WVU Basketball

West Virginia University Responds to Huggins’ Claims

Published

10 months ago

July 8, 2023

West Virginia University has responded to Bob Huggins’ claims that he never resigned and will sue if not reinstated. Hoppy Kercheval of MetroNews released the following responses from WVU:

“If Mr. Huggins is somehow now maintaining that he did not resign after discussions with his attorney on June 16-17, then we would ask that whoever is taking that position on his behalf to do their due diligence before asserting a position that is clearly contrary to the documented evidence.”

“If Mr. Huggins or his counsel attempts to publicly suggest that he somehow did not resign and retire from his position, please be advised that the University will swiftly and aggressively defend itself from these spurious allegations.”

“The University will not accept Mr. Huggins’ revocation of his resignation, nor will it reinstate him as head coach of the men’s basketball program.”

Huggins’ wife, June, released the resignation letter to WVU on June 17.

Kercheval obtained comments from Huggins’ attorney:

“Coach Huggins never signed a resignation letter and never communicated a resignation to anyone at WVU. Accordingly, the WVU public comments are not only false, but appear to be an after-the-fact attempt to remedy WVU’s breach of the Employment.”

Huggins was charged of DUI on June 16 before resigning just 24 hours later. This was the second time in weeks that Huggins put negative light on the University after using an anti-gay slur over a Cincinnati radio station back in May.

Huggins met with student-athletes and coaches on the night of June 17 in an emergency team meeting, announcing his resignation.

Huggins won 935 career games spanning five coaching tenures at Walsh College, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and West Virginia. Huggins returned to his alma mater in 2007, taking the Mountaineers to their second Final Four in school history in 2010. Huggins finishes second in all-time coaching wins at WVU, with 345 wins. Huggins was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2022.