It was time.
Everyone in every occupation reaches the end of a career by choice, by force or, in the case of West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, we could say “by accident” — if we want to be overly and needlessly generous.
Following a second charge of driving under the influence (the first happened 19 years ago) and a second recent major embarrassment to West Virginia University (he uttered an anti-gay slur on a Cincinnati radio station in May), it was best for all concerned that Huggins announced immediately he was resigning from his head coaching position. It would be ideal for him to retire now and focus on his health.
He is 69 years old. He will reach his 70th birthday in September. He has won 935 games in his career, coached in 26 NCAA Tournaments, won 11 regular-season conference championships in Division I and reached two Final Fours. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his work at WVU, Cincinnati and three other institutions. It was enough, even though this did not come in time for him to avoid an ignominious end to a phenomenal career.
MORE: Bob Huggins DUI arrest details, updates, more to know
Huggins on Friday was arrested in Pittsburgh and charged with DUI after officers found his SUV in the center of Ridge Avenue on the city’s north side with a shredded, flat tire. They directed him to move the vehicle off the road so they could help repair the flat but, when they saw him “having difficulty maneuvering the SUV to allow vehicles to pass,” pulled him over.
They asked Huggins to perform field sobriety tests, and he failed. He took a breathalyzer test and blew a .210, nearly three times the legal limit. The details included in the police report of his arrest might be even more disturbing than the video that emerged of Huggins’ 2004 DUI charge.
The most salient is there were empty beer cans in a trash bag on the passenger side of the vehicle and in its trunk. He could not explain to police where he was, nor anything that happened after he had a meal at a Burger King in Washington, Pa. — a 45-minute drive from Pittsburgh — roughly seven hours earlier.
West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker reportedly told players on Saturday the university hadn't decided Huggins' future yet. But Huggins told his assembled players Saturday evening he would no longer be their coach.
Some of them barely got the chance to work with him. Point guard Kerr Kriisa, who recently transferred in from Arizona, tweeted, "Man .... I knew the dude 3 months but felt like forever. So thankful for really believing in me and taking me as part of your family forever. Love u coach."
Huggins inspired that sort of loyalty from his players through the years, many of whom came from challenging circumstances but went on to be successful, even hugely so. Kenyon Martin, who was ineligible to begin his freshman season on time, joined the Bearcats in January 1997. As a senior in 1999-2000, he won every major Player of the Year award and became the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, and also graduated with a degree in criminal justice. His jersey is one of only three retired by Cincinnati.
Absent Huggins' decision, WVU certainly would not have been traveling beyond propriety to dismiss him. Not after having accommodated him following the Cincinnati radio incident by keeping him in his job and ordering him to make donations to pro-LGBTQ groups.
MORE: Bob Huggins' homophobic slur controversy, explained
Whether it was Huggins' idea to depart or the university demanded it, we might never know, but there is little doubt it was the best of many uncomfortable options. Huggins has had so many opportunities to heed the warnings sent by his own health and behavior, from the massive heart attack he suffered in 2002 to his first DUI to the Cincinnati radio incident this spring. And still this occurred. It did not seem things would improve without a significant change in his circumstance.
What happened late Saturday will not provide the happy ending that might have been desired for a legend of coaching as he approached the conclusion of his career. But that probably flew out of reach, anyway, when he went on the radio in May and said what he said.
Huggins had worked hard in recruiting players from the transfer portal following a challenging 2022-23 season that ended with a first-round NCAA Tournament loss. The Mountaineers landed center Jesse Edwards from Syracuse along with Kriisa. With Huggins as coach, it might have been a formidable team.
He does not need to be on the sideline, though. Not in Morgantown, or anywhere else the Mountaineers might travel this winter. That will be someone else’s position now. He needs to take care of himself, and soon.