Jerrod Calhoun Says Huggs Deserves a Statue in Front of the Coliseum

West Virginia held a one-point lead at halftime after a poor first half shooting performance, hitting just 7-30 (23.3%) from the field.

The Mountaineers came out of the break with a full-court press and forced two quick turnovers to capture the momentum, the shots started falling, and West Virginia cruised to an 82-52 win.

Following the game, Youngstown head coach Jerrod Calhoun was asked if randomly throwing the press at the opposition disrupts offenses, answering with, "he's the master of it" and "that's why he should be in the Hall of Fame" and "have a statue outside of the Coliseum."

"I don't know what we're waiting on here," continued Calhoun. "We got the Jerry (West) statue and the 'Hot Rod' statue. Let Huggs enjoy it - get that statue up. This guy's a Hall of Famer - he definitely should have a statue here soon."

"What he's done for the university and what his teams continue to do, they just win," he later added.

Calhoun served as a graduate assistant under Huggins at Cincinnati for a season before reconnecting with Huggins in Morgantown in 2007. He spent four years at WVU as the director of basketball operations before serving as an assistant coach in 2011-12.

"One thing that really goes, I think, totally unnoticed is coach Huggins' tree," said Calhoun. "His coaching tree is really, really good. There hasn't been one guy under Huggins' tree that went into division one head job and not won and won at a high level. So, you think about West Virginia daily, you think about all the stuff he's taught us along the way."

"There's a lot of guys that Huggs has influenced, and that's why we're so loyal to him," continued Calhoun. "He's very, very loyal. If you need him for anything, he's going to answer the phone, and he's just a normal guy - he has no ego."

It was recently announced that Bob Huggins was eligible for the Naismith Hall of Fame for the fifth consecutive year, and like countless others, Calhoun made it a point to sell the voters on Huggins legacy.

"This guy's got almost a thousand wins and he's not in the Hall of Fame. I think that bothers a lot of us," stated Calhoun. "He needs to be in there and he needs to have his statue here."

Calhoun also said that everyone needs to start embracing the time Huggins has left pacing the sidelines because who knows how much longer he will coach.

I tend to be in agreement on celebrating individuals while they're still around to enjoy it. Maybe the statue doesn't have to be out front with legends Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley but possibly in front of the practice facility, which, in my opinion, should already be named after him.

West Virginia will be back in action on January 1st at noon as they take on the Texas Longhorns to open Big 12 Conference play and the beginning of a two-game road trip.

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