MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia is not in the mix for a new men’s basketball coach, though it has announced punishment for longtime head coach Bob Huggins two days after Huggins twice used an anti-gay slur as a radio guest on 700 WLW in Cincinnati.
Huggins has been suspended the first three games of the upcoming 2023-24 season and his annual compensation will be reduced $1 million for next season, with that money going to directly support WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center, the Carruth Center as well as other state and national organizations that support marginalized communities.
“On Monday, May 8, head men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins was interviewed on a Cincinnati radio show where he used derogatory and offensive language,” a statement attributed to WVU President E. Gordon Gee and Director of Athletics Wren Baker began. “It was inexcusable. It was a moment that unfairly and inappropriately hurt many people and has tarnished West Virginia University. It is also a moment that provides the opportunity for learning. A moment that can shine a light on the injustice and hate that often befall the members of our marginalized communities. While the University has never and will never condone the language used on Monday, we will use this moment to educate how the casual use of inflammatory language and implicit bias affect our culture, our community and our health and well-being.”
WVU’s Athletics Department will partner with the university’s LGBTQ+ Center to develop annual training sessions in an effort to address all aspects of inequality including homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism and more. Huggins and all current and future athletics coaching staff will be required to complete the training and programming.
Huggins will be required to meet with LGBTQ+ leaders from across West Virginia with guidance from the leadership of WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center. The goal is to partner with ACLU-WV, Fairness WV, Morgantown Pride and other organizations to elevate conversation regarding issues affecting West Virginia. Through those discussions, Huggins is expected to engage in additional opportunities to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
“Over the past 48 hours, I have reflected on the awful words that I shared on a radio program earlier this week,” Huggins said in a statement. “I deeply regret my actions, the hurt they unfairly caused others and the negative attention my words have brought to West Virginia University. I also regret the embarrassment and disappointment it has caused our Athletics family, members of our campus community and the state of West Virginia. I am sorry for the hurt and distress I have caused our students and our student-athletes.
“I represent more than just our University and our basketball program, and it pains me to know that I have let so many people down. I have no excuse for the language I used, and I take full responsibility. I will abide with the actions outlined by the University and Athletics leadership to learn from this incident. I have had several conversations with colleagues and friends that I deeply respect and admire over the last 24 hours, and I am keenly aware of the pain that I have caused. I meant what I wrote on Monday – I will do better. I am looking forward to working with WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center and other state organizations to learn more about the issues facing the community. As a leader, I am eager to use my platform to take what I learn and share it with a broader audience.”
Huggins’ contract has been amended from a multi-year agreement to a year-by-year agreement that goes into effect as of today and ends April 30, 2024.
In August 2021, Huggins signed a contract extension to keep him as the Mountaineers’ head coach through the 2023-24 season. There were annual options to coach “or extend his relationship with the University” an additional three seasons beyond that.
An emeritus position had been created to keep Huggins within the WVU athletic department for at least two years through June 2027.
Huggins’ annual compensation will decrease to $3.2 million and will be required to meet with leadership from WVU’s Carruth Center. This is an effort for him to better understand the mental health crisis facing WVU college students, particularly those in marginalized communities. Huggins is expected to work with the center and University to raise awareness on how to best support students’ health and well-being.
As a guest Monday on Bill Cunningham’s radio show, Huggins, in referencing the Crosstown Shootout between Cincinnati and Xavier, twice used a homophobic slur and targeted Catholics in the process.
Not long after the audio surfaced nationally, Huggins issued a statement calling his language insensitive and abhorrent. He said he wouldn’t try to come up with an excuse because there wasn’t one and apologized to those he offended, along with Xavier, Cincinnati and West Virginia.
Within a half hour of Huggins’ statement, WVU officials released their own statement..
“Coach Huggins’ remarks today on a Cincinnati radio show were insensitive, offensive and do not represent our University values. Coach Huggins has since apologized. West Virginia University does not condone the use of such language and takes such actions very seriously. The situation is under review and will be addressed by the University and its athletics department.”
Huggins volunteered and WVU agreed upon him making what will be a substantial donation to Xavier University to support its Center for Faith and Justice and its Center for Diversity and Inclusion.
“I also regret my comments regarding Xavier University,” Huggins said. “I am hopeful that my personal donation to the university to support its Center for Faith and Justice and its Center for Diversity and Inclusion will further the work it does and the impact it has on its students.”
Huggins, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year, manned the UC sidelines for 16 years. His Bearcat teams annually battled the Musketeers in one of college basketball’s most spirited rivalries.
Huggins was forced to resign or be fired from his position at UC in August 2005. He had been arrested for driving under the influence a year earlier, and ultimately resigned, ending a power struggle with former UC President Nancy Zimpher.
After one year away from coaching and then one year as head coach at Kansas State, Huggins replaced John Beilein and returned to his alma mater in Morgantown.
Huggins recently wrapped up his 16th season as head coach of the Mountaineers. He has a 345-203 record at WVU and 935-414 career mark.
Huggins became the winningest active Division I coach in March when Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim retired.
All but Huggins’ first 71 wins at Walsh College have come at the Division I level.
Excluding the 2020 season in which the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the basketball postseason, the Mountaineers have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 11 times under Huggins, which would be 12 were it not for the cancelation of the NCAA Tournament that year. WVU also advanced to the Final Four in 2010 — the same season it won the Big East Championship.
However, the Mountaineers have won only one NCAA Tournament game over the last five seasons.
Huggins was not present Monday or Tuesday for Mountaineer Athletic Club fundraising events, which continue through the week.
Gee and Baker have made it “explicitly clear to Huggins that any incidents of similar derogatory and offensive language will result in immediate termination.”
During Huggins’ suspension to start next season, the Mountaineers welcome Missouri State, Monmouth and Jacksonville State. That puts him on track to return for the opening game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off on November 20.
“West Virginia and West Virginia University are my home,” Huggins said. “I love this University and know first-hand that the education and experiences students receive here make a difference. I am truly sorry for the damage I have done. And I am grateful for the chance to move forward in a way that positively represents this University and our state.”