What Happens if Bob Huggins Can't Coach a Game?
In the first month and a half of the 2020-21 college basketball season, the West Virginia Mountaineers were able to stay free of COVID-19 as several others were forced to cancel games left and right, and many programs were put on pause.
Just when you began to think West Virginia might be able to fight through the entire season scotch free, the virus popped up and bit the Mountaineers in the behind. Three games were postponed and it will be exactly two weeks in between games by the time they tip-off this Saturday on the road at Kansas State.
Something that hadn't really been discussed with the media prior to Thursday afternoon is what would happen if head coach Bob Huggins was unable to coach a game due to a positive test and/or contact tracing.
"Well, I think if you look around the league there's various attempts I think and don't quote me on this because I'm not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure TCU didn't play because Jamie [Dixon] couldn't coach," Huggins said. "So, I guess that's an option. I think there's so many things that you have to take into account. You have to take into account guys that are sick, contact tracing as a result of that, the schedule. I mean, we're going to play three games in five days. It would be hard to cram another one or two in there. I mean, it's kind of like every time you think you've got it figured out, you don't."
Not only do the Mountaineers play three games in five days but they do so against two of the nation's best teams - Baylor and Texas. They will play Baylor back-to-back home and away and then play the Longhorns on the road. That's a three-game stretch that I'm not sure anyone in the country has. Regardless of the opponent, regardless of the rigorous schedule, Huggins has an extreme amount of confidence that his coaching staff can get the job done.
"I can say this, if I couldn't coach, I have extremely qualified guys. Larry Harrison was coach of the year twice I believe in the league he coached in. Ronnie [Everhart] has been a head coach at three different schools, and Erik [Martin] played for me and was with me at Kansas State when we started that program and kind of got it going and he was here when we started our version of this one. So, I feel really comfortable that I've got not just qualified guys but in some instances, probably overqualified guys to be able to step in and do what I do."
Larry Harrison has been Huggins' right-hand man for quite some time and spent time with him at Cincinnati before becoming the head coach at Hartford. He also served as a scout for the Washington Wizards of the NBA prior to rejoining Huggins at West Virginia in 2007.
Fairmont, West Virginia native Ron Everhart has over 30 years of coaching experience including head coaching stints at McNeese State, Northeastern, and Duquesne. As a collegiate head coach, Everhart holds a 273-261 record.
Erik Martin does not have any head coaching experience but has been on Huggins' staff for 15 years and has been responsible for developing guys like Kevin Jones, Devin Williams, Sagaba Konate, and Derek Culver just to name a few.
Although it would not be ideal for Huggins to miss any game, if it were to happen, the Mountaineers are in much better shape than most programs.
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