MORGANTOWN — It would have been the bus ride of a lifetime.
Inside was Bob Huggins, his staff and players armed with the national championship trophy heading for all points in West Virginia.
From Weirton to Welch, from Martinsburg to Matewan and all points in between, as WVU play-by-play man Tony Caridi says to begin his broadcasts.
The bus would stop everywhere, letting everyone in that community to come out and cheer, celebrate, maybe even embrace that trophy, a sign that good things can indeed come to a state so many around the country see as downtrodden.
That was Huggins’ vision of a moment that will now never happen with him at the helm, because he decided to get behind the wheel of his WVU-leased SUV and drive it into downtown Pittsburgh while intoxicated.
A tire was shredded. Empty beer cans were in a bag in the front. More empty beer bottles were in a bag in the trunk.
Huggins could not tell Pittsburgh police how he arrived in the city. He couldn’t account for his whereabouts for several hours leading up to his arrest and being charged with a DUI last Friday night. All of this comes from details of a criminal complaint released for the world to see.
“My recent actions do not represent the values of the university or the leadership expected in this role,” Huggins said in his resignation statement. “While I have always tried to represent our university with honor, I have let all of you — and myself — down.”
It has since been reported, theorized on social media or offered as opinion as some type of ending. Yet, that’s the furthest thing from the truth.
The ripple effect reverberating from the incident may not cease a year from now. Lives of those directly situated around Huggins have been uprooted and thrown into chaos.
The contracts of assistants Ron Everhart and Josh Eilert are set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on June 30. In recent weeks the extension of those deals kept getting put on hold and now there may be no good reason to even have those discussions.
Alex Ruoff was in line to move up in the coaching ranks, moving up from being a grad assistant.
Former player Jordan McCabe was back in town, reportedly set to become the next grad assistant, which would be his first steps into a possible coaching career. That plan, too, is on hold in a major way.
DeMarr Jonnson is signed through June 30, 2024, but seeing how he hasn’t been an assistant coach for a full season yet, it also leaves his future in doubt, depending on what WVU does next.
And that is the ultimate question: What will WVU do next?
This is where the tale creeps into the world of those who have both political and financial influence at WVU.
Those who have written large checks in the past for practice facilities, stadium renovations, new locker rooms, academic donations and the likes.
A large-enough portion of those donors/boosters is screaming for the hiring of UAB head coach Andy Kennedy, a former assistant at Cincinnati under Huggins, who took over that program after Huggins was forced to resign there in 2005.
Kennedy comes with his own baggage, pleading guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct in 2009, stemming from a late-night cab ride gone wrong in 2008.
Kennedy was sentenced to community service and probation after he was accused of punching cab driver Mohamed Moctar Ould Jiddou and referred to him using ethnic slurs.
Kennedy was arrested. Dashboard footage of the arrest showed him pleading with officers for his release or else there would be an “international incident.”
In 2010, Kennedy settled a defamation lawsuit with the driver and a valet who witnessed the event. Terms of the settlement were never made public.
All of that aside, the major question WVU officials have to ask themselves is if it’s worth the long-term reputation of the university to remain associated with Huggins’ lineage?
Those pushing for Kennedy have a near-sighted view of keeping together what appears to be a solid transfer-portal class for next season, the majority of which will be out of eligibility after next season is complete.
Last I checked, WVU basketball is a national program, not some youth rec league team looking to pull some strings in order to create the memory of that one big year.
Figuring out the program’s new leadership should go much further than just the 2023-24 season.
Maybe Kennedy could be the guy to do both — to keep the immediate intact, while also keeping the future of the program moving in the right direction.
Or maybe it’s viewed Huggins pulled one final string to get his guy to replace him, which could be a public relations nightmare in so many circles.
It’s a decision now in the hands of the judges, Wren Baker and E. Gordon Gee, in this case.
Other names have been tossed around — College of Charleston’s Pat Kelsey and Ben McCollum, a Division II coaching star at Northwestern Missouri State.
Jerrod Calhoun’s (Youngstown State) name is also being thrown out there. He, too, has ties with Huggins at both Cincinnati and WVU, and also guided Fairmont State to the Division II national title game in 2017.
None of those are as sexy — for lack of a better word — than Kennedy, which is the obstacle Gee and Baker face if they want to understandably distance themselves from Huggins.
In any situation, there is no “end” to this story. Not for Huggins. Not for WVU.
An unfortunate evening in Pittsburgh only began another chapter. It’s up to Gee and Baker to decide if that chapter is one filled with fresh beginnings or a convoluted narrative.
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