Huggins Domino Effect : WVU Basketball
Picture this: It’s June 16, 2023. Bob Huggins, Hall of Fame Head Coach, West Virginia legend, and a guy who has probably forgotten more basketball than any of us will ever know—is cruising through Pittsburgh. Except “cruising” is just parked in traffic, the driver’s door flung open, and his tire shredded like it lost a bar fight with the curb. Cops roll up, and in just a matter of time, the breathalyzer is flashing 0.21, more than double the legal limit. Empty beer cans are spilling out of trash bags like a frat house cleanup. And just like that, the dominoes started falling for WVU basketball.
Huggins just wasn’t any coach. This dude was THE GUY in Morgantown with 935 career wins, a Final Four in 2010, the kind of gravelly voiced, no-nonsense leader who instilled the Treadmill Mentality for WVU Basketball. But this wasn’t his first rodeo with the law (shoutout to that 2004 Cincinnati DUI), and it came hot on heels after a May radio interview where he dropped a homophobic slur like it was a casual Tuesday. WVU already slapped him with a 3-game suspension, but the Pittsburgh DUI? That was the kill shot.
Less than 24 hours later Huggins resigned as Head Coach of the Mountaineers and the transfer portal turned into a WVU player fire sale. What arguably was Huggins best roster since 2010, turned into a scrap book made team following the announcement of Interim Head Coach, Josh Eilert. Many players swarmed fo the exits of Morgantown after the 30-day transfer portal window after a coaching change started. Guys began to question the further vision in Morgantown for basketball.
After coaches stepped up to ensure this fanbase had a basketball team to watch, Interim Josh Eilert was let go after a heroic yet horrific season. WVU recruiting took a gut punch as Bob Huggins sold West Virginia as one of the nation’s best programs. That DUI didn’t just cost WV a Hall of Fame Coach, but it cost us our street cred. High School studs and portal prospects started overlooking Morgantown for “better opportunity.”
Fast forward to the hire of Darian DeVries (DDV), a young yet proven Head Coach. DDV brought in a quickly made roster to give this fired-up, passionate fanbase signs of a future worth watching. After facing endless adversity, racking up 19 wins, and being the absolute biggest snub in March Madness history (Thanks Bubba). WVU is left in a frantic state again. Blue bloods are looking to snatch our coach away from us. Where we thought we had a bright future, might turn into yet another Coach search for WVU athletics. DDV and his family have a chance to end the Bob Huggins domino effect on our program. Will this be the case, or will Wren Baker be forced to bring in the next hopeful cornerstone coach to extend a storied program further?
