A Winning Aura
April 06, 2007 07:07 PM | General
April 6, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Standing at the podium addressing close to a thousand West Virginia fans sprinkled in with a sizable contingent of reporters, Bob Huggins had the look of a man who has won close to 600 college basketball games during his career.
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| Bob Huggins speaks to reporters Friday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum. He was hired as West Virginia University's 21st basketball coach on Thursday, April 5.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
He possesses a certain aura or presence about him that only a few others have. John Thompson had it whenever he walked into an arena. Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino and Jim Calhoun have it. You find yourself looking at them as much as you do listening to what they have to say.
It was difficult trying to separate both after Huggins was introduced by WVU Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong Friday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum. Huggins speaks in almost a whisper at times but the sheer power of his words and the confidence he exudes is unmistakable.
“We’re going to win and I think that’s what everybody wants to do. We’re going to win and we’re going to win big,” he said.
And while Huggins enjoyed all of his experiences moving through the coaching ranks, from Akron to Cincinnati to Kansas State, he admits there was always one eye looking East back home to Morgantown.
“I can say there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t turn on ESPN to see how the Mountaineers did,” Huggins said. “Every time we played a football game I made sure I watched it or had somebody tape it so I could watch it.
“I wanted to be here since I was a little kid,” Huggins said. “Sometimes for whatever reasons it’s not the right time.”
Huggins says the timing wasn’t perfect this time either leaving a talented Kansas State basketball team after just one year, but the tug to return home was something he simply couldn’t deny.
“It’s always been very difficult for me to leave players and the most difficult thing I had to do yesterday was tell a bunch of guys who became family that I had to leave,” Huggins said. “I just got a text this morning from one of my guys back in Kansas who wrote, ‘Coach I wish you nothing but the best.’ He happens to be a West Virginian himself. He understands.”
West Virginia has always won out with Huggins ever since he was a little boy listening to Mountaineer basketball games on his grandfather’s lap. His father Charlie Huggins played one year of basketball at WVU before transferring to Alderson-Broaddus. He later became a well-known high school basketball coach in Ohio where he could make enough money to raise a family of seven.
“My dad loves West Virginia,” Huggins said. “He’s a West Virginian now. He grew up right here in Dug Hill outside Sabraton. He watches every game on TV. If he doesn’t watch it he tapes it to watch it later.
“He came to a bunch of (West Virginia) games this year. He came to more of your games than he came to mine,” Huggins chuckled. “My brother (Larry) who played at Ohio State is a season ticket holder here and he lives in Columbus, Ohio. That kind of gives you an idea about how important this University has been in our family.”
Huggins recalled several special moments during his three seasons playing at WVU from 1975-77. He says his fondest memory came when the Mountaineers knocked off nationally ranked Notre Dame his senior year in 1977.
“The thing I remember most is Maurice (Robinson) and I were walking out and Notre Dame was out there with this big boom box and they were stretching,” Huggins said. “They were pretty good and Digger (Phelps) was coaching and I kind of stopped over to watch them stretch. I don’t know why -- it really didn’t do too much for me.
“Then Digger walked over to us and he said, ‘We’re going to whip you tomorrow boys.’ We didn’t say anything. We just went upstairs and went back to Towers.
“We came over the next day and I always came in early and shot,” Huggins continued. “I walked in an hour and a half before the game and the Coliseum was full. They broke the doors down. We played pretty well and we’re up 16 or 17 with a minute left to go and I remember Maurice walking over to Digger and Digger was standing up yelling and screaming. Mo walked by Digger and he said, ‘We beat your ass today boy.’ I thought that was pretty good.”
Through the years as his Cincinnati teams got better and better, the Bearcats became a lightning rod for opposing fans. Rivalries became whoever Cincinnati was playing.
“You have to win to have a rivalry,” Huggins said. “If we went to Charlotte we were their rival. If we went to Louisville we were their rival. That’s where we want to get. We want to get to where we really don’t care but they really care about us. That’s kind of fun.”
It’s easier to see now why Bob Huggins has such an aura about him. It’s also easier to comprehend how he has been able to win nearly 600 basketball games during a coaching career that promises many more victories to come.
And that is certainly worth hanging around to watch.
