Bob Huggins Closing in on 300th Win at West Virginia

Over the last 14 years, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins has seen a tremendous amount of success from winning the Big East title in 2010, following it with a run to the Final Four and four Sweet 16 appearances. When Huggins returned to coach his alma mater, the one thing he wanted to do was to bring home a national championship. Although he hasn't been able to do so yet, he has taken this program to a level many thought it could never reach.

The respect for West Virginia basketball nationally is at an all-time high, and year in and year out, people know the Mountaineers are not only going to be one of the top teams in the Big 12 Conference but in the country. Part of taking the program to the next level is constructing top-notch facilities, which Huggins has done. He helped formulate the plans for a state of the art practice facility, inject new life into the Hall of Traditions, significant upgrades to the Coliseum, and it has certainly helped him and his staff recruit.

Huggins' next win will be his 890th of his career and 300th at the helm in Morgantown. The Morgantown, WV native doesn't invest much time into keeping up with milestones or accolades; he just wants to win and pave a path for these young men to have a successful future beyond their playing career.

"I came here to try to do the best job I possibly could and elevate this program to national status and do what I could do to help with the facilities that we didn’t have," Huggins told the media following Tuesday's win over Northeastern. "The place was exactly the same as it was when I left here. We certainly needed to uplift things and make it better and give guys an opportunity to do and be what they can be. I think we’ve done that."

With that said, every win is special to Huggins because it is West Virginia. Huggins discussing his time growing up in Morgantown brings a smile upon his face reminiscing his times running around Deckers Creek and Dug Hill before moving to Ohio. After moving out of the state, his father, Charlie, would set him up on the antenna tower to turn the antenna toward Wheeling so that they could pick up the Mountaineer basketball games. Although he spent a number of years living in Ohio, West Virginia has always been home to him and his family.

"It is great to be back. I remember the press conference when Eddy (former athletic director Ed Pastilong) went through all the coaches and all of us (were from West Virginia). That was when Rich (Rodriguez) was here, and Mike Carey is a Clarksburg guy. Eddy is a West Virginia guy. We had a whole room full of West Virginia people, and that’s home," said Huggins.

Although win No. 300 at WVU will be one Huggins won't forget, it won't be nearly as important as his No. 1 goal, and that would be securing the program's first-ever national championship.

"I worry about doing the best for my team. I worry about doing the best I possibly can for this administration and the best I possibly can for this university. I love this university. This university has been great to me," Huggins said in an interview with Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. "There's nothing that I would want to do more than to win a national championship for the people in this state. It would mean so much to the people in this state."

The Mountaineers will have an opportunity to get Huggins to the 300-win mark this Saturday when the team travels to Norman to battle the Oklahoma Sooners.

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