Bob Huggins speaks on resignation, departure from WVU
Disputes “lies” and says wife signed resignation notice.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) - Tonight, Bob Huggins has spoken publicly for the first time on his departure from WVU on the Full Court Press Radio Show.
The show, which Huggins is a part of the 2023-24 basketball season, hosted a 30 minute discussion with Huggins, where he discussed the full timeline over the summer, from his DUI arrest to his letter to the school from out-of-state attorney David Campbell.
Huggins said that the DUI occurred after he visited a family-run basketball camp in Ohio - he noted that after, he returned to Pittsburgh to meet with friends/former coworkers at a bar in the area.
After having “a few drinks”, Huggins said that he got lost on his way back to Morgantown, and ended up taking a wrong turn that led him to the outskirts of the Taylor Swift concert that night in Pittsburgh.
Huggins said that, once police spoke to him, he knew where he was (Pittsburgh) but that he didn’t know where in the city he was. When asked about claims that he was in Columbus, Ohio, Huggins stated that was a “lie”, and that he said Columbus to police in an attempt to joke. He also claimed that WVU took that statement (on the written police report) the wrong way, alleging that WVU believed his intoxication to be more severe than it really was.
Huggins was found with a BAC of .210 that night, more than two times the legal limit in Pennsylvania.
Huggins said that he did not want to resign from his coaching position, and that he wanted to “make amends” and was truly remorseful for what he had done.
He stated that he had gone to rehab voluntarily, without prompting from other sources, in order to show his dedication to his job and recover from what had gone wrong.
Huggins noted on the show that he was 142 days sober today, ever since the DUI occurred.
Huggins later stated that his resignation notice was signed by his wife, and claimed that his wife did so out of fear that the Huggins’ would lose their benefits from WVU (no further comment was made on what those benefits entailed). Huggins said that his wife was told by “that guy in the athletic department” that benefits would be lost if Huggins did not resign, which Huggins claimed “was not true”.
Huggins concluded by noting that he wanted an opportunity to sit down and speak to WVU leaders to make amends and find a way to retain his coaching position. He noted that he had done many positive things for WVU and the West Virginia community (such as fundraisers, helping to build a practice facility, renovating the Coliseum, etc.), and that all of his good works should have allowed him the opportunity to at least speak to school leaders, something that he claimed was denied to him.
Huggins noted that he’d rather be coaching right now than hosting a radio show.
Copyright 2023 WDTV. All rights reserved.
