Bob Huggins gives peculiar answer when pressed on coaching future after NCAA Tournament loss

Following Thursday’s loss to Maryland in the NCAA Tournament, Bob Huggins is now through 16 seasons at West Virginia and his 41st as a college head coach. That, naturally, has led to questions about whether or not the 69-year-old will continue to lead the Mountaineers’ program.

He gave an interesting response in his postgame press conference.

“You know the only thing I’ve thought about in the last whatever month and a half was getting these guys to a point where they could come here,” Huggins told reporters. “Erik [Stevenson], for instance, had never played in an NCAA Tournament. We want to get those guys to an NCAA Tournament and experience the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, ours isn’t is going to be very long, but at least he got to play in one.

“I don’t know. It’s like anything else, you know. You probably got people who enjoy reading what you write, and there’s people who say I wouldn’t read a damn thing he writes. I got the same situation going on. I got people who think I should stay on for quite a while, and there’s people probably thinking I ought to pack it in and let some young kid come in and screw it up.”

West Virginia went 19-15 overall and 7-11 in Big 12 play this season, and just played in its 11th NCAA Tournament under Huggins. A Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame selection last year, Huggins has a 345-203 career record with WVU and, during his storied career, is 934-415 overall.

Bob Huggins: Kedrian Johnson was ‘terrific’ vs. Maryland

The 2022-23 season came to an end Thursday with the 67-65 loss to Maryland. The Mountaineers got off to a hot start as the Terrapins offense stalled, but the tables turned. They shot just 39.3% from the floor as Maryland made 51.1% of its shots to come away with the victory.

Still, West Virginia got a big-time performance out of Kedrian Johnson. He dropped 27 points, and his last shot for the win just missed. Huggins acknowledged Johnson’s performance in the game during his press conference, expressing how much he meant to the Mountaineers in the close loss.

“He was terrific,” Huggins said. “He was absolutely terrific. Without him, we wouldn’t been able to stay in the game. The last shot, it looked to me like it grazed the end of the rim. He’s an inch away from winning the game for us. … It was dead on line. It just missed by a few inches.”