During his introductory press conference Thursday morning, Ross Hodge praised West Virginia legend Bob Huggins.
Having gone to Junior College himself, Hodge acknowledged how well Huggins did with Junior College recruitment. Although Hodge only matched up against Huggins once in his coaching career, he was able to recite the game vividly.
“I was a junior college guy and coach Huggins always did such a good job of recruiting junior colleges at all his stops and had so much respect for him and got the opportunity to compete against his team in 2021 obviously it was the post-covid year so we did not get a chance to see the coliseum full, probably it was good for us that wasn’t the case,” Hodge said.
Hodge added, “We actually had an eight-point lead at halftime, we were up 29-21 and so we come out at halftime and we’re walking out on the floor and I’m using the restroom and I turned to our video coordinator at the time, his name was Louie and I said, ‘Louie you’re about to see an avalanche on the offensive glass like you’ve never seen in your entire life.’ And sure enough, to start the second half there were 10 bodies inside that little charge arc. All the guys in black jerseys were getting mushed under the basket and all the guys in white jerseys were grabbing rebounds and putting it back in.”
Many knew Huggins as one of the toughest, hard-nosed coaches in college basketball. With this portrayal, some didn’t see how much Huggins cared for his players.
Hodge recited the story of West Virginia legend Da’Sean Butler tearing his ACL during the 2010 Final Four game against Duke.
“One thing I distinctly remember and I honestly can remember sitting in my living room and it brought tears to my eyes when I saw it and in a lot of ways it still does touch me emotionally. In 2010 when Da’Sean Butler tore his ACL and coach Huggins went out to the floor and you could see the love and the compassion that he had for his players,” Hodge said.
The moment of Huggins comforting Butler on the floor became one of the most iconic moments of his coaching career.
