After being arrested for DUI, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins resigns, saying, “I must do better”

Huggins, who is 69 years old, is now ranked third among all-time winning Division I coaches. Only famous Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and longtime Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim have more victories in career than him (935). Boeheim left coaching with 998 wins under his belt while Krzyzewski retired with 1,202 triumphs.

Huggins, though, was never a national champion. He did take West Virginia and Cincinnati to the 2010 and 1992 Final Fours, respectively.

Huggins spent 16 years with the Bearcats and the Mountaineers, respectively. Both came to an end as a result of driving while intoxicated arrests.

After Huggins’ SUV stopped in the middle of the road in Pittsburgh with a flat tyre and the driver’s side door open at around 8:30 p.m. on Friday, police charged him with DUI. Huggins’ blood alcohol level was discovered by a breath test to be more than double the legal limit, according to a criminal complaint.

According to a police report, he was later released from custody and will need to show up for a preliminary court.

Huggins announced his resignation as the head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University in a statement to the state’s populace on Saturday night. He added: “Today, I have submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately.”

The West Virginia sports department accepted the resignation “in light of recent events,” it was stated in a second statement late Saturday night.

“We support his choice, which will allow him to concentrate on his health and family. We appreciate his contribution to our university, our community, and our state on behalf of West Virginia University.

Huggins’ replacement wasn’t announced right away. In the coming days, we will concentrate on supporting the student-athletes in our men’s basketball programme and establishing leadership for our programme, according to the athletic department statement.

Huggins asserted that his current behaviour does not reflect the ideals of the university or the kind of leadership that is expected of a coach.

Although I’ve always strived to represent our University with honour, I’ve let you all down, he added, as well as myself. I sincerely apologise to the University community, in particular to the student-athletes, coaches, and staff who work in our programme, and I accept complete responsibility for my actions. I must improve, and I intend to devote the upcoming months to looking after my health and my family in order to be the kind of parent they deserve.

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Huggins continued, calling it “the honour of my professional career” to captain his school’s squad. He declared that Morgantown, where he was born, “will always be my home” and that he will “always be a Mountaineer.” All of you who have helped our programme over the years are appreciated. You have no idea how much it means to my family and I.

Huggins was sentenced to a three-day intervention programme after entering a no contest plea to DUI in a Cincinnati suburb in June 2004. Huggins was placed on indefinite paid leave by the University of Cincinnati, where he was the head coach at the time, and instructed to seek counselling.

Two months later, Huggins was given the go-ahead to resume work, stating, “I made a terrible mistake, and what bothers me most is I injured other people. All I can do is work tirelessly to improve as a person, coach, and all around person in order to make those individuals happy of me.

Huggins’ career at Cincinnati was finished by 2005 after he was sacked as a result of a power dispute with the school’s president and the fallout from the 2004 arrest.

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Huggins spent one season at Kansas State before accepting his dream position in 2007 at his beloved mater, West Virginia.

Huggins agreed to undergo sensitivity training, a $1 million salary cut, and a three-game punishment last month after using the slur in an interview with Cincinnati radio station WLW. Huggins was questioned regarding the transfer portal and his chances of luring a player from the Jesuit university Xavier to West Virginia.

Huggins answered, “Catholics don’t do that. “I tell you what, any school can get away with anything if they can drop rubber penises on the ground and then claim they didn’t do it.

“The Crosstown Shootout took place. It was essentially all of them Catholic (crap), I believe.

Huggins’ $4.15 million annual salary had been cut by $1 million as a result of the insult. The decrease in funding was intended to go directly to the WVU LGBTQ+ Centre, as well as to the university’s mental health centre and other organisations that assist underserved areas.

He was at the time banned for the opening three contests of the 2023–24 season. His contract was also changed from a multi-year arrangement to a year-by-year arrangement that started on May 10.

Last September, Huggins was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. His teams have been in 25 NCAA Tournaments in 41 seasons, finished seven times in The Associated Press poll’s top 10, and five times with a record below.500. Huggins has led the Mountaineers to 11 NCAA Tournament trips.

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