Legendary college basketball coach Bob Huggins is fighting a difficult health battle.
Huggins’ family announced in a statement on Wednesday that the Hall of Fame coach is battling a progressive cognitive condition. The statement was made in coordination with the University of Cincinnati Athletics department.
“Bob is living with a progressive cognitive condition that has begun to affect his memory and aspects of his daily life,” the statement read in part. “While the family has chosen to keep the matter private over the past several months, they believe this is an apppropriate time to share the news with the many people who have supported Bob throughout his remarkable career.”
Huggins, now 73 years old, had a very storied coaching career in college basketball. He got his first head coaching job in 1980 with Walsh University and later proceeded to lead the programs at Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and West Virginia as well.
Over 38 total seasons coaching in the NCAA, Huggins went a stellar 863-389 (.689). He also made 26 NCAA Tournament appearances, earned nine Sweet Sixteen berths, and even made it to the Final Four with Cincinnati in 1992 and again with West Virginia in 2010.
Huggins, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022, eventually stepped down as Mountaineers head coach in 2023. That came after a troubled stretch in which Huggins used an offensive slur during a radio interview and was then arrested for a DUI several weeks later.
