Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel Jun 17, 2023 10:38am ET2 minutes read
West Virginia men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins was arrested Friday night on charges of drunk driving, potentially jeopardizing his future in the program in a second controversy in the past six weeks.
School officials learned of Huggins’ arrest early Saturday morning and are gathering facts to decide his fate as a coach.
According to a Pittsburgh Police Information Officer’s report, just before 8:30 p.m. Friday, police spotted a black SUV blocking traffic. The vehicle had a “flat and shredded tire” and the driver’s door was open.
After ordering the driver — identified as Robert Huggins, 69, of Morgantown, West Virginia — to pull the vehicle off the road, officers noticed Huggins was having trouble maneuvering the SUV and pulled him over. Officers questioned Huggins and told him to take an on-site sobriety test, believing he was drunk, which he didn’t do.
Huggins was arrested and charged with drunk driving. He was later released, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for a later date.
There were already signs that the 2023/24 season would be the last for Huggins. Along with a $1 million pay cut and a suspension after using a homophobic slur at a Cincinnati radio station, Huggins essentially received a contract guaranteed for only one year, a rarity in college sports.
The contract change was essentially a signal that West Virginia officials controlled Huggins’ future and could easily transition him to the next staff without worrying that he might owe him a significant amount of money.
Huggins’ arrest will put pressure on West Virginia officials, who said they were outraged by his comments and must fight internally to keep him under public pressure for next season.
In a joint statement following Huggins’ radio comments, President Gordon Gee and athletic director Wren Baker called the insults “inexcusable” and said the comments “tarnished West Virginia University.”
Huggins, a Morgantown native who played for the Mountaineers in college, has been a coach at his alma mater since 2007. He has led the school to 11 NCAA tournament appearances, including a Final Four in 2010. After leading Cincinnati, he spent a season at Kansas State in 14 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 1992-2005.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.