When ESPN analyst Digger Phelps called West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins “Huggy Bear” on the air a few weeks ago, the description sounded a bit too cozy. After all, this was a guy who lost his job at Cincinnati for being arrested on a drunken-driving charge, recruiting problem players, and failing to graduate most of them.
But when the Mountaineers’ coach lay down on the court to comfort an injured Da’Sean Butler during last night’s Final Four loss to Duke, he may have redeemed himself in some peoples’ eyes. After all, as many of his players and faithful followers will tell you, Hugs has a simpatico side quite different from the Sopranos style he flashes on the sidelines.
I met Huggins a few years ago at a summer camp, and found him more approachable than most of his contemporaries. (Certainly more so than Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who asked me to put my interview request through his sports-information office.)
While Coach K will no doubt keep landing the higher-caliber student-athlete, I’m guessing last night’s scene will go a long way toward convincing more mamas to send their boys to Morgantown.
