KANSAS CITY – West Virginia's Bob Huggins is now the winningest active men's basketball coach in college basketball.
 
Earlier today, Syracuse University announced that assistant coach Adrian Autry is taking over for Jim Boeheim, who will not be returning for a 48^th season coaching the Orange. Syracuse lost to Wake Forest on a last-second shot in the ACC Tournament this afternoon.
 
Boeheim won 1,015 games during his Hall of Fame career. That's second only to Duke's Mike Krzyzewski's 1,202. Krzyzewski retired after last season.
 
That leaves Huggins atop the active wins list with 935 following tonight's 78-62 Big 12 Tournament win over Texas Tech in Kansas City.
 
Huggins not only coached against Boeheim when the two were together in the Big East, but he also faced Boeheim's Syracuse teams when he was a player at West Virginia.
 
"He's a basketball die-hard and he was coaching when I was playing," Huggins said after tonight's game. "I made two free throws to beat him, and we talk about that occasionally."
 
Huggins said Boeheim is somewhat misunderstood by some.
 
"He's a great guy and a fun guy to be around," Huggins pointed out. "A lot of times people misunderstand what a good guy he is, and he's had an absolutely incredible career from being a player at Syracuse to what he's done there for thousands and thousands of games.
 
It's hard to do and it's hard to stay at the top like he has," Huggins said.
 
As far as Huggins now moving to the top of all active coaches, he said he hasn't given it much thought.
 
Honestly, I don't think about those things unless I come in here and listen to you guys (media)," he said. "My dad (Charlie) was probably the most successful coach in the history of Ohio basketball, and he never really talked about it."
 
And while Huggins might dismiss it, his players certainly don't.
 
"What a privilege," forward Tre Mitchell said. "I was actually watching it today and we were seeing who was in front of him. (Huggins) has been at this for a while now and the opportunity to play for somebody who has seen so much basketball, and to pick different things from his brain, is just an amazing opportunity for us to elevate our games."
 
"It's cool playing for the coach that's active with the most wins," guard Kedrian Johnson added. "It means something to him, and it also means something to us.
 
"(Boeheim's retirement is) a bit surprising," Johnson added,  but I bet Huggs coaches past 77 (Boehem's age)."
 
Guard Erik Stevenson couldn't help but think about how Boeheim's final game ended on a last-second 3.
 
"I was watching the Syracuse game and what a helluva way for him to retire," he said. "I watched his postgame and he hinted at it from his speech that he was retiring, but I thought it would happen in a week or so. It will probably set in for me tonight when we get back to the hotel."
 
"Now our coach has the spotlight now," Johnson said.
 
Indeed, he does.