By Bill Koch
When Bob Huggins became the head basketball coach at West Virginia in 2007, it meant that he would play UC, his former school, every winter. And that meant, as the beat writer for the Enquirer, I was expected to call him for a story every year before the UC-West Virginia game to ask him how he felt about coaching against the program he personified for 16 years.
During the first few years, the interviews went well. Huggins said all the right things about how much he loved the people of Cincinnati and how proud he was of what he accomplished there. But after a few years, it was the same old thing until during one of our conversations, Huggins said, “Bill, what else do you want me to say? What else can I say?”
He had a point. If I was tired of asking him the same questions every year, he had to be tired of answering them. So when I called him in February 2010, I was ready with a fresh approach.
Huggins started our conversation by talking about how competitive the Big East Conference was.
“You’ve got a Hall of Fame coach at Syracuse,” he said, “a Hall of Fame coach at Connecticut, a future Hall of Fame coach at Louisville, and probably a future Hall of Fame coach at Villanova.”
When I suggested there might also be a future Hall of Fame coach at West Virginia, Huggins quickly dismissed the notion.
“That’s probably not true,” he said. “But I have been very fortunate to have great players.”
Eleven years later, Huggins is one of only four players in the history of college basketball with 900 career victories. The other four (Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Knight and Roy Williams) are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Huggins is one of only two coaches who have won at least 300 games at two different schools.
Inexplicably, those credentials weren’t enough to merit his inclusion on the list of finalists for this year’s group of inductees. To many who follow college basketball, that seems like a gross oversight.
But here’s something that’s even harder to fathom: How is it possible that Huggins is not in UC’s James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame?
On the day after Huggins was fired by UC in August 2005, I wrote an analysis in the Enquirer in which I advocated for a permanent tribute inside Fifth Third Arena to recognize what Huggins accomplished there.
Obviously, that hasn’t happened.
“Someday, when the smoke clears and the bitter feelings over the clumsy manner in which the UC administration handled his termination subsides,” I wrote, “Huggins deserves some sort of recognition in the arena that became such a strong home court for the Bearcats during his tenure.”
In my mind, Huggins is part of a trio of luminaries who stand above the rest in the history of UC athletics. The other two are Oscar Robertson and Ed Jucker.
“There are others who carved out special places in UC’s athletics history – Hall of Fame basketball player Jack Twyman, Hall of Fame football coach Sid Gillman, Hall of Fame tennis player Tony Trabert, basketball coach George Smith, and quarterback Greg Cook – to name a few,” I wrote that day. “But none has had the lasting impact of (Oscar) Robertson, (Ed) Jucker and Huggins.”
Robertson, one of the greatest players in basketball history, rightfully has a statue of his likeness outside Fifth Third Arena and is honored inside the arena where his uniform number has been retired. Jucker, who won two national championships at UC and narrowly missed a third, went 113-28 in five seasons as the Bearcats’ head coach, and was 11-1 in the NCAA Tournament. The floor in Fifth Third is named after him.
Huggins is the school’s career leader in victories with a record of 399-127. His was a looming presence on the Cincinnati sports scene during his 16 seasons at UC – a stretch during which the Reds had 10 managers, the Bengals had five head coaches, and Xavier had four men’s basketball coaches. What Huggins accomplished at UC is even more impressive in light of the fact that he took over a program in 1989 that hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1977 and had been decimated by NCAA probation.
He led UC to NIT berths in his first two seasons, and when the Bearcats ended their NCAA Tournament drought in 1992, they went all the way to the Final Four, rekindling interest in a once-great program that had seen its fan base shrivel under former coaches Ed Badger and Tony Yates.
By the time Huggins was fired in 2005, the Bearcats had made 14 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, the third-longest streak in the country. Huggins’ teams made two other appearances in the Elite Eight, won eight conference tournament titles, and 10 conference regular-season titles.
It’s true that Huggins’ on-court success came with a price. During his tenure, the Bearcats became nationally known for their low graduation rate, and for having players run afoul of the law. When Huggins was arrested in June 2004 and charged with driving under the influence, his and the program’s images were damaged even further. But the good far outweighed the bad. From 1989-2005, Bob Huggins was Cincinnati basketball as he led the Bearcats back to their rightful place among the nation’s top programs.
Nearly sixteen years have passed since UC terminated Huggins’ contract. Since then, the school has had three different head coaches and just hired its fourth. UC has had four different athletic directors, three different presidents, and has played in two different conferences during that period.
There’s been plenty of time for the scars from Huggins’ messy firing to heal. Now UC should do the right thing and induct him into their Hall of Fame.
UC is currently seeking nominees for the 2021 Hall of Fame class on 'gobearcats.com.'
When Bob Huggins became the head basketball coach at West Virginia in 2007, it meant that he would play UC, his former school, every winter. And that meant, as the beat writer for the Enquirer, I was expected to call him for a story every year before the UC-West Virginia game to ask him how he felt about coaching against the program he personified for 16 years.
During the first few years, the interviews went well. Huggins said all the right things about how much he loved the people of Cincinnati and how proud he was of what he accomplished there. But after a few years, it was the same old thing until during one of our conversations, Huggins said, “Bill, what else do you want me to say? What else can I say?”
He had a point. If I was tired of asking him the same questions every year, he had to be tired of answering them. So when I called him in February 2010, I was ready with a fresh approach.
Huggins started our conversation by talking about how competitive the Big East Conference was.
“You’ve got a Hall of Fame coach at Syracuse,” he said, “a Hall of Fame coach at Connecticut, a future Hall of Fame coach at Louisville, and probably a future Hall of Fame coach at Villanova.”
When I suggested there might also be a future Hall of Fame coach at West Virginia, Huggins quickly dismissed the notion.
“That’s probably not true,” he said. “But I have been very fortunate to have great players.”
Eleven years later, Huggins is one of only four players in the history of college basketball with 900 career victories. The other four (Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Knight and Roy Williams) are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Huggins is one of only two coaches who have won at least 300 games at two different schools.
Inexplicably, those credentials weren’t enough to merit his inclusion on the list of finalists for this year’s group of inductees. To many who follow college basketball, that seems like a gross oversight.
But here’s something that’s even harder to fathom: How is it possible that Huggins is not in UC’s James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame?
On the day after Huggins was fired by UC in August 2005, I wrote an analysis in the Enquirer in which I advocated for a permanent tribute inside Fifth Third Arena to recognize what Huggins accomplished there.
Obviously, that hasn’t happened.
“Someday, when the smoke clears and the bitter feelings over the clumsy manner in which the UC administration handled his termination subsides,” I wrote, “Huggins deserves some sort of recognition in the arena that became such a strong home court for the Bearcats during his tenure.”
In my mind, Huggins is part of a trio of luminaries who stand above the rest in the history of UC athletics. The other two are Oscar Robertson and Ed Jucker.
“There are others who carved out special places in UC’s athletics history – Hall of Fame basketball player Jack Twyman, Hall of Fame football coach Sid Gillman, Hall of Fame tennis player Tony Trabert, basketball coach George Smith, and quarterback Greg Cook – to name a few,” I wrote that day. “But none has had the lasting impact of (Oscar) Robertson, (Ed) Jucker and Huggins.”
Robertson, one of the greatest players in basketball history, rightfully has a statue of his likeness outside Fifth Third Arena and is honored inside the arena where his uniform number has been retired. Jucker, who won two national championships at UC and narrowly missed a third, went 113-28 in five seasons as the Bearcats’ head coach, and was 11-1 in the NCAA Tournament. The floor in Fifth Third is named after him.
Huggins is the school’s career leader in victories with a record of 399-127. His was a looming presence on the Cincinnati sports scene during his 16 seasons at UC – a stretch during which the Reds had 10 managers, the Bengals had five head coaches, and Xavier had four men’s basketball coaches. What Huggins accomplished at UC is even more impressive in light of the fact that he took over a program in 1989 that hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1977 and had been decimated by NCAA probation.
He led UC to NIT berths in his first two seasons, and when the Bearcats ended their NCAA Tournament drought in 1992, they went all the way to the Final Four, rekindling interest in a once-great program that had seen its fan base shrivel under former coaches Ed Badger and Tony Yates.
By the time Huggins was fired in 2005, the Bearcats had made 14 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, the third-longest streak in the country. Huggins’ teams made two other appearances in the Elite Eight, won eight conference tournament titles, and 10 conference regular-season titles.
It’s true that Huggins’ on-court success came with a price. During his tenure, the Bearcats became nationally known for their low graduation rate, and for having players run afoul of the law. When Huggins was arrested in June 2004 and charged with driving under the influence, his and the program’s images were damaged even further. But the good far outweighed the bad. From 1989-2005, Bob Huggins was Cincinnati basketball as he led the Bearcats back to their rightful place among the nation’s top programs.
Nearly sixteen years have passed since UC terminated Huggins’ contract. Since then, the school has had three different head coaches and just hired its fourth. UC has had four different athletic directors, three different presidents, and has played in two different conferences during that period.
There’s been plenty of time for the scars from Huggins’ messy firing to heal. Now UC should do the right thing and induct him into their Hall of Fame.
UC is currently seeking nominees for the 2021 Hall of Fame class on 'gobearcats.com.'
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