MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The Big 12 Conference issued a public reprimand and a $10,000 fine toward West Virginia men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins on Tuesday, for comments he made following the Mountaineers’ 60-53 loss against Kansas last Saturday.
In a statement, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby referred to Huggins’ postgame comments as a “third such incident,” but did not indicate what the first two incidents were.
Bowlsby’s entire statement: “Coach Huggins’ comments following the West Virginia vs. Kansas basketball game violate the Big 12 Conference’s sportsmanship policy.
“Because this is Coach Huggins’ third such incident, a public reprimand and a fine of $10,000 is appropriate.”
On his postgame radio interview following the Kansas game, Huggins referred to referees Doug Sirmons, Keith Kimble and Chance Moore as, “three blind mice.”
“I can’t control what those three blind mice running around out there do,” Huggins said about the officials. “What we would all love to see is consistency. Foul there. Foul here. I understand it’s a hard job, but they do get paid pretty handsomely for it. Just be consistent.”
It wasn’t the first time Huggins took offense to the referees at a Kansas game. In 2018, Huggins was critical of officiating following a 77-69 loss in which the Jayhawks finished with 35 free-throw attempts and the Mountaineers’ had two.
Huggins was ejected before the conclusion of that game.
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