West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins is expected to be on the sidelines next season after using homophobic slurs toward Xavier University fans during a recent radio appearance.
While the details have yet to be finalized, ESPN reported Wednesday Huggins will receive a salary reduction of $1 million, a significant suspension, and sensitivity training.
West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins points out a call to his team during the Kansas Jayhawks game on March 10, 2022, at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The salary reduction is expected to be one of the largest in college athletics, knocking Huggins’ yearly pay from $4.2 million to $3.2 million.
West Virginia could not confirm the report when asked by Fox News Digital.
EX-NBA PLAYER JOHN AMAECHI CALLS OUT WEST VIRGINIA COACH BOB HUGGINS FOR ‘DISGUSTING’ HOMOPHOBIC SLURS
Huggins found himself in hot water after a Monday appearance on 700 WLW’s “Bill Cunningham Show,” a Cincinnati-based radio program.
The conversation started with the radio show hosts asking if Huggins had any Xavier University players transfer to West Virginia, to which the veteran head coach replied, “Catholics don’t do that.”
Huggins decided to take that comment a step further, going back to his days as coach of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. The “Crosstown Shootout” is an annual game played between Cincinnati and Xavier, and Huggins referred to a specific incident that occurred.
Head coach Bob Huggins of the West Virginia Mountaineers looks on during a game against the Marquette Golden Eagles at TD Arena on Nov. 19, 2021, in Charleston, South Carolina. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
“I’ll tell you what, any school that can throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn’t do it, by God, they can get away with anything,” Huggins said.
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“It was the Crosstown Shootout,” he continued. “What it was, was all those f–s, those Catholic f–s. They were envious they didn’t have one.”
Huggins released a statement Monday afternoon in which he apologized for using the “completely insensitive and abhorrent phrase.”
“As I have shared with my players over my 40 years of coaching, there are consequences for our words and actions, and I will fully accept any coming my way,” Huggins said in his statement. “I am ashamed and embarrassed and heartbroken for those I have hurt. I must do better, and I will.”
West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins watches during the Big 12 Tournament game against the Jayhawks on March 9, 2023, in Kansas City, Missouri. (Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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West Virginia University added: “Coach Huggins’ remarks today on a Cincinnati radio show were insensitive, offensive and do not represent our university values. Coach Huggins has since apologized. West Virginia University does not condone the use of such language, and takes such actions very seriously. The situation is under review and will be addressed by the university and its athletics department.”
Huggins has coached at four Division I schools during his lengthy career, leading the Mountaineers program since 2007.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report
