Bob Huggins Just One Win Away From Tying Rupp
With a win on Saturday, Bob Huggins will tie the legendary Adolph Rupp in total career coaching wins with 876.
The all-time winningest coaches list currently sits with Huggins checking in at 7th.
1. Mike Krzyzewski - 1,147
2. Jim Boeheim - 955
3. Bob Knight - 902
4. Jim Calhoun - 900
5. Roy Williams -879
6. Adolph Rupp - 876
7. Bob Huggins - 875
Adolph Rupp, aka "Baron of the Bluegrass", was a coach at Kentucky for 41 years. Despite his 876 wins, he is most remembered for two occasions during his tenure.
One was the famous 1951 point shaving scandal where four Kentucky players were arrested for taking bribes. At the conclusion of this scandal, a subsequent NCAA investigation found that Kentucky had committed several rule violations, including giving illegal spending money to players on several occasions, and also allowing some ineligible athletes to compete.
The other famous moment was when his Kentucky Wildcats lost the 1966 Championship game against Texas Western. This was the first time in basketball history that a team started five African American players in a college game, and is remembered for this. The Disney movie "Glory Road" did a great representation of this. Despite having great players, including Pat Riley, yes that Pat Riley, the Wildcats lost to a Texas Western team that was coached by Don Haskins and led by Bobby Joe Hill.
Huggins was recently nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame. In his 36 years of coaching at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State and West Virginia, Huggins has had his share of successes. Between Final Four appearances, conferences championships, multiple NBA Draft picks, he is still missing a National Championship. This is why most think he hasn't already been inducted into the Hall of Fame, but some in the national media are starting to realize that he should have been in years ago.
The Mountaineers take on Missouri this Saturday at 12 p.m. on ESPN and Huggins will look to tie Rupp and more importantly, help the Mountaineers continue their already strong start to the season.
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