Three weekends after he was arrested for drunk driving in Pittsburgh, former West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has claimed — through one of his attorneys — that he never quit as the Mountaineers’ men’s basketball coach. He also demands a return to power at the helm of the programme.
The news broke on Saturday via MetroNewswhich issued a file July 7 letter From David A. Campbell (Huggins’ attorney) to West Virginia President E. Gordon G. Also published by MetroNews A July 8 rebuttal from WVU To Huggins’ attorney, who appears to be working independently of the other attorneys who have been in contact with school leaders in recent weeks.
Huggins lost his job in June, One day after he was handcuffed and had a blood alcohol level of .210According to the police report. Huggins’ intoxication level was nearly three times the legal limit, and officers reported smelling alcohol on his breath. In the arrest complaint, when officers repeatedly asked him to specify which city he was in, Huggins did not say he was in Pittsburgh.
The next day, June 17, West Virginia announced that Huggins would no longer be the men’s basketball coach.
“Today, I submitted a letter to President Gordon G and Vice President and Director of Athletics Ren Baker informing them of my resignation and my intention to retire as the men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University immediately,” a statement from Huggins read.
In a Friday letter to G, Campbell wrote, “Coach Huggins does not wish to litigate. Instead, he is simply looking to correct an apparent breach of his employment agreement with WVU.”
The letter continues:
However, although the press releases claim to contain direct resignation communications from Coach Huggins to you and/or the athletic director, Coach Huggins did not send his resignation to you, the director of athletics, or anyone at WVU. On the contrary, we understand that the alleged “resignation” is incredibly based on a text message from Coach Huggins’ wife. … Based on press releases issued by WVU over the past days, it is quite clear that WVU is aware of this legal issue and has attempted to rectify it through allegations that Coach Huggins informed you of his resignation directly and that he signed a letter of resignation being sent through the social media page of WVU. Coach Huggins never signed a letter of resignation and never sent a resignation letter to anyone at WVU. Accordingly, WVU’s public comments are not only false, but appear to be an after-the-fact attempt to rectify WVU’s breach of the employment agreement.
There is also an impressive claim from Campbell in his letter where he says that Huggins’ drunk driving case is “close to being fully resolved without charges.” After opening the letter by noting that Huggins does not wish to sue, Campbell’s letter concludes with a threat of litigation if Huggins is not eventually reinstated.
The university’s response letter acknowledges that it is “frankly confused by Campbell’s allegations”.
more Here from Stephanie Taylorattorney representing West Virginia University.
Aside from being wholly inaccurate factually, which we will address briefly below, the allegations in this letter are inconsistent with my conversations yesterday with Mr. Bob Fitzsimmons, a West Virginia attorney who has recently represented Mr. Huggins in various matters and with the University’s prior conversations and notarized correspondence with Mr. James “Rocky” Gianola, Mr. Huggins’ longtime attorney who represented him historically, who represented him during May 2023 negotiations with the university, and who represented him in talks with the university on June 16-17, 2023 when Mr. Huggins decided to resign as WVU men’s basketball coach And retire from the university immediately. … On the evening of June 17, 2023, Mr. Huggins met with members of the men’s basketball team and student-athletes to announce that he would no longer be coaching the team. That same evening at 9:38 p.m., after a series of written and oral communications with Mr. Gianola, who was acting as his advisor, Mr. Huggins clearly communicated his resignation and retirement to the University in writing via email (not a text message as emphasized in your letter).
The letter later states: “Notwithstanding any response, in no uncertain terms, the university will not accept Mr. Huggins’ reversal of his resignation, nor will he reinstate him as head coach of the men’s basketball program.”
The rift between Huggins and West Virginia not only came after his arrest in June, but was exacerbated by an earlier embarrassment to the university in May when Huggins He made homophobic and anti-Catholic remarks on Cincinnati radio. There were calls for WVU to fire Huggins after that episode; Instead, WVU restructured his contract and suspended him for the next season. Just over five weeks later, he lost his position following a drink-driving arrest.
On June 24, West Virginia Promoted to Josh Ellert’s assistant Interim coach for the 2023-24 season. The Mountaineers suffered roster drain as a result, losing four players in the transfer gate, most notably starters Trey Mitchell (now at Kentucky) and Joe Toussaint (now at Texas Tech).