Bob Huggins has claimed that West Virginia falsified the statement released and attributed to him announcing his resignation.
West Virginia announced on June 17 that Huggins had resigned following his drunk-driving arrest, releasing a statement attributed to him.
Huggins was charged with driving under the influence in Pittsburgh on June 16.
A breath test determined Huggins’ blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit. His resignation was announced by the university the following night.
But the 69-year-old has since claimed he never resigned as West Virginia’s basketball coach and threatened a lawsuit if he didn’t get his job back.
Bob Huggins has claimed that West Virginia falsified his resignation announcement
The potential legal battle escalated Monday when Huggins released a statement claiming that the resignation letter was ‘false.’
‘I now understand that WVU published a statement purportedly written by me at 10:30 p.m. on June 17, 2023 … I did not draft or review WVU’s statement,’ Huggins wrote in the statement, obtained by John Fanta.
‘This false statement was sent under my name, but no signature is included. In addition, the false, unsigned statement, was accompanied by a joint statement from the President and Athletics Director that clearly implied that they received this purported resignation letter from me.
‘[…] I am employed by WVU pursuant to an Employment Agreement. I never submitted the notice required under the Employment Agreement to voluntarily resign.
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‘I let WVU know that I was seeking rehabilitation. However, WVU was not willing to speak with me about the Pittsburgh event nor to provide me time to obtain counsel to review my Employment Agreement. I met with my players on June 17, 2023 and let them know the truth – – that I did not know what would happen to me, but that if I was not their coach, I was hoping that I would be replaced by a coach that I recommended to WVU. Most importantly, whether I was staying or not, I was encouraging the players to stay at WVU. My players come first and they needed to hear my support for WVU directly from me.
‘Now that I have obtained counsel to review the Employment Agreement and have seen WVU’s comments about my current status, it is clear that WVU did not handle the situation appropriately.
‘More importantly, the basketball program is in need and I have a strong desire to conclude my career as the Head Basketball Coach for the program that I love. I hope to meet with WVU in the near future to resolve this situation.’
Huggins’s statement follows a letter from his attorney sent to the university last week.
Huggins was charged with driving under the influence in Pittsburgh on June 16
Huggins’ Cleveland-based attorney, David A. Campbell, wrote to the university Friday that Huggins ‘never signed a resignation letter and never communicated a resignation to anyone at WVU,’ according to the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday.
Campbell’s letter said the university announced Huggins’ resignation ‘based on a text message from Coach Huggins’ wife’ to Steve Uryasz, West Virginia’s deputy athletic director.
The university responded to Campbell in a letter Saturday that read, in part: ‘We are frankly confused by the allegations within the letter.’
WVU said Huggins met with his players and members of the basketball staff on June 17 ‘to announce that he would no longer be coaching the team.’
It said Huggins ‘clearly’ communicated his resignation and retirement in writing and that ‘both parties have reasonably relied on that resignation and retirement notification in a number of ways since then.’
The university provided The AP with a copy of a notice sent by Huggins’ wife, June, that same day. It read: ‘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.’
The notice was sent from an email address associated with June Huggins, with a signature indicating it was sent via iPhone. It was sent to Uryasz’s email address and did not appear to be a text message, as Campbell claimed.
West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker responded an hour later by writing, ‘We accept your resignation and wish you the best in retirement. We appreciate your many years of dedication to WVU.’
Less than an hour after that, the university released two statements. One announced Huggins’ resignation.
The other was titled ‘A Message from Bob Huggins to the WVU Community’ and began, ‘Today, I have 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 men´s basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately.’
Assistant coach Josh Eilert was promoted to interim head coach for the 2023-24 season.
The resignation was announced a month after the university gave Huggins a three-game suspension for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.
Assistant coach Josh Eilert was promoted to interim head coach for the 2023-24 season
Several of Huggins’ players have already entered the transfer portal, and some have found new teams.
Campbell said Huggins’ contract required the coach to send a notice in writing by registered or certified mail to the athletic director and university general counsel.
Despite the threat of a lawsuit, Campbell’s letter said Huggins ‘does not desire litigation. Rather, he is simply looking for the correction of a clear breach of his employment agreement with WVU.’
Huggins was the third-winningest coach all-time in Division I with 935 victories, trailing only Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (1,202) and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse (1,015), both of whom are retired.
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