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Huggins answers his critics...

  • Furfari Column for Tuesday, April 17
    Huggins answers his critics
    By Mickey Furfari
    MORGANTOWN – Ask West Virginia University men’s coach some
    tough questions raised by fans and you’ll get some ready answers.
    I found out last week during an exclusive interview in his
    office at WVU’s new state-of-the-art basketball practice facilities.
    Huggins, whose 2011-12 team had injuries and other
    problems finished 19-14, was told that some critics question whether
    his staff’s recruiting is as good as it had been.
    “Well, I don’t come in and tell them how to do their
    jobs,” he started. “But the truth of the matter is we depended on (one
    recruit) and we had to get rid of him.
    “Then another reported had a heart attack. I can’t do
    anything about that and a kid went home to be with his family. I don’t
    find any fault with that.
    “You put (one of these three) on the team this year and
    that’s another 12 to 15 points a game. And all of a sudden, we win 25
    games and everybody says what a heck of a job we did.
    “We just had too many young guys. And things were totally
    out of our control.”
    Huggins also recalled that WVU lost its best recruit from
    the year before because when he came in here and went through all the
    tests, he had a bad heart.
    “So you give us those guys and we’re pretty good,” the
    nation’s fourth winningest coach said. “Sometimes that happens.”
    Huggins also was asked to respond to people who think he
    is too hard on players when he takes them out of games.
    “You know what I’d say to them, I’m going to retire here
    soon and they can have my job,” he said. “My father (a retired Ohio
    high school coach) was harder on me (as a star player) then I am on
    anybody.
    “You know what I’d say to those people: They should hope
    they have the relationship with people that work for them that I have
    with the guys that play for me.
    “If they had the relationship with their employees that I
    have with my players, the world would be a whole lot better place. You
    talk to any of these guys and they say we care about them and they
    care about the coaches.”
    He’ll tell you that he really doesn’t give a hoot what
    these critics say.
    Huggins said, “I hear everything from I can’t recruit and
    that they don’t like our uniforms to whatever.”
    He would tell them that the last WVU player to be drafted
    was Gordon Malone, which was a long time ago. The last guy to play in
    the NBA was Lowes Moore.
    “When Kevin Jones gets drafted this year he will be the
    fourth in five years.
    “So if I can’t recruit, what did these guys before me do?”
    Huggins concluded, “What I learned long ago was that you
    can’t please everybody.”

    AZeer

  • You gotta love the guy, he just says what he feels

    Navagator

  • Who are the three guys he is referring to?

    2146eer

  • 2146eer said...

    Who are the three guys he is referring to?

    "Huggins also recalled that WVU lost its best recruit from
    the year before because when he came in here and went through all the
    tests, he had a bad heart."

    Curry the kid from TX.

    “Then another reported had a heart attack."

    No idea who he's talking about.

    AZeer

  • 2146eer said...

    Who are the three guys he is referring to?

    Pepper, cotrill, and curry

    This post was edited by thobbs1000 on 4/16/2012 at 7:20 PM

    thobbs1000

  • He said he was going to retire soon, I wonder how soon. Hopefully not real soon! When he does who do we get?

    whiteers

  • whiteers said...

    He said he was going to retire soon, I wonder how soon. Hopefully not real soon! When he does who do we get?

    If he stays the duration of his 11 yr. contract signed in May, 2008, we have 7 more years to enjoy Huggs. Hopefully, the critics won't sway him before then.

    Frank Martin? shrug

    rlniland