Morgantown, West Virginia – At the beginning of this past season, Bob Huggins referred to his former player, Oscar Tshiebwe, as an “alleged All-American” and questioned his work ethic.
Huggins said the following: “We lost an alleged McDonald’s All-American because he didn’t like the fact that we were making him do things that were hard. So, we’re fine.”
As it turns out, the Mountaineers were anything but fine. West Virginia finished 16-17 overall and 4-14 in the Big 12 Conference, while Oscar Tshiebwe led the Kentucky Wildcats to a 26-8 record this season while averaging 17.4 points and a nation’s best 15.1 rebounds per game.
And, oh yeah, Oscar Tshiebwe received the Naismith College Player of the Year Award as college basketball’s top player.
Earlier today, Anna Maria Tarullo, a co-host for Big Blue Nation, posted the following message on her social media account: “I need Bob Huggins’ reaction on Oscar (Tshiebwe) being named unanimous national player of the year.”
i need Bob Huggins reaction on Oscar being unanimous NPOY lol
— Anna Maria Tarullo (@tarullotweets) April 5, 2022
Several West Virginia fans supported Huggins, claiming that Kentucky head coach John Calipari paid Tshiebwe to leave the Mountaineers and transfer to Kentucky.
Tarullo went on to say, “I’m not (making it a Calipari vs. Huggins narrative). Huggins made public comments that were critical of Oscar. Then he sweeps the national player of the year awards. That’s a pretty glaring dichotomy. So I’m interested to hear if he’d still back those comments up.”
Huggins, of course, has yet to publicly congratulate Tshiebwe on his award and he likely never will.
i'm not? Huggins made public comments that were critical of Oscar. Then he sweeps NPOY awards. That's a pretty glaring dichotomy…. So i'm interested to hear if he'd still back those comments up.
I'm not creating a narrative here.
— Anna Maria Tarullo (@tarullotweets) April 6, 2022
