MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In his days as a bright-eyed idealist, Bob Huggins had a brilliant idea.
Through the power of the pen, the up-and-coming young coach would convince Louisville coach Denny Crum — then one of the titans of the sport — to play a game at Akron. He sent Crum a letter highlighting how such a game would benefit both programs.
To his credit, Crum did not ball up the letter and dunk it into his trash can.
“I thought I had all these great reasons,” Huggins recalled. “He wrote me a great letter saying how much money they made every time they opened the doors at Freedom Hall. I understood then this was very much a business.”
It is, after all, not just basketball that’s getting paid for when there’s a game at WVU Coliseum. Non-revenue sports offer dozens of scholarship opportunities for student-athletes, but they need the money made from football and basketball to keep afloat.
“There’s two sports here that make money and it’s that way everywhere, pretty much,” Huggins said.
Highly aware of that bottom line and all it contributes to, Huggins is hesitant to part with non-conference home games — which makes No. 25 West Virginia’s game at Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon a very noteworthy exception to the rule.
The hook for Huggins is Penguins coach Jerrod Calhoun. Calhoun is in this third year at Youngstown State after following Huggins’ footsteps for most of his coaching career. He began his coaching career as a student assistant to Huggins at Cincinnati in 2003.
From there, Calhoun served as an assistant coach at NAIA Walsh University, the same school where Huggins got his start.
Calhoun then spent five years at West Virginia — four as director of basketball operations and one as an assistant coach. He spent the next five seasons as Fairmont State’s head coach before being hired by the Penguins.
“Those things are generally about relationships,” Huggins said. “It’s hard to give up home games.”
The contract is a two-for-one deal. The Penguins played at WVU Coliseum last year and will come back to Morgantown next season.
“The deal is good for them and it’s good for us,” Huggins said.
The contract has the added bonus of providing a homecoming game for Mountaineers power foward Derek Culver, a Youngstown native.
Earlier in the week Culver told The Dominion Post that he grew up “not more than two minutes” from the downtown Covelli Centre, the off-campus venue where Saturday’s game will be played.
Culver is West Virginia’s second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, averaging 11 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
Haley to return
Huggins indicated that starting guard Jermaine Haley will play against the Penguins. Haley sat out the entire Nicholls State game due to a coach’s decision. Huggins said Haley has practiced all week.