Bob Huggins has decided to quit his job rather than be fired, today. His lawyer was given a letter yesterday demanding that he resign or be fired. If he is fired, he would get the rest of his contract that he is due, and if he resigns he makes out slightly better.
President Nancy Zimpher wants the program to recruit players with better grades and an aversion to trouble. She also wants her coaches to be better role models…During Huggins’ 16-year stay at Cincinnati, the Bearcats made the Final Four and were ranked No. 1 nationally for the first time in 34 years. They also developed a history of player arrests and violations that resulted in an NCAA probation in 1998 and a hoodlum image nationally. In the 1990s, the Bearcats had one of the lowest graduation rates in the nation.
I think that if the school is looking to improve their image, this is an appropriate time to do it as they head into a new conference. However, if they expect that any other coach is going to get that team as fired up as Huggins could, they are deluding themselves. They are going to be diminished for the next 4 or 5 years while they find his permanent replacement and then recruit an entirely new class. A few of the guys that are currently on the team will probably do pretty well, but I expect that the majority are going to fade into the background along with the team.
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