West Virginia moved on from Bob Higgins after the longtime coach was arrested last month for driving while under the influence, but apparently the decision to part ways was not mutual.
Huggins was arrested and charged with DUI in Pittsburgh on June 16 after police officers stopped to help him with a flat tire. The 69-year-old was allegedly very intoxicated, and the details from the incident were concerning.
The next day, on June 17, West Virginia issued a statement saying Huggins had “informed us of his intent to retire and has submitted his letter of resignation.” Huggins apologized for his actions in a statement of his own and said he would “spend the next few months” focusing on his health and family.
Huggins now says he did not resign and wants his job back.
According to ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, the 69-year-old claimed through his attorney, David A. Campbell, that he never stepped down and will file a lawsuit if he is not reinstated.
“Based on press statements, it appears that WVU is taking the position that Coach Huggins voluntarily resigned and terminated the Employment Agreement in advance of April 30, 2024 (the day his current contract was set to expire),” Campbell wrote. “However, although the press statements purport to have resignation communications directly from Coach Huggins to you and/or the Athletic Director, Coach Huggins has never communicated his resignation to you, the Athletic Director, or anyone at WVU. To the contrary, we understand that the purported ‘resignation’ is incredibly based on a text message from Coach Huggins’ wife.”
West Virginia released documents on Saturday, one of which was an email that was sent from an account belonging to Huggins’ wife June. The email read as follows: “Please accept this correspondence as my formal notice of resignation as WVU Head Basketball Coach and as notice of my retirement from West Virginia University, effective immediately.”
WVU officials also say they had ongoing conversations with Huggins’ legal team about the resignation and that the coach understood he had resigned.
Longtime West Virginia assistant Josh Eilert was named interim head coach of the Mountaineers last month. West Virginia said on Saturday that Huggins will not be reinstated and the university “will swiftly and aggressively defend itself from these spurious allegations.”
A month prior to his arrest, Huggins came under major fire for using a gay slur during a radio interview. He later apologized for his remarks, and West Virginia handed him a sizable punishment but decided not to fire him at the time.
Huggins probably knows there is virtually no chance of him getting his job back. That does not necessarily mean he will be unsuccessful in recouping some money.
