Host: Coach, you left Cincinnati on less than good terms. There were legal problems...there were personal problems. Would a school be taking a chance in hiring you?
Huggy Bear: I've obviously had difficulties in my personal life in the past. I've made some poor choices...but one of the good things about America is that it's a place for second chances. I want to get back into coaching. It's what I love. I want to coach. I want to work with the kids. I want to win. I've learned from the past...I've sat out for a year...I'm ready to get back onto the court.
Host: Coach, what about your reputation for recruiting and playing thugs and ignoring academics?
Huggy Bear: My goal and my job is to win basketball games, and to do it in the context of a university setting. My teams play hard, play tough defense. If that makes them thugs, then so be it. Soft players don't win championships. As far as the academics go, that's something that's been blown out of proportion by the way the NCAA keeps its records. I've had many players go to the league and have successful careers...they're counted against the graduation rate. If you look at the past [however many] years, I think, there are [number] players who graduated. Obviously, there's academic goals there that the school has and now the NCAA has, and accomplishing those is going to be an important part of putting yourself in a position to win games and win championships.
