What Bob Huggins Means to Me

Cincinnati hosts West Virginia tomorrow night. That means that the former coach of the Bearcats is marching back into town. That man is the best Bearcats coach of recent history, Bob Huggins. I thought I should write something about the return of Huggins to Cincinnati since I have a Cincinnati blog and all. I started writing a few different angles, and then had a sudden realization. Bob Huggins doesn’t mean anything to me now. 

That UC fanbase doesn’t share my sentiment, as the game is officially a sellout. It’s the second sellout of the season, so the interest is very high. It should be a big time atmosphere Saturday night. I’m looking forward to the game, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not really interested in the spectacle anymore. Bob Huggins has come back to Cincinnati twice. Once, he was the coach of Kansas State and they played Xavier at US Bank Arena. That wasn’t nearly the event it would be two years ago, when Huggins came back to the Shoemaker Center, the place he made famous and feared. Like the Xavier game, his team lost. The first time he played Cincinnati, he wore the fucking ugly suit pictured up top. The go to Huggins picture for many. The first time, like the first trip back to UC, the Bearcats beat him. They also had this pretty great tribute video to him. 
 
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivbtRRbMC0o&w=480&h=385]  
I doubt there will be any tribute videos like that tomorrow night. That video, and the subsequent win, were all the closure that I needed. I loved Huggins. I was unbelievably pissed off when he got pushed out the door. The Kansas State year was so weird to watch. That’s the year that it felt unnatural for him to be coaching someone else. The KState team wasn’t really that good either. They didn’t seem like a Huggins team. I don’t think they made the NCAA tournament either. It was the first time I remembered a Bob Huggins team not making the tournament. 

When Bob Huggins took the job at WVU, I was happy for him. I think a part of him always wanted to coach there. Maybe he would have left UC at some point to go there, maybe he would have regretted not taking the leap and going back home. Who knows. Of course, I circled the UC-WVU game on my calender, just like everyone else. Cincinnati was no good that year, and WV was the better squad. A funny thing happened though, UC kicked the shit out of the Mountaineers. They humiliated them. The next year was touched on above. UC won that time as well. Deonta Vaughn made a huge basket late, and Devin Ebanks turned the ball over leading to Vaughn and I think Gates icing the game. Last season, UC lost twice to WV. But, UC played them extremely tough. They lost in MSG on a prayer by Da’Sean Butler at the buzzer. I would go as far to say that Mick Cronin knows the strategy to compete with a Huggs team.

Last season was the first time that I felt nothing when UC played Huggins. They weren’t gigantic match ups with the former coach, they were games we needed to win against West Virginia. That’s what tomorrow night is. It’s a gigantic match up with a team that the Bearcats need to beat to make the tournament. We are past the moral victory part of the Mick Cronin rebuilding process. Beating Bob Huggins won’t be a highlight of this season like it was 2 and 3 years ago. The stakes have been raised for the Bearcats program. It doesn’t really seem that people care. That pisses me off the most about this whole thing. 

Cincinnati basketball is back on the rise. Whether you want to believe it or not, this Cincinnati team has the makings of a tournament team. The Cincinnati program as a whole has turned the corner. The recruiting class for next year is very nice. The building blocks of this team should all be returning next year as well. Yet, we can only get 6,400 fans to come to games when the team is fucking 17-3. Yet, Bob Huggins comes to town, and the place is sold out. I don’t understand. Know what wouldn’t have gotten Bob Huggins pushed out the door? Him getting a DUI. If he called a cab, he would probably still be at Cincinnati. I don’t know why people are still so detached from the program. Hopefully this will be the point where we rally around Mick and the boys. Hell, even if you hate Mick, rally around the team. This is a Huggins squad through and through. Remember how defense was a Huggins trademark? Guess what team has been the best in Big East play? Cincinnati. They are giving up under a point per possession. Remember how shitty offense was a Huggins trademark? UC has a shitty offense. It’s time to buy in. Come for Huggins, stay for Yancy Gates, and Dion Dixon, and Sean Kilpatrick and Rashad Bishop and Cash Wright and Justin Jackson. It’s time to move on from Huggs, and embrace UC basketball.