Huggins article

[michigancat]

Huggins would give KSU BB the kick in the ass it needs.


http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cheapseats/gambo/0130rant.html

So Evans will be gone in a matter of time. The question of importance is who replaces him? What direction does ASU go? Do they bring back an old friend like Lionel Hollins, who played for the Sun Devils and is an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies? Do they go for a young coach with potential such as Wichita State's Mark Turgeon, who played for Kansas and was an assistant coach at Kansas and Oregon as well as in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers? Do they look at former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery should he not survive in Golden State with the Warriors?

Or does Love roll the dice and bring in the one man capable of turning this thing around in a hurry -- Bob Huggins.

Huggins comes with baggage, but for a program as downtrodden as ASU hiring the former Cincinnati coach would make sense. Huggins was forced to resign from his job last year after an arrest for drunken driving. He had low graduation rates with his players, had the school on probation, committed rules violations and had some of his players arrested. That's the bad news. The good news is that Huggins was a winner - a big winner. He led the Bearcats to 14 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. He reached the Final Four in 1992 and made the Elite 8 three times. His winning percentage at Cincinnati was .740. He coached five players that turned out to be first-round picks in the NBA draft. And he is loyal, consistently turning down other more lucrative jobs to stay in one place.

ASU once had a point-shaving scandal over their head. That is not the case anymore. Eight years of the squeaky clean Evans made that a distant memory. That was a different time, a different era.

The Sun Devils' future is all that matters now. Contrary to popular belief, being the head coach of the Sun Devils is not a bad job. How can coaching in this climate, so close to California, with a nice basketball arena and in a power conference be a bad job? It is a challenge. It will take hard work. And it will take a coach with a great reputation as a recruiter to lure talent to the area.

The question Love needs to ask herself is what are the expectations at ASU? It is that much to ask the Sun Devils to consistently be in the upper half of the Pac-10? To be an NCAA Tournament team two or three times out of every five years? To once in a while get to the Sweet 16 and on the rare occasion compete with the big boys at Arizona, Washington and UCLA for a Pac-10 title?

The answer may depend on the coach. If Huggins was hired you can bet your bottom dollar that he is going to say all the right things and mean it. He will say that he will go head-to-head with Lute Olson on recruiting, on the court and that winning the conference championship is not a pipe dream.

Coaches with the track record of Huggins don't take jobs just for the payday. They have a reputation to uphold and thrive on challenges. Huggins will cost big dollars, in all likelihood no less than a million per year. But he would be worth it. Wells Fargo Arena is like a morgue most nights. Crowds have been scarce. The team has played in front of half-empty arenas far too long.

It is time to fill Wells Fargo Arena, not just with fans, but with hope and talent on the court. Huggins can accomplish all of those things by bringing in the players that fans will want to see and giving those fans a reason to believe that the Sun Devil basketball program has turned the corner. By all indications Huggins is not a bad person. He is very well-liked and respected in the basketball community.

There is a saying that when you are at the bottom there is nowhere to go but up. ASU could always just stay at the bottom. And that's a scary thought considering how lonely it is at the bottom.

Love is going to be judged on this hire. She needs to get it right. But she also doesn't need to go into this thinking that safest route is her best choice. Sometimes taking a chance can pay off. Huggins is too good of a coach to sit on the sidelines. He will be hired, if not by ASU then maybe by his alma matter at West Virginia barring some rumored coaching shakeup.

ASU hoops does not have the best reputation. It doesn't have the history and tradition of a school like Arizona. But that can change. Hiring conservative won't get it done. But hiring a big-name coach with a history of success can. Huggins just might be the guy that can finally get the ball rolling the Sun Devils' way.

[michigancat]

Another...

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060127/SPT0101/601270398/1064

Let's see if bold looks any better.


AKRON - Bob Huggins on Thursday went back to the school where he began his basketball coaching career, and he was every bit the returning hero.

The former University of Cincinnati coach, who coached the Zips for five seasons, was inducted into the Rhodes Arena Coaches Corner at halftime of the contest.

But on a night when his past was celebrated, Huggins also was asked about his future.


"I definitely want to get back into coaching in the right situation," said Huggins, who sported a dark blue suit and a Zips lapel pin.

Huggins, ousted by UC before this season, said he hopes to get back into college basketball, not the pros.

"I have had opportunities to coach in the NBA," he said. "At this point in my life, I want to coach on the college level."

He said he was open to taking a coaching job outside of Ohio.

"When I took this position (at Akron), my world was Ohio and West Virginia (where he attended college)," he said.

His hiring by UC expanded his horizons.

"When I took the job at Cincinnati, it was different," he said. "We were the northernmost school in a southern league, so I had to recruit the south and the west. What I am saying is I am old and I know a lot of people around the country."

Huggins had a winning percentage of .678 with Akron, leading the team to a 97-46 record from 1985-89.

Huggins spoke of the incredible support he received while he coached in Akron and said he loves the fact that he still talks with almost every player he coached at the school. He also pointed out that coaching at Akron was like coaching at home.

"I grew up down the road (in Gnadenhutten, Ohio). If I could do it all over again, I doubt I would change anything from how it happened," said Huggins, referring coaching at Akron and then Cincinnati.

After going 12-14 his first season with the Zips, Huggins won 22, 21, 21 and 21 games the next four. During that time, Akron made the NCAA Tournament once and the NIT twice.

Akron had not had a winning season in the nine years prior to Huggins' arrival and has not won 20 games since he left.

Huggins was inducted along with former Zips coach Wyatt Webb. Akron showed video highlights and unveiled a banner for each.

[sys]

bozeman is more hugginsy than huggins.  you should think about putting him in your top 5.  and maybe into the avatar rotation as well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36973-2005Jun1.html

[michigancat]

The reality is that most of the players who entered Huggins program were significantly better off for having done so. Many -- including 11 of the last 17 seniors who played for him -- left with degrees they might not have dreamed of attaining otherwise. Nearly all left as significantly better players. Some became extremely wealthy competing in the NBA or European leagues.

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=11131

[sys]

if ksu doesn't at least make a run at a huggins, kruger, majerus type i'm going to hunt weiser down like an angry vice-president.  thanks for his address dax.

[Cat Maniac]

Every Big 12 "state" school has had a successful, but drunk, bball coach...except us!

ISU - Eustachy
OSU - Sutton

We need Huggins...it just seems so right!