Former West Virginia coach Bob Huggins doubles down on his claim that he never technically quit the school, noting in a public letter Monday that West Virginia “did not handle the situation appropriately.” Huggins also wrote, “I have a strong desire to end my career” at WVU.
The Solicitor General of West Virginia responded with a final letter of rebuttal to Huggins’ attorney.
It’s a continuation of a bizarre series that broke over the weekend. When he was an attorney from Ohio he had recently retained Huggins as a client Send a message to WVU President E. Gordon G. The letter attempted to clarify Huggins’ employment status at WVU and requested that he eventually be reinstated after undergoing rehabilitation counseling for alcohol abuse. There was a threat of legal action otherwise, and the school’s attorney responded that Huggins would not be rehired.
He made a spectacle after the disastrous fall of Huggins, 69, who was the Division I’s active leader in wins at the time of his resignation. Hall of Fame coach who spent 16 seasons coaching his alma mater It’s based on the idea that he’s not technically quitting from his position after being arrested for drunk driving, with one of his tires destroyed, and a blood alcohol level of 0.210 recorded in Pittsburgh on June 16. Huggins and WVU split up the next day.
Huggins wrote the letter on Monday and posted it via his new attorney, David Campbell. In the letter, he said that WVU falsely published a resignation statement under his name on June 17.
“The press has now seen the letter my attorney sent stating my position that I never quit as head basketball coach at West Virginia University. My attorney will address the legal issues related to my alleged resignation. I wanted to respond to WVU’s statements and set the record straight in the two weeks the last two.
“First let me say I am truly sorry for the mistake I made in Pittsburgh. I have taken responsibility for the mistake and have taken a course of action to ensure that such a mistake does not happen in the future. I voluntarily checked into a world class rehab center and intend to stay at the center until I am allowed Back to my active coaching duties.
“Because of my focus on rehabilitation, I was not in the media or responding to WVU’s statements regarding the incident. I now understand that WVU published a statement purportedly written by me at 10:30 p.m. on June 17, 2023. The WVU statement states: “I have Today I submitted a letter to President Gordon G., Vice President and Director of Athletics, Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intent to retire as the men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University, effective immediately. I have not drafted or reviewed WVU’s statement. This false statement was sent in my name, but it has not been Include any signature.In addition, the unsigned false statement was accompanied by a joint statement from the President and the Director of Athletics clearly indicating that they had received the purported letter of resignation from me: ‘Coach Huggins has communicated his intention to retire to Coach Huggins and has submitted his letter of resignation, which we have accepted in light of recent events.’ We support his decision so he can focus on his health and family.”
“I am employed by WVU under an employment agreement. I never gave the notice required by the employment agreement to resign voluntarily. I advised WVU that I was seeking rehabilitation. However, WVU was not willing to speak to me about the Pittsburgh event nor to give me time to get an attorney to review My employment agreement. I met with my players on June 17, 2023 and told them the truth – that I didn’t know what would happen to me, but that if I hadn’t been a coach, I hoped he’d be replaced by a coach I recommended to WVU. More importantly, whether I stay or No, I was encouraging players to stay at WVU. Players come first and they needed to hear my support for WVU directly from me.
“Now that I’ve got a lawyer to review the employment agreement and I’ve seen WVU’s comments about my current situation, it’s clear that WVU didn’t handle the situation appropriately. More importantly, the basketball program needs to end my career as a basketball coach for the program I love. I hope that I am meeting with WVU in the near future to resolve this situation.”
Sources told CBS Sports that Huggins has no chance of coaching at West Virginia again. However, Campbell wrote a second letter to WVU on Sunday, addressed to Stephanie Taylor, the attorney who drafted the school’s initial rebuttal correspondence. In Campbell’s letter, he also emphasized the central point of the dispute: the nature of Huggins’ resignation, and whether he had really indicated to WVU leaders that he had agreed to resign.
Because Huggins resigned, according to WVU, he is not required to be paid the remainder of the salary on his one-year contract, which was set to expire in April 2024.
After Campbell sent his letter, Taylor (WVU’s general counsel representative) sent another written message, this one stronger than the first. In it she says:
- Huggins’ longtime attorney, Rocky Gianola, was in constant communication on June 16 and 17, “before, and after the moment Mr. Huggins decided to resign.”
- It was agreed to communicate with Gianola about Huggins sending a notice of resignation via his wife’s email account by the university and Gianola, who was in frequent contact with Huggins
- Huggins “specifically told the team he was quitting” when he met with them on June 17
- In an eight-minute phone call on June 17, after a meeting with the team, Huggins told WVU’s associate athletic director that he was resigning.
- To WVU’s knowledge, at no point did Huggins indicate to WVU, Gianola, or his wife that he was changing his mind about resigning
- Huggins cleaned out his own office on June 18, under the circumstances and under the impression he was done coaching West Virginia
Taylor’s letter can be read in full below.
“There is no support in the law or these facts to suggest that Mr. Huggins may now ignore his resignation and his actions on which all relied, retract his voluntary separation, and return to business as if none of this had ever happened,” Taylor’s letter states.
A public relations battle with the threat of legal action put an even greater stain on the tragic end of Huggins’ career at West Virginia. What’s more, even if Huggins won a legal battle over the technicalities of whether he resigned of his own volition, West Virginia would still retain the power to remove him, almost certainly with cause.