MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Moments ago, former West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins released a statement.
Huggins said the following: “The press has now seen the letter sent by my counsel setting forth my position that I never resigned from my employment as Head Basketball Coach for West Virginia University. My attorney will address the legal issues relating to my purported resignation. I wanted to respond to WVU’s statements and set the record straight on the past two weeks.
Intially, let me say that I am truly sorry for the mistake I made in Pittsburgh. I have taken responsibility for the mistake and have taken a course to verify that such a mistake will not occur in the future. I voluntarily checked into a world-class rehabilitation center and I intend to remain in the center until I am cleared to return to my active coaching duties.
Due to my focus on the rehabilitation, I have not been in the media or responding to WVU’s statements regarding the incident. I now understand that WVU published a statement purportedly written by me at 10:30PM on June 17, 2023.
I am employed by WVU pursuant to an Employment Agreement. I never submitted the notice required under the Employment Agreement to voluntarily resign. I let WVU know that I was seeking rehabilitation. However, WVU was not willing to speak with me about the Pittsburgh event nor to prove me time to obtain counsel to review my Employment Agreement. I met with my player on June 17, 2023 and let them know the truth – that I did not know what would happen to me, but that if I was not their coach, I was hoping that I would be replaced by a coach that I recommended to WVU. Most importantly, whether I was staying or notI was encouraging the players to stay at WVU. My players come first and they needed to hear my support for WVU directly from me.
Now that I have obtained counsel to review the Employment Agreement and have seen WVU’s comments about my current status, it is clear that WVU did not handle the situation appropriately. More importantly, the basketball program is in need and I have a strong desire to conclude my career as the Head Basketball Coach for the program I love. I hope to meet with WVU in the near future to resolve the situation.”
Read the full statement below:
Statement from Bob Huggins #WVU pic.twitter.com/zlG0NEDfWw
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) July 10, 2023
