West Virginia men’s head basketball coach Bob Huggins was arrested for DUI last night in Pittsburgh.
According to the police report, Huggins was observed in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. He had a flat tire and his driver’s side door was open.
When Huggins was pulled over, the officers suspected he was intoxicated. He failed field sobriety tests and was taken into custody.
Huggins has already been released from custody and is set to appear at a preliminary hearing at a later date.
Just five weeks ago, Huggins was suspended by WVU for three games after using a gay slur in a radio interview in Cincinnati. When he was the head coach for Cincinnati back in 2004, Huggins was arrested for DUI. When the dash cam footage was released three days later, the Bearcats suspended him for two months.
The incident led to friction between Huggins and then-university president Nancy Zimpher. Although Huggins led the Bearcats to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances from 1992 to 2005, he resigned in 2005.
The suspension last month also came with a $1 million reduction in his salary. The 69-year-old Huggins was most likely going to be coaching his final season at his alma mater in 2023-24.
Now it appears doubtful that he’ll be on the sidelines for the Mountaineers again, especially after reading the entire police report:
The school released a statement this morning: “West Virginia University is aware of an incident last night involving Head Men’s Basketball Coach Bob Huggins, for which he was charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in the City of Pittsburgh. We are gathering more information and will take appropriate action once the review is complete.”
If WVU makes a move to fire Huggins, the school might consider making assistant Josh Eilert the interim head coach. He’s been on Huggins’ staff at WVU for 15 years. Another possibility is Youngstown St. HC Jerrod Calhoun, who was on Huggins’ staff at WVU from 2007-2012.
Another option would be to conduct a national search, although it could prove difficult to hire a head coach from another school at this point in the year.
I doubt this would happen, but I’ll throw it out there anyway. John Beilein, who went 104-60 at WVU from 2002-07 and led the Mountaineers to an Elite Eight, a Sweet 16 and won the NIT in his final three seasons in Morgantown, is available.
The 70-year-old Beilein is currently serving in an advisory role for the Detroit Pistons. In his last three years at Michigan from 2017-19, he led the Wolverines to three Sweet 16 appearances. They made the national championship game in 2018, losing to Villanova in the finals.