West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins Utters Homophobic Slur on Radio Show

West Virginia University said it was evaluating Hall of Fame men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins‘ homophobic statements during a live radio appearance on Monday and will address them at a later time.

Huggins spent 16 seasons coaching at the University of Cincinnati, and he recently appeared on the “Bill Cunningham Show” on 700WLW to talk about his time there and the school’s rivalry with Xavier University. Xavier supporters, he said twice in reference to a Crosstown Shootout game between the schools, would “throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn’t do it.”

A spokeswoman for the men’s basketball team pointed reporters to the university’s statement when asked whether Huggins, 69, will be allowed to continue recruiting and working throughout the evaluation. Huggins did not reply to a text message inquiring as to whether or not he had been expelled.

July is the busiest month of the summer recruitment season. Official and unofficial visits by high school seniors to colleges are permitted through May 18 and again beginning May 27. Not until around the middle of June will coaches be able to resume their recruiting efforts.

Before the university made its statement, Huggins offered an apology, stating he would “fully accept” any penalties for his words.

On Monday night, he skipped out on a fund-raising engagement in Wheeling, West Virginia, and instead sent his longtime aide, Ron Everhart.

“He had a conflict and won’t be able to attend tonight,” West Virginia’s athletic director Wren Baker told local media.

Since 2007, Huggins has been West Virginia’s head coach. He is one of just six men’s coaches in Division I history to amass 900 career victories, and he was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. Huggins is a West Virginia graduate who led the Mountaineers to the Final Four in 2010. This was the first time West Virginia had made it to the tournament since the 1950s.