West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins will be coaching on the sidelines next season after using homophobic slurs toward Xavier University fans during a recent radio appearance.
In a lengthy statement emailed to Fox News Digital, West Virginia University detailed the consequences of Huggins’ “inexcusable” language.
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 university said Huggins’ language “unfairly and inappropriately hurt many people and has tarnished West Virginia University.”
“It is also a moment that provides the opportunity for learning. A moment that can shine a light on the injustice and hate that often befall the members of our marginalized communities,” President E. Gordon Gee and Director of Athletics Wren Baker said in the statement. “While the University has never and will never condone the language used on Monday, we will use this moment to educate how the casual use of inflammatory language and implicit bias affect our culture, our community and our health and well-being.”
Huggins’ annual salary will be reduced by $1 million, with the money going directly to “support WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center, the Carruth Center and other state and national organizations that support marginalized communities.”
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Huggins will also be suspended for the first three games of the 2023-24 college basketball season and his multi-year contract will become a year-to-year deal.
“We have made it explicitly clear to Coach Huggins that any incidents of similar derogatory and offensive language will result in immediate termination,” the statement continued.
Huggins will be required to meet with LGBTQ+ leaders from across the state of West Virginia along with leadership from WVU’s Carruth Center to “better understand the mental health crisis facing our college students.”
The university said, “according to the Williams Institute, West Virginia has the highest percentage of transgender youth in the nation. To address the concerns of our West Virginia youth, Coach Huggins will be required to meet with LGBTQ+ leaders from across West Virginia with guidance from the leadership of WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center. We want to partner with ACLU-WV, Fairness WV, Morgantown Pride and other organizations to elevate the conversation regarding the issues that affect our state. Through those conversations, we expect Coach Huggins, in accordance with these partners, to engage in additional opportunities to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
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The West Virginia athletic department will also “partner with WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center to develop annual training sessions that will address all aspects of inequality including homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism and more,” which will be required of Huggins and all current and future athletics coaching staff.
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 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.
“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 on Wednesday afternoon in which he expressed regret for his language on the radio show.
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“Over the past 48 hours, I have reflected on the awful words that I shared on a radio program earlier this week,” Huggins said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “I deeply regret my actions, the hurt they unfairly caused others and the negative attention my words have brought to West Virginia University.
“I also regret the embarrassment and disappointment it has caused our Athletics family, members of our campus community and the state of West Virginia. I am sorry for the hurt and distress I have caused our students and our student-athletes. I represent more than just our University and our basketball program, and it pains me to know that I have let so many people down.”
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)
“I have no excuse for the language I used, and I take full responsibility. I will abide with the actions outlined by the University and Athletics leadership to learn from this incident. I have had several conversations with colleagues and friends that I deeply respect and admire over the last 24 hours, and I am keenly aware of the pain that I have caused. I meant what I wrote on Monday – I will do better.
“I am looking forward to working with WVU’s LGBTQ+ Center and other state organizations to learn more about the issues facing the community. As a leader, I am eager to use my platform to take what I learn and share it with a broader audience.
“I also regret my comments regarding Xavier University. I am hopeful that my personal donation to the university to support its Center for Faith and Justice and its Center for Diversity and Inclusion will further the work it does and the impact it has on its students.”
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Huggins has coached at four Division I schools during his lengthy career, leading the Mountaineers program since 2007.
“West Virginia and West Virginia University are my home,” Huggins said in his statement. “I love this University and know first-hand that the education and experiences students receive here make a difference. I am truly sorry for the damage I have done. And I am grateful for the chance to move forward in a way that positively represents this University and our state.”
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report
