Morgantown, West Virginia – It’s clear at this point that the selection committee at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has some kind of issue with Bob Huggins and that he will not be inducted anytime soon.
Huggins, who won his 900th career game with a victory over Morehead State in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament, may never get the respect that he truly deserves.
With that said, West Virginia University has every opportunity in the world to honor and recognize Bob Huggins in any way that they wish. In fact, they could retire his number, put a statue of him up outside of the Coliseum, name a prominent road near the basketball facilities after him, but the most obvious way to honor him would be to name the basketball court “The Bob Huggins Court” at the WVU Coliseum.
Duke University did something similarly with Mike Krzyzewski by naming the court “Coach K Court at Cameron Indoor Stadium.” Davidson’s court is named “Bob Mckillop Court” after their Head Coach. In addition, North Carolina’s court is named after Roy Williams and Syracuse’s court is “Jim Boeheim Court.” Has Bob Huggins meant any less to his university than any of the aforementioned names?
Huggins is the most important figure in West Virginia basketball’s modern history, and no one other than Jerry West, who has a statue outside of the Coliseum, has done more for the basketball program than him.
Waiting for Huggins’ retirement to honor him would be a mistake; rather, he should be made aware of how respected and appreciated he is while still coaching, and with his questionable health, it’s impossible to know how long Huggins will be with us.
The new design on the Coliseum court looks absolutely beautiful, but the only thing that would make it even better would be to add “The Bob Huggins Court” written prominently to honor the greatest basketball coach in West Virginia history. A simple gesture like this would mean so much and West Virginia University should absolutely move forward with making this happen immediately.
