Bob Huggins still wants to coach college basketball again after his unfortunate exit from West Virginia University.
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Bob Huggins can’t live without college basketball. Or at least he doesn’t want to live without it. Huggins has made that clear over the past couple of weeks, claiming that he did not resign from his position as the head coach of the Mountaineers.
Huggins still believes – despite all reason suggesting otherwise – that once he finishes rehabilitation for his reported alcoholism, he will once again take over the West Virginia basketball program. As delusional as that sounds, Huggins and the people surrounding him truly believe it.
With that said, Gordon Gee and Wren Baker have made it abundantly clear that Bob Huggins will never coach the Mountaineers ever again under any circumstances. Gee and Baker have both been on record in recent days saying that they have “moved on” from Huggins and “hope that he takes care of his health and gets the help that he needs.”
However, Huggins is far from ready to simply move on. Huggins, who has 935 wins over a remarkable nearly-40 year career, knows nothing else at this stage in his life than coaching basketball. He’s done it his whole life and he’s one of the most successful to ever do it consistently over a long period of time.
Huggins is a proven program builder, recruiter and in-game strategist, and if he is able to rehabilitate his personal issues and his image, a school desperate for success will absolutely consider him as their future head coach, despite his age and baggage that comes along with him.
Chris Beard, who was arrested and charged with choking his fiancee, was hired only months later by Ole Miss. Yes, Bob Huggins drove drunk and made some really inappropriate remarks on a radio station, but he also has many, many years of major success with relatively few problems.
Although West Virginia University will likely never consider Bob Huggins again, many schools will. I could see Huggins taking a job at a lower level – perhaps in the MAC or SunBelt Conference – win big, and then finding himself back in a Power 5 Conference in 2-3 years.
Bob Huggins isn’t done with college basketball and it’s unlikely that college basketball is done with Bob Huggins either.
I firmly believe that Bob Huggins will coach basketball again. Not at West Virginia, but he’s shown that he can’t live without basketball and he’ll get a shot somewhere else desperate for success after he finishes his rehabilitation. #WVU
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) July 18, 2023
