Bob Huggins releases new statement, reiterates he didn't resign from West Virginia
Bob Huggins has released a new statement on his apparent resignation from West Virginia through his new attorney. It comes after his attorney sent a letter to WVU claiming Huggins didn’t resign as head basketball coach and was planning to sue.
Huggins reiterated he didn’t submit a resignation to West Virginia in light of an arrest for DUI. It was a surprising course of action considering the university sent out a statement from Huggins the night his resignation was apparently official. However, he claims he didn’t write the letter as he quoted it again in his statement Monday.
While he goes through rehabilitation, he made it clear he wants to fight for his job back even though West Virginia already announced and introduced Josh Eilert as the interim head coach for 2023-24.
“Due to my focus on the rehabilitation, I have not been in the media or responding to WVU’s statements regarding the incident,” Huggins said. “I now understand that WVU published a statement purportedly written by me at 10:30 p.m. on June 17, 2023. … 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 a 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 also released a statement on the situation, hinting confusion about who is representing Huggins. The letters referred to how much money the university owes Huggins after his resignation. The university said if he didn’t resign, he wouldn’t have been owed that money.
“Yesterday (Friday, July 9), Mr. Fitzsimmons called me to discuss the benefits to be provided under Mr. Huggins’ contract, as a result of his resignation and retirement,” the email read. “We specifically discussed the payment of his deferred compensation and annual leave buyout, both of which would not be currently owed to Mr. Huggins if he had not resigned. It appears to us that you may not be aware that Mr. Fitzsimmons, as Mr. Huggins’ other lawyer, has been proceeding under that very same understanding as the University, and the reality as it exists, that Mr. Huggins has in fact resigned and is retired.”
Huggins — a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer — spent 16 years in Morgantown and had a 345-203 record with West Virginia.