West Virginia men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins resigned Saturday night in the wake of his arrest for driving under the influence in Pittsburgh Friday night, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.
“My recent actions do not represent the values of the University or the leadership expected in this role,” Huggins said in a statement released by the school. “While I have always tried to represent our University with honor, I have let all of you – and myself – down. I am solely responsible for my conduct and sincerely apologize to the University community – particularly to the student-athletes, coaches and staff in our program. I must do better, and I plan to spend the next few months focused on my health and my family so that I can be the person they deserve.”
Huggins also appeared to signal he may be done with coaching altogether, as he said he informed the school of his “resignation and intention to retire as head men's basketball coach at West Virginia University.”
Sources tell Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde that West Virginia will conduct a national search for its next coach instead of going the interim route with a current staff member. While there is a risk that some of the new transfers into the program could turn around and leave, a decision on the next coach will not hinge on trying to keep the current roster together.
Huggins, 69, was observed blocking traffic in Pittsburgh's Allegheny West neighborhood and pulled over, per a police report. He failed a sobriety test and was taken into custody.
The arrest added to an offseason filled with negative headlines for Huggins. On May 8, Huggins referred to Xavier fans as “Catholic f– on the Bill Cunningham Show on WLW-AM in Cincinnati, incurring a three-game suspension and pay cut for his actions.
Huggins’s use of the anti-LGBTQ slur prompted swift and widespread condemnation. The Hall of Fame coach apologized in a statement, writing, “I used a completely insensitive and abhorrent phrase that there is simply no excuse for ... I am ashamed and embarrassed and heartbroken for those I have hurt. I must do better, and I will.”
Sources said many of West Virginia's top donors—some of whom were involved in building the basketball program's considerable NIL war chest—were staunchly in Huggins's corner after the May radio incident. However, that support dissipated after the DUI news broke Saturday.
The Morgantown, W.V. native has coached Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State and West Virginia over the course of his nearly four-decade coaching career. He led the Bearcats and Mountaineers to the Final Four in 1992 and 2010, respectively, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.
