Former West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins spoke publicly about his DUI and resignation on Tuesday night the on Full Court Press radio show.
Huggins made multiple claims which went against what was stated in the police report, what was stated by West Virginia University, as well as what went into his resignation.
The first rebuttal Huggins had of his DUI was saying the police report which stated Huggins said he was in Columbus when he was pulled over in Pittsburgh.
“That is a lie. That is an absolute lie,” Huggins said. “I knew exactly where I was. I do not know the area or the streets in Pittsburgh. Then going down there in the middle of the Taylor Swift let out. If someone knew better than me, I wish they would’ve told me. I didn’t want to go back to the restaurant bar that everyone was in. I went the other way.”
Huggins said following the incident he voluntarily went to rehab, feeling as it was the right thing for him to do at the time.
“I didn’t really know what to do at that point in time. You go through what you have to go through after that, and I did that. Then I said I’m going to rehab. So, I went to rehab. I did that on my own, no one told me to do that. I went to rehab because I thought that was the right thing to do, that’s what I needed to do. I spent a great deal of time in rehab.”
Another point of contention for Huggins was surrounding his resignation. Huggins resigned, but then rumors flew around that his wife, June, had resigned for him.
“I wanted to coach and coach our kids,” Huggins said. “I did not want to resign and not coach. People kept saying to resign, and I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay and coach.”
“To tell the honest truth, the guy over at the athletic department pretty much convinced my wife that we would lose all of our benefits if I didn’t resign, which is not true,” Huggins said.
Following his resignation, there were more talks of Huggins possibly suing the university. Huggins denied those claims as well.
“That is totally absurd and ridiculous. Anybody who knows me knows how I care about West Virginia and the university. I have turned down more money than people could make in their lifetime. I would rather give it to the university… I told the attorneys that we are not suing anyone.”
Ultimately, Huggins is taking full responsibility for his actions, knowing the consequences of his actions.
“I felt terrible about it and I still feel terrible about it. I let down the players, fans and state of West Virginia. I take responsibility for it,” Huggins said.
