Mountaineer mess

Bob Huggins doubles-down on his stance vs. West Virginia, but the school fires back. Plus, Texas adds more depth, and a debate about the best overall recruit.

Author

Mike Miller
July 11, 2023

Northwestern’s football team doesn’t have a head coach, and it soon might not have a baseball coach either. Makes the ongoing transfer portal news seem quaint.

Let's get to some college basketball news.

1. Bob Huggins, West Virginia trade barbs, irate letters

Bob Huggins issued a statement over the weekend that he never resigned as coach of the West Virginia men’s basketball team, and that he would sue if he wasn’t reinstated.

If it’s possible, things got even messier on Monday.

Huggins, 69, was arrested on June 16 for drunk driving. He resigned as coach the next day — except he says the letter that was published wasn’t actually written by him. He says he’s still employed by the school and intends to remain as its basketball coach.

West Virginia officials aren’t having it.

A letter from Stephanie Taylor, West Virginia’s general counsel, outlines specific responses to Huggins’ letter, including a timeline of events for June 16-18. Of note:

  • Huggins’ longtime lawyer, Rocky Gianola, represented Huggins and repeatedly spoke with the school. The resignation letter in dispute was sent via email — from the email account of Huggins’ wife — and was agreed upon by the school and Gianola.

  • Huggins told West Virginia players that “he was resigning” when he met with them on June 17.

  • Huggins cleaned out his office on June 18, spoke with West Virginia Athletics Director Wren Baker, discussed the resignation, and then left.

The full letter is below.

What happens next?

More letters between lawyers, for starters. Because he resigned, West Virginia doesn’t need to pay him the remaining year of his coaching contract. The legal correspondence might not be sent directly to the media again, but this is a process that is now firmly in the public eye and will almost certainly have a bitter resolution for both sides.

Huggins is a West Virginia alum and a Hall of Fame coach. Multiple reports indicate there’s no chance he’ll coach there again. Whether he ends up coaching again somewhere else is unclear.

2. Texas hooks another roster addition

After adding UCF guard Ithiel Horton last week, Texas was up to 11 scholarship players for the 2023-24 season, a welcome sight for Longhorns fans nervous about the team’s depth when June rolled around.

Well, make that 12 scholarship players.

Pryor is a 6-7, 180-pound forward who’s rated as a 3-star prospect in the class of 2024. He was previously committed to LSU.

He’s risen up the recruiting rankings in the past year thanks to his athleticism, positional size and solid shooting stroke. Whether he develops enough to earn significant playing time with Texas this season is another story.

Expect the Longhorns to primarily use Horton and Brock Cunningham on the wing, or Dillon Mitchell if they want to go with a bigger lineup (the idea of Mitchell, Dylan Disu and Kadin Shedrick in the frontcourt at the same time might scare offenses … but those three scoring might present some issues).

Pryor as a change-of-pace defender might be the most likely scenario at this point.

3. The future is bright (at least for 2025)

Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer grabbed most of the Peach Jam headlines, but A.J. Dybantsa emerged as the best player of anyone in the field, according to Rob Dauster.

Rob’s not alone in that opinion.

Dybantsa, a 6-9 monster on the wing, who’s the top-rated prospect in the class of 2026, also ranks as the best prospect regardless of class, per Jamie Shaw of On3.com. Cue the perfect graphic to spur summer discussion.

For those still catching up with recruiting news, this list includes two 2026 prospects (Dybantsa and Tyran Stokes), six 2025 prospects (Flagg, Boozer, Peterson, Wilson, Thomas and Quaintance) and just two from 2024, Dylan Harper and Tre Johnson.

It’s representative of what scouts have been saying about the 2024 class for some time: Its high-end talent isn’t game-changing. Harper’s the top player in the class of 2024, but to see six players listed ahead of him here, well, that’s jarring, to say the least.

Whether it actually shakes out that way is another story.

Also, remind me to catch a Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep game at some point this season. Watching Dybantsa and Stokes on the same court would be fabulous.

Fisher king

Adam Fisher, at just 38 years old, takes over a Temple program that’s struggled to find its footing in the last few seasons. He talks with John Fanta about his influences, his thoughts on Big Five basketball and what’s coming for the Owls.

Links as you wonder what it’d be like to take a Vlad Guerrero Jr. ball to the face.

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