The Bob Huggins-West Virginia resignation saga keeps getting stranger by the second.
Huggins, who resigned and retired on June 17 following an arrest for driving under the influence and making homophobic remarks aimed at Xavier fans on a Cincinnati radio station four weeks prior, doubled down on a claim that he never formally resigned from the university and that he is still employed as the head men’s basketball coach at the school.
In a statement issued through his new attorney David A. Campbell, Huggins stated that he “voluntarily checked into a world-class rehabilitation center and I intend to remain in the center until I am cleared to return to my active coaching duties.”
Huggins added that West Virginia’s published letter announcing Huggins’ resignation and retirement was “purportedly written” by him, and that he did not draft nor review that statement, which can be found below.
Huggins added:
“I am employed by WVU pursuant to an Employment Agreement. I never submitted the notice required under the Employment Agreement to voluntarily resign. I let WVU know that I was seeking rehabilitation. However, WVU was not willing to speak with me about the Pittsburgh event nor to provide me time to obtain counsel to review my Employment Agreement. I met with my players on June 17, 2023 and let them know the truth — that I did not know what would happen to me, but that if I was not their coach, I was hoping that I would be replaced by a coach that I recommended to WVU. Most importantly, whether I was staying or not, I was encouraging the players to stay at WVU. My players come first and they needed to hear my support for WVU directly from me.
“Now that I have obtained counsel to review the Employment Agreement and have seen WVU’s comments about my current status, it is clear that WVU did not handle the situation appropriately.
“More importantly, the basketball program is in need and I have a strong desire to conclude my career as the Head Basketball Coach for the program that I love. I hope to meet with WVU in the near future to resolve this situation.”
West Virginia University Vice President and General Counsel Stephanie Taylor countered Huggins’ statement in an emphatic letter on Monday, stating that “the facts prove these positions (from Huggins and Campbell) meritless.”
The letter details that Mr. John Gianola, Huggins’ long-standing lawyer, actively worked with Huggins and the university over the two-day stretch of June 16 and 17 to negotiate the resignation and retirement, with Gianola holding “approximately 70 minutes of phone conversations” with WVU over that weekend.
As for the resignation sent in to the university coming from Huggins’ wife June’s email account, the university states that the only reason why it came from Mrs. Huggins was because Bob does not use email and Gianola was having IT issues at his office. The letter adds that “Mr. Gianola specifically requested the University send language that the University would find acceptable in such a resignation notification.”
The letter adds that Huggins engaged in conversations with his administrator, WVU Deputy Athletic Director Steve Uryasz, on the night of June 17 to confirm that he was resigning after he specifically told his players and members of the staff that he was resigning.
The letter also points out that Huggins cleaned out his office on Sunday, June 18, with athletic director Wren Baker on hand, and during that period of time, Huggins never brought up that he didn’t actually resign or retire.
“There is no support in the law or on these facts to suggest that Mr. Huggins may now ignore his resignation and his actions upon which all have relied, undo his voluntary separation, and return to work as if none of this ever occurred,” Taylor adds.
This letter exchange follows an initial interaction between Campbell and West Virginia University on Friday and Saturday.
Before his resignation, Huggins was the active winningest head coach in college basketball, with 935 victories and two Final Four trips in his over four decades at the helm.
These exchanges from Campbell threatening litigation against the university come two weeks following West Virginia naming Josh Eilert, a Huggins disciple, the school’s interim head coach for the 2023-24 season.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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