West Virginia University released a statement Wednesday shortly after outlining punishment for men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins in the aftermath of his use of an anti-LGBTQ slur aimed at Xavier basketball fans during a radio interview on Monday.
The university declared that Huggins’s comments were “inexcusable” and served as a moment that “unfairly and inappropriately hurt many people and has tarnished West Virginia University.”
As part of Huggins’s punishment, his yearly salary will be reduced by $1 million. The compensation, according to the university, will be directed toward supporting the university’s LGBTQ+ Center; the Carruth Center, a mental health facility on campus; and other organizations advocating for communities that are marginalized.
Huggins will be suspended for the first three games of the Mountaineers’ 2023-24 regular season, and his contract is being revised from a multiyear deal to a year-by-year agreement effective immediately and ending on April 30, 2024. If Huggins incurs further incidents involving offensive language, the university plans to terminate him immediately.
WVU president E. Gordon Gee and athletic director Wren Baker said in the statement that Huggins’s demeaning comments will serve as an “opportunity for learning.”
“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,” the statement read.
Huggins will be required to attend annual training and programming sessions discussing disparities in homophobia, sexism and ableism that will be organized by the university. The 69-year-old also will be required to convene with leadership at the Carruth Center to better understand the mental health issues facing students.
On the Bill Cunningham Show on Cincinnati radio station WLW-AM on Monday, Huggins referred to Xavier fans as “Catholic f–s” as he was reflecting on the Crosstown Shootout rivalry between the Musketeers and Cincinnati, where he coached from 1989 to 2005.
