Global Courant 2023-05-10 23:41:38
Bob Huggins has agreed to a three-game suspension and a $1 million salary cut.
The deal will allow Huggins to keep his job as the school’s basketball coach, but the blunder will leave a lasting mark on his Hall of Fame career.
Gordon Gee, president of West Virginia University, and athletics director Wren Baker said in a joint statement that the university “has made it explicitly clear to Coach Huggins that incidents involving similar derogatory and offensive language will result in immediate termination of service.”
Under the agreement, Huggins and all current and future athletic coaching staff will be required to complete training that will be developed by the university’s LGBTQ+ Center to address all aspects of inequality, including homophobia, transphobia and sexism. Huggins will also be required to meet with LGBTQ2S+ leaders from across the state.
“We’ll never really know what damage was done by the words said in those 90 seconds,” said Gee and Baker. “Words matter and they can leave scars that can never be seen. But words can also heal. And by taking this moment to learn more about another’s perspective, speak respectfully and lead with understanding, the words ‘will do better ‘ might lead to meaningful change for everyone.”
Under the agreement, Huggins’ salary of $4.15 million will be cut by $1 million. That discount will be used to directly support WVU’s LGBTQ+ center, as well as a college mental health center and other groups that support marginalized communities.
Huggins is suspended for the first three games of the 2023-2024 season. In addition, his contract will be changed from a multi-year agreement to a year-on-year agreement starting May 10 this year and ending April 30, 2024.
“For the past 48 hours I have been thinking about the horrible words I shared on a radio program earlier this week,” Huggins said in a separate statement on Wednesday. “I deeply regret my actions, the pain they have unfairly inflicted on others, and the negative attention my words have drawn to West Virginia University.
“West Virginia and West Virginia University are my home. I love this university and know firsthand that the education and experiences students gain here make a difference. I am truly sorry for the damage I have done. And I am grateful for the opportunity to move forward in a way that positively represents this university and our state.”
Huggins used the slur to refer to Xavier fans on Monday while also denigrating Catholics during an appearance on Cincinnati radio station WLW. The West Virginia Athletic Department called the comments “offensive” and said they were reviewing the matter.
On the radio show, Huggins was asked about the transfer portal and if he had any chance of bringing a player from Xavier, a Jesuit high school, to West Virginia.
“Catholics don’t do that,” Huggins said. “I’ll tell you what, any school that can throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn’t do it, by God they can get away with anything.
“It was the Crosstown Shootout. What it was was all those (expletive), those Catholic (expletive), I guess.”
In a speech on Wednesday, Xavier President Colleen Hanycz called Huggins’ comments “abhorrent and offensive.”
“The deplorable mischaracterizations and homophobic slurs directed at our LGBTQ+ and our Catholic communities were abhorrent and insulting,” Hanycz said before a press event detailing plans for a new medical school. “To those in our Xavier family who were directly targeted and harmed by this hate speech, rest assured that you are invaluable members of our Xavier family and that you belong here,” Hanycz said. “Your presence makes us better.”
Huggins was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last September. In 41 seasons, his teams have gone to 25 NCAA tournaments, finished in the top 10 of The Associated Press poll seven times and finished under .500 five times. The Mountaineers have 11 NCAA Tournament appearances under Huggins.
Huggins spent 16 seasons at Cincinnati before being fired in 2005 in a power struggle with the school’s president and the aftermath of a 2004 drunk driving arrest. After spending a season at Kansas State, Huggins took his dream job at West Virginia, his alma mater.
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AP College Sports Writer Ralph Russo contributed to this report.
