My buddy Joe spent 10 years in prison and let’s just say he’s a straight shooter when it comes to speaking his mind. If he’s pissed off at you he doesn’t attempt to hide it. The good news is that there is no guessing game about how you stand with him. It’s a no B.S. kind of brother-like relationship. I’ve learned to appreciate it for that absence of unspoken drama.
Bob Huggins is a remarkable Hall of Fame coach and is committed to staying at his alma mater. AD Oliver Luck is currently working on a new contract for him that would pay him even more than the $20 million in guaranteed income he’s been promised through 2019.
Huggs is not given to over exaggeration. He’s certainly not given to flattery and unearned praise. It is in times like these when that straight forwardness generates confidence in the WVU Basketball fan base. As Head Coach, Huggins is certainly responsible for the promotion of WVU’s Basketball program, as it helps recruiting and instills confidence in the players and all around WVU.
But it precisely because this man candor and his recent comments that, well, I start to get my hopes up. Here are some samples:
- "They are in great shape."
- "Our guys now have got so much better idea of what we want and what’s expected of them."
- "I like our guards. Three of those guys have three years left and two of them have four years left, they can do some things."
Here’s the other very infrequently talked about thing: while our move to the Big 12 was from a weaker football conference to a much stronger one, our move from the Big East was certainly to a less deep (10 teams instead of 16) and less strong basketball conference. The Big 12 has great teams who have won national championships. But I’m not picking up on the sense that our coaches or players will be thrown by the overall level of competition (which presently seems to be the case with our football team).
Bob Huggins said, "Now we are probably not going to win 25 with who we play, but we’ve got a chance to be pretty good. I said that all along." That leads me to believe that he thinks WVU could win 25 games.
Now, I'm sure of it.