Robert Edward Huggins (born September 21, 1953),[1][2] nicknamed "Huggy Bear", is an American college basketball coach.

[4] Huggins released a statement announcing his resignation and retirement from West Virginia in 2023, following his drunk driving arrest.

Huggins, who had moved from Morgantown, West Virginia to Port Washington, Ohio, with his family, played basketball for his father, Charles, at Indian Valley South High School.

[9] In three seasons at Walsh, he compiled a 71–26 record, twice earning NAIA District 22 Coach of the Year honors.

The Bearcats were invited to the NIT in his first two years, and then advanced to the Final Four of the 1992 NCAA tournament, Huggins' third season as coach.

[9] Twenty-seven percent of Huggins's players graduated with a degree, a rate described by one commentator as "abysmal".

[12] According to the NCAA, the Bearcats men's basketball team's graduation rate increased as soon as Huggins left the head coaching job, although as late as 2017, it continued to be much lower than for other athletic programs at Cincinnati.

[13] Overall, Huggins compiled a 399–127 record (.759) in his 16 years at Cincinnati, making him the winningest basketball coach in the school's history.

[citation needed] During his tenure, Huggins coached three consensus All-Americans: Danny Fortson, Kenyon Martin, and Steve Logan.

[17] A judge ordered Huggins to pay a $350 fine plus court costs, and to attend a three-day state-certified intervention program.

[19] Zimpher had been embarrassed by Huggins's DUI arrest, news of which broke on the morning of her first commencement as UC's president, at which Coretta Scott King spoke.

[28] On April 5, 2007, Huggins announced that he had signed a five-year contract to be the head coach at his alma mater, West Virginia University.

Huggins succeeded John Beilein, who left WVU to coach the Michigan Wolverines.

[34][35] West Virginia began the 2008–09 season 4–0, led by senior Alex Ruoff and junior Da'Sean Butler.

Having finished the regular season at 21–10 (10–8), West Virginia earned a first round bye in the 2009 Big East tournament, where they lost in the semifinals to Syracuse in overtime, 74–69.

[36] In 2012, Bleacher Report described Huggins's third season with the Mountaineers as having been his "best chance" to win a national title.

As a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Mountaineers went to their second Final Four in school history, and finished ranked #3 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

Huggins embraced Kentucky head coach John Calipari, a close friend, after the game, and wished him good luck.

[39] On December 22, 2011, Huggins reached his 700th career victory by defeating Missouri State in the Las Vegas Classic.

Huggins described the new conference's schedule as a "grind" early in the season, due to the increased travel requirements and high quality of opponents.

[45] The defense was said to have "met its match" in the 2016 NCAA tournament, when 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin defeated 3rd-seeded WVU in the first round.

[48] On November 6, 2017, WVU and Huggins agreed to a four-year contract extension that included an option for him to step aside or continue coaching after the 2021–22 season, and starting with the 2022–23 season, an option to continue coaching or to work elsewhere in the athletic department through June 2027.

13, the Mountaineers finished the regular season at 12–19 (4–14), earning last place in Big 12 conference play for the first time.

This led Huggins to tweet a video of himself—when he was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats—emerging from a coffin to say, "Why all the long faces?

[54][55][56] In 2021, West Virginia defeated 14th seed Morehead State in the NCAA tournament before losing in a three-point upset to Jim Boeheim's Syracuse Orange in the second round.

[63][64][65] Huggins issued an apology for the statement, calling it "completely insensitive and abhorrent" and promising to fully accept any consequences.

[70][71] Many of WVU's top donors continued to support Huggins after his comments on the radio caused offense.

[72] One long-time WVU donor, a gay man, told WV Sports Now that he planned to redirect his donations away from the athletic department in response to Huggins's comments.

[74] Police officers reported that they found him in an SUV that was blocking traffic, with the driver's door ajar and with a "flat and shredded tire".

[81] The annual Bob Huggins Fish Fry has been held 11 times, most recently on January 27, 2023, to raise money for charity.