West Virginia men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins was arrested and taken into custody Friday night on a charge of driving under the influence, potentially putting his future with the program in jeopardy with a second offense in the past six weeks.
“We are gathering more information and will take appropriate action once the review is complete,” the school said in a statement Saturday.
According to a report from a Pittsburgh Police public information officer, police observed a black SUV blocking traffic just before 8:30 p.m. ET. Friday. The vehicle had a “flat and shredded tire”, and the driver’s side door was open.
After directing the driver, identified as Robert Huggins, 69, of Morgantown, West Virginia, to move the vehicle off the road, officers observed Huggins having trouble maneuvering the SUV and pulled him over. The officers questioned Huggins and, believing he was intoxicated, asked him to perform field sobriety tests, which he failed.
Huggins was arrested and charged with DUI. He was later released, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for a later date.
There already were speculations and signs that the 2023-24 season loomed as the swan song for Huggins. Along with a $1 million salary reduction and suspension in the aftermath of his use of an anti-gay slur on a Cincinnati radio station, Huggins was essentially given a contract that is guaranteed for only a year, a rarity in college athletics.
The contractual amendment was essentially a signal that West Virginia officials controlled Huggins’ fate and could easily navigate into a transition to the next staff without worrying about owing him a significant amount of money.
Huggins’ arrest will put pressure on West Virginia officials, who said they were outraged by his comments and had to fight internally to keep him on for next season amid public scrutiny and pressure.
In a joint statement after Huggins’ radio comments, president Gordon Gee and athletic director Wren Baker called the slurs “inexcusable” and said the comments “tarnished West Virginia University.”
Huggins, a Morgantown native who played for the Mountaineers in college, has coached at his alma mater since 2007 after a long tenure with the Cincinnati Bearcats and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. He has guided the Mountaineers to 11 NCAA tournament appearances, including a Final Four in 2010. Huggins spent one season at Kansas State after leading Cincinnati to 14 straight NCAA tournament appearances from 1992 to 2005.
Huggins was convicted of drunken driving in 2004 while at Cincinnati after pleading no contest. That led to a standoff with then-university president Nancy Zimpher that ultimately resulted in Huggins resigning as Bearcats coach.
