On the night of June 16, West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins was arrested for DUI. Pittsburgh police observed a black SUV blocking traffic with a flat and shredded tire. As they attempted to help the driver manuever the vehicle to the side of the road, they suspected he was under the influence. A field sobriety test was performed, and failed. Huggins was arrested, and a subsequent test revealed his blood alcohol content was .210, two and a half times the legal limit.
The arrest was reported the next day, and West Virginia announced Huggins's departure on June 17.
"Today, I have submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head men's basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately," a statement attributed to Huggins, released by WVU, said.
Three weeks later, Huggins is saying he never resigned as West Virginia's basketball coach.
Over the weekend, the Associated Press reported that Huggins's attorney wrote a letter to WVU saying he never resigned, and threatened a lawsuit if he is not reinstated.
According to West Virginia, Huggins informed the team in a meeting on June 17 of his resignation, and then, per the terms required by his contract, submitted a formal resignation via email:
“Please accept this correspondence as my formal notice of resignation as WVU Head Basketball Coach and as notice of my retirement from West Virginia University, effective immediately.”
According to Huggins and his attorney, he never told the team he was resigning, and the email came from his wife, not him.
WVU responded to the attorney, a Cleveland-based lawyer named David Campbell, with a statement rarely seen on official university correspondence: "We are frankly confused by the allegations within the letter."
In a letter to Campbell, WVU says it has been in correspondence with a different attorney representing Huggins, Bob Fitzsimmons, about benefits due to Huggins as part of his severance from the university. (There's actually a third lawyer involved in here, too, but this story is already convoluted enough.)
"Yesterday, Mr. Fitzsimmons called me to discuss the benefits to be provided under Mr. Huggins’ contract, as a result of his resignation and retirement. We specifically discussed the payment of his deferred compensation and annual leave balance payout, both of which would not be currently owed to Mr. Huggins if he had not resigned," WVU general counsel Stephanie Taylor wrote to Campbell, via WV Metro News. "It appears to us that you may not be aware that Mr. Fitzsimmons, as Mr. Huggins’ other lawyer, has been proceeding under that very same understanding as the University, and the reality as it exists, that Mr. Huggins has in fact resigned and is retired."
Regardless, on Monday, Huggins released this statement insisting he never resigned and is still West Virginia's head men's basketball coach. It reads, in part:
"I am employed by WVU pursuant to an Employment Agreement. I never submitted the notice required under the Employment Agreement to voluntarily resign. I let WVU know that I was seeking rehabilitation. However, WVU was not willing to speak with me about the Pittsburgh event nor to provide me time to obtain counsel to review my Employment Agreement. I met with my players on June 17, 2023 and let them know the truth -- that I did not know what would happen to me, but that if I was not their coach, I was hoping that I would be replaced by coach that I recommended to WVU... Now that I have obtained counsel to review the Employment Agreement and have seen WVU's comments about my current status, it is clear that WVU did not handle the situation appropriately. More importantly, the basketball program is in need and I have a strong desire to conclude my career as the Head Basketball Coach for the program that I love. I hope to meet with WVU in the near future to resolve this situation."
Keep in mind:
A) Before the arrest, Huggins was already placed on a 3-game suspension to begin the season for uttering a homophobic slur on a Cincinnati radio station back in May.
B) This back-and-forth episode began after Huggins was arrested for DUI.
C) West Virginia has long since moved on. Longtime assistant Josh Eilert was promoted to interim head coach on June 24. WVU announced Eilert's staff, including two assistant coaching hires, on July 2.
I am not an employment lawyer, but it reads to me like Huggins and his attorney are trying really, really hard to turn an amicable resignation with severance into a termination with cause.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.