and reported a strong smell of alcohol, prompting them to administer the field test.

Huggins had slurred speech and red, watery eyes, the report said. Officers said he "staggered" out of the car and couldn't keep his balance during the sobriety test.

Asked to recite the alphabet from the letter "E" through "P," Huggins said, "E, F, G, H, I, K, L, N, Z," according to the police report. Asked to count backward from 67 to 54, he counted from 62 to 52, the report said.

Officers tried to give a breath analyzer test, but Huggins couldn't complete it, the report said.

Here are the lowlights of his coaching tenure at Cincy:
In all, according to the University of Cincinnati, there had been no less than 21 players under Coach Huggins who have had, to use their term, “significant encounters with law enforcement.” These “encounters” included arrests for domestic violence, rape and DUI. One guy even punched a police horse. Another, Donald Little, taped his roommate to a lawn chair, threw weights at his head, clubbed him with a whiskey bottle and burned him with a heated coat hanger. He then stabbed him for good measure.

Even after his contract was not extended in May 2005, and Huggins was considered to be on probation by the university, he still saw an incoming player charged with statutory rape, less than a month after forward Roy Bright was arrested for bringing a concealed weapon on campus.

As for academics, 27 of 95 Huggins' players graduated from Cincinnati or another university in his 16 years. That’s a 28% graduation rate overall, including those students who transferred. Huggins also had four seasons where the NCAA reported the Cincinnati men’s basketball graduation rate to be zero. Even at the time Huggins was forced to resign, again according to university officials, one of his players had been maintaining a 0.0 GPA, and another would have had a 0.0 if not for two incompletes.

Finally, Cincinnati was placed on probation by the NCAA in 1998, citing a lack of institutional control.
Let's goooooo, Mountaineers!
Bob Huggins: Just Win, Baby (CollegeHoops.net)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

How can these schools continue to hire people as bad as this? Is winning at all cost worth dealing with people of the caliber of Bob Huggins?

They'll get what they deserve.

vinnie said...

Who didn't see this one coming? Those WVU/UC games next season should be pretty interesting -- especially the one in Cincy!!!

wvblueblackandgold said...

Y'all have forced me to step up to the plate on this one.

First, I want to say I'm a big fan of this blog, and forgive me if I take the liberty of being epic the first time...may be the last.

Secondly, I'm sure there are many in Eer country that are doubting the Huggy hire. Personally, I would have liked to have seen Prosser get a shot. He also has WV connections.

But, what's really annoyed me about the deal (and no, I really don't expect you Burgh residents to really care, but Mondesi did paste this story here) is how some in the WV media have had an all-out lovefest with JB as he kissed Morgantown off.

We have been regaled with odes on the greatness of JB... and how we should thank him for 'rescuing' WVU basketball -- and how we have no right to be irked that he skipped Mo-town.

Well, the man certainly has a right to do what he wants. And he did have a good run here. But one would think that WVU's program was the equivalent of, say, that former football member of the Big East from eastern Pennsylvania.

That simply isn't the case. He never attained a higher national ranking than did Catlett (Feb. 23, 1982 = # 6). In 1998, WVU beat Huggy's # 2 seed UC in the 2d round at the Boise region. In 2005, JB's team lost to (I'm pretty sure - UL was # 2 seed) UL in the Regional Final (UL was getting blown out at halftime).

And what's Michigan done lately? It hasn't been to the sashay since 1998. There hasn't been a drought that long at WVU in my lifetime.

So, JB can do what he wants. But he will never be revered where he's going as he could have been here. That said, I don't think his run merits a life-sized cutout pasted up beside The Logo at the Coliseum.

Finally, I really think the comment about WVU trying to replace Miami is a little bit over the top... no offense... those named therein have pretty much been the exception and not the norm.

Anyway, sorry for the diatribe. I hope Huggy doesn't come unglued. But the Logo is all for it, apparently... if you check out his latest comments.

Dirty Sanchez said...

Huggins and WVU are the perfect match. Hug's Thugs, coming soon to a campus near you. Maybe the hoops team will get put on the map now and we can witness the debauchery and good sportmanship exhibited at 'Neer football games.

The Duke from Dukes Court said...

Every college sports program has goals. Some program's goals are to win, and others are to be competitive while graduating a fair number or all of their students.

Clearly WVU has made the decision that it's basketball program's goal is to win at all costs, thus the hire of Huggins.

This decision makes sense, look at the kind of football players WVU recruits and then allows to play football at their school, see Chris Henry and Pac Man Jones. Now the basketball program can mirror the football program, a high level of national attention and success followed up with garbage people like Chris Henry, Pac Man Jones and now Bobby Huggins.