We all know Bob Huggins is a great, GREAT coach. But, what many of us have only recently come to find out, Huggins is also a master of the dead-pan. A quick wit and always ready with something biting, often humorous, to say, Huggs has dropped his share of quotes, quips, stories and witticisms, that we like to collectively call "Huggs-ims," on us. We've all heard the Calipari/heart-attack/ambulance story at this point and that's just one example.
Thankfully, there is a fan amongst us who has thought to collect and sort of archive them and I was able to gain access. Here are some of the most memorable quotes from Huggs' time in Morgantown....so far. Please comment with any stories or quotes that might be missing.
To Jamie Smalligan - "You haven't hit a three since Moby Dick was a minnow."
The St. John's players could hear West Virginia coach Bob Huggins yelling at his team from down the hall during halftime. "It was the usual stuff," Mountaineers star guard Da'Sean Butler said with a laugh. "He was telling us what we needed to do -- and what would happen if we didn't do it."
More after the jump...
"I told them if they got a rebound, they might like it, and want to get another one!"
"If Devin would have thrown two more balls into the stands he would have had a triple double."
Reporter at Pitt game: "Coach, what are your goals for the second half?"
Huggy: "Score more points than they do."
Following a Providence game - "I think they’re not used to me coming in (at halftime) and talking to them in a real calm voice...maybe."
In accepting the award as the West Virginia College Coach of the Year - Huggins began, “I’d like to thank the sports writers………That’s something I never thought I would say.’’
"I grew up in Midvale (Ohio), 500 people, two stoplights, nine bars. I got in the truck with this guy one time and I looked and he didn't have a rear-view mirror. I said, 'You don't have a rear-view mirror.' He said, 'I don't back up.' He said, 'We're going forward, son.' And that's kind of how I've lived my life."
"If somebody misses a blockout," center Jamie Smalligan said. "Huggs will just say, 'I was dead on the floor for two minutes (referring to his heart attack) and I could block that guy out.'"
“As of now, Jamie has as many rebounds as a dead man.”
HUGGS on ESPN with Doug Gottlieb: When Gottlieb asked him the difference between KSU and WVU..he said it is refreshing to have guys at WVU that can shoot….. unlike you ......
Talking about his heart attack - “ It's the same thing you do New Year's Eve," he said then. "You say, 'I'm going to do this,' and about the 3rd of January you're back doing what you did before. I haven't really changed all that much. I would love to sit here and tell you that I probably eat better, but look at me. That's obviously not the case."
After spending several hours in a Charlotte, N.C., hospital after falling while exiting a private airplane - "Billy pushed me," Huggins said, referring to WVU assistant coach Billy Hahn. "He did the same thing to Gary [Williams] at Maryland. The guy has a history of this."
In 2009-2010, Huggins had a good portion of the last season's Sweet 16 team returning. So the question was put to the coach: How will you integrate the old guard (and forward and center) with the new? "Masterfully," he cracked.
"It's Andy Katz, man," Huggins said. "It's not like it's someone who knows what they're talking about."
Villanova 2010 final reg season game…..Game tied…under 7 seconds left…..Ebanks dribbles around near mid court killing clock, then launches one from near mid court. Huggs said, ‘Devin, man what are you doing taking that shot?’ Ebanks said, ‘I thought we were up by one.’ I said, ‘That’s why they make pretty elaborate scoreboards these days,’ joked Huggins.
Of the way his team rallied to win yet another game - "If there's such a thing as making an opponent feel overconfident, we've mastered it.''
At press conference after beating Notre Dame in 2010 BigEast semi-final:
Reporter : Is there a New York feel to what's going on in Morgantown?
HUGGS: You've never been to Morgantown, have you?
Q:. Bob, I thought it was a joke the first time you said it, but the Cam Thoroughman missed free-throw play. Was that on Da'Sean's putback?
HUGGS: We're used to Cam missing them. It may have been a surprise to them. It wasn't to us.
During Wash. game after, forward Wellington Smith was beaten by a shorter player - "A [expletive] midget is whipping your ass."
Joe Mazzulla is a kid who, last February, thought his basketball days were over. He was about to have radical shoulder surgery that doctors said no hoops career had ever survived. Mazzulla came to him on that day with tears in his eyes. "Coach, you think I'll ever play again?" And Huggins took him by the shoulders, looked him in the eyes and said, "Well, you're always talking about you being the best soccer player in the state of Rhode Island; you can always go play soccer. You don't need arms for that."
Once, when The Cincinnati Post was doing a story on coach burnout, a reporter asked Huggins what he did to get away from the stress of coaching. Huggins what he did to get away from the stress of coaching. Huggins' answer: "Watch film."
On not taking a timeout when VMI was making a run - "I just didn't want to talk to 'em. I wish we hadn't had media timeouts."
"Here's what we're gonna do. Either they're gonna get on board with me or I'm gonna leave their asses out their to drown."
Dec. 12 after 64-61 victory over Duquesne - "At this point in the season, I'm just looking for guys who don't screw the game up,'' Huggins said. "We've got a lot of guys who can screw the game up.''
Jan.23 after beating South Fla. 56-46 Casey Mitchell had 14 rebounds for WVU - "I just told USF coach Stan Heath that he misses so many, he knows where they're going,"
"There’s nobody in this league that’s going to let you shoot layups the whole game. Except maybe us. We do once in a while. We’re very charitable.”
About the development of John Flowers' game -
"He knows what he’s doing. We’re going down the floor and Mazzulla yells at me, ‘How do you want to guard those staggers?’ You know, when we’re playing point-drop. And then Flowers yells at me and says, ‘Are we switching staggers?’ You know, to him, four years ago, a stagger, that was a bar downtown."