Mountaineer Nation is in unanimous in their opinion that former football coach, Don Nehlen, deserves a statue outside of Milan Puskar Stadium. Nehlen is often credited with building the brand of the Mountaineers, and is the winningest coach in the football program’s history – and likely will be for a long time.
While everyone who supports the Flying WV loves Nehlen, the same can be said for current men’s basketball coach, Bob Huggins. Since arriving in Morgantown all the way back in 2007, Huggins has turned the Mountaineers into a dangerous, competitive, and annually solid basketball squad. He has a Final Four appearance under his belt (the second ever for the program), and has brought them all the way to number two in the Associated Press poll during Jevon Carter’s final year.
As it stands today, Bob Buggins has the second-most wins in school history behind Gale Catlett, and is the eighth all-time winningest coach, per Sports Reference. Huggins has brought consistency, and the national spotlight to Morgantown. If we are being honest, the program has never experienced a run like this prior to his arrival – at least in our lifetimes.
So when it comes to the question of if Huggins deserves a statue, the answer is HELL YES. If not for Huggins, the Mountaineer Basketball program wouldn’t be anywhere close to what it is today. He is one of the greatest Mountaineers of all-time, and a great representative of the Mountain State.
I love Bob Huggins, West Virginia loves Bob Huggins, and the Mountaineers are lucky to call him their head coach. Being that he is 67-years old, he is coaching on borrowed time. It is anyone’s guess as to how much longer he will be in Morgantown. Giving him a statue right outside of the Coliseum would be a great tribute to easily the most successful coach in WVU men’s basketball history.
