MORGANTOWN — West Virginia has filled out its Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame bingo card.
The school’s previous inductees included a player in Jerry West, an announcer in “Hot” Rod Hundley and a general manager in Rod Thorn.
The coach came Saturday, as WVU head coach Bob Huggins was officially announced as part of the class of 2022, one of 13 members to be inducted on Sept. 10 in Springfield, Mass.
“This is something you cherish,” said Huggins, who is fourth on the all-time Division I wins list with 916 victories. “It’s something you can’t put your head around.”
In 40 seasons as a college basketball coach, Huggins has guided 25 teams to the NCAA tournament, including two Final Fours, four Elite Eights and nine Sweet 16s.
He has twice been named the national coach of the year.
At WVU, Huggins guided the Mountaineers to the 2010 Final Four and he’s had the school in the national rankings in 11 of his 15 seasons.
“This is once in a lifetime, obviously,” Huggins said. “I’m so proud and honored to be here.”
Huggins was a Hall-of-Fame nominee in 2019 and 2020, but was a first-time finalist this year. To be elected, finalists must receive 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee.
“The first time it ever hit me was at the induction of Rod Hundley,” Huggins said. “Jerry was there and I was sitting there with those two guys thinking this is pretty neat.
“You start thinking about it a little bit and then your coaching buddies are telling you you’re going to get in. I tried not to think too much about it, because I didn’t want to be disappointed.”
There was no disappointment Saturday, as Huggins will join a class that also includes former NBA standouts Tim Hardaway and Manu Ginobli, as well as NBA coach George Karl and four-time WNBA All-Star Swin Cash, who also won two national titles as a collegiate standout at Connecticut.
He is the second member of his family to be inducted into a Hall of Fame, following his father Charlie, who was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 after a legendary high school coaching career that included coaching Bob to an undefeated state championship in 1972.
Charlie Huggins died at the age of 87 last April.
“I’m not sure,” Huggins replied when asked what his father would have said to him on this day. “He said a lot of things to me. Some I enjoyed, some I didn’t. I think he would be proud. I’m a son of a coach, that’s all I know. I grew up in a gym. This was a dream for me.”
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