Bob Huggins, the head coach of the West Virginia men’s basketball team, has announced his resignation following his arrest for driving under the influence in Pittsburgh on Friday night.
Huggins, 69, issued a statement on Saturday night on the team website, saying that he had sent his letter of resignation to the university officials.
“I have failed to uphold the standards of the university and the expectations of this role with my recent actions,” Huggins said. “I apologize sincerely to the University community – especially to the student-athletes, coaches and staff in our program – and to myself for letting you all down. I take full responsibility for my conduct and will focus on my health and family in the next few months.”
The university president, Gordon Lee, and the athletic director, Wren Baker, said in a joint statement that they accepted Huggins’ resignation “in light of recent events” and supported his decision to “focus on his health and family.”
This comes after Huggins was suspended for three games and had his salary reduced by $1 million last month for using a homophobic slur during a radio interview in May. The university also warned him that any similar language would result in his termination.
According to Pittsburgh police, Huggins was driving a black SUV with a flat tire and blocking traffic on Friday night. Officers noticed that he was intoxicated and had trouble moving his vehicle. He failed field sobriety tests and was taken to a hospital for further testing. He was charged with DUI and released from custody. He will appear at a preliminary hearing at a later date.
Huggins, who is from Morganstown and played basketball at West Virginia in the 1970s, has been coaching college basketball for 41 seasons. He has 934 wins, the eighth most in NCAA history. He coached at Cincinnati for 16 seasons until 2005, and also at Akron and Kansas State. He joined West Virginia in 2007 and led them to two Final Four appearances. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
