Bob Huggins says he by no means resigned as West Virginia’s coach, desires his job again

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Bob Huggins says he by no means resigned as West Virginia’s basketball coach following a drunken-driving arrest and desires his job again, in line with a letter from his lawyer to the college.

Huggins’ Cleveland-based lawyer, David A. Campbell, wrote to the college Friday that Huggins “by no means signed a resignation letter and by no means communicated a resignation to anybody at WVU,” in line with the letter, which was obtained by The Related Press on Saturday.

The letter threatens a lawsuit if Huggins isn’t reinstated. Huggins’ calls for had been first reported by West Virginia community MetroNews.

Huggins was charged with driving beneath the affect in Pittsburgh on June 16. A breath check decided Huggins’ blood-alcohol content material was greater than twice the authorized restrict. His resignation was introduced by the college the next night time. Per week later, assistant coach Josh Eilert was promoted to interim head coach for the 2023-24 season.

Campbell’s letter stated the college introduced Huggins’ resignation “based mostly on a textual content message from Coach Huggins’ spouse” to Steve Uryasz, West Virginia’s deputy athletic director.

The college responded to Campbell in a letter Saturday that learn, partially: “We’re frankly confused by the allegations inside the letter.”

WVU stated Huggins met together with his gamers and members of the basketball workers on June 17 “to announce that he would now not be teaching the workforce.” It stated Huggins “clearly” communicated his resignation and retirement in writing and that “each events have moderately relied on that resignation and retirement notification in a variety of methods since then.”

The college offered The AP with a replica of a discover despatched by Huggins’ spouse, June, that very same day. It learn: “Please settle for this correspondence as my formal discover of resignation as WVU Head Basketball Coach and as discover of my retirement from West Virginia College, efficient instantly.”

The discover was despatched from an electronic mail deal with related to June Huggins, with a signature indicating it was despatched by way of iPhone. It was despatched to Uryasz’s electronic mail deal with and didn’t seem like a textual content message, as Campbell claimed.

West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker responded an hour later by writing, “We settle for your resignation and want you one of the best in retirement. We admire your a few years of dedication to WVU.”

Lower than an hour after that, the college launched two statements. One introduced Huggins’ resignation.

The opposite was titled “A Message from Bob Huggins to the WVU Neighborhood” and commenced, “At present, I’ve submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head males’s basketball coach at West Virginia College efficient instantly.”

The resignation was introduced a month after the college gave Huggins a three-game suspension for utilizing an anti-gay slur whereas additionally denigrating Catholics throughout a radio interview.

A number of of Huggins’ gamers have already entered the switch portal, and a few have discovered new groups.

Campbell stated Huggins’ contract required the coach to ship a discover in writing by registered or licensed mail to the athletic director and college normal counsel.

Regardless of the specter of a lawsuit, Campbell’s letter stated Huggins “doesn’t need litigation. Relatively, he’s merely searching for the correction of a transparent breach of his employment settlement with WVU.”

The 69-year-old Huggins was the third-winningest coach all-time in Division I with 935 victories, trailing solely Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (1,202) and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse (1,015), each of whom are retired.

In contrast to the others, Huggins didn’t win a nationwide title. He took Cincinnati to the Ultimate 4 in 1992 and West Virginia in 2010. Huggins entered the Basketball Corridor of Fame final September. In 41 seasons, his groups went to 25 NCAA Tournaments and completed ranked within the AP prime 10 seven instances. The Mountaineers made 11 NCAA Event appearances beneath Huggins.