Longtime West Virginia men's basketball coach Bob Huggins used an anti-gay slur in an interview with a Cincinnati radio station on The Bill Cunningham Show but later apologized in a statement, ESPN noted.
Discussing his in-city rivalry with Xavier back when Huggins coached the University of Cincinnati, Huggins said, "Any school that can throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn't do it, my God, they can get away with anything." Cunningham (known for his controversial stances) then responded, "I think it was 'transgender night,' wasn't it?" Huggins then said, "What it was, was all those f-gs, those Catholic f-gs, I think."
On the WVU Men's Basketball's Twitter account, Huggins issued an apology: "I used a completely insensitive and abhorrent phrase that there is simply no excuse forand I won't try to make one here. I deeply apologize to the individuals I have offended, as well as to the Xavier University community, the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University."
Huggins was a long-time rival of Xavier as the head coach at Cincinnati during 1989-2005 before jumping to Kansas State and then to West Virginia, CBS Sports noted. Huggins has the most wins among all active coaches, sporting a 935-414 overall record.
The situation is under review by both the university and its athletic department.
Andrew Davis