According to Hoppy Kercheval of MetroNews, former West Virginia head men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins sent a letter to WVU demanding reinstatement or he will sue WVU.
“Former WVU head basketball coach Bob Huggins sends letter to WVU demanding reinstatement or he will sue. Claims he never resigned,” Kercheval said in a tweet.
Kercheval added that Huggins’ letter “will open a major fight with the university,” while he also reports that the university will stand by Huggins resigning in June.
Kercheval says Huggins’ attorney wrote a letter to WVU which reads: “Coach Huggins never signed a resignation letter and never communicated a resignation to anyone at WVU. Accordingly, the WVU public comments are not only false, but appear to be an after-the-fact attempt to remedy WVU’s breach of the Employment.”
Kercheval added Huggins’ attorney says, “to demonstrate his commitment to the WVU basketball program, he took the step of entering the program on a voluntary nature,” and added, “Coach Huggins will be released from the program soon and we will provide you with a full release for Coach Huggins to return to his active duties as Head Basketball Coach at WVU.”
According to Kercheval, West Virginia University’s response to Huggins’ assertion that he never resigned is “completely factually inaccurate.”
A letter from WVU writes, “If Mr. Huggins is somehow now maintaining that he did not resign after discussions with his attorney on June 16-17, then we would ask that whoever is taking that position on his behalf to do their due diligence before asserting a position that is clearly contrary to the documented evidence.”
WVU says, “The University will not accept Mr. Huggins’ revocation of his resignation, nor will it reinstate him as head coach of the men’s basketball program,” according to Kercheval.
Huggins’s resignation letter was reportedly sent by his wife June. The letter read: “WVU releases Huggins resignation letter that came from his wife, June: “Please accept this correspondence as my formal notice of resignation as WVU Head Basketball Coach and as notice of my retirement from West Virginia University, effective immediately.”
Director of Athletics Wren Baker accepted Huggins’ letter saying, “Coach, We accept your resignation and wish you the best in retirement. We appreciate your many years of dedication to WVU.”
This all comes after Huggins was arrested for driving under the influence last month in Pittsburgh. It was announced that Huggins resigned with him writing in a letter: “Today, I have submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately.”
Huggins was replaced by Josh Eilert who was given the interim head coach title for the 2023-2024 season.
