The Legacy of West Virginia Basketball Head Coach Bob Huggins

Bob Huggins, the West Virginia men's basketball head coach, is still considered a bit underrated when you talk about legendary coaches in college basketball.  The former Cincinnati and Kansas State coach is one of the winningest active coaches in Division I basketball.  He is also in the top 10 in winning percentage and has over 700 wins.  Only three other coaches have more than 700 wins. 

Huggins has not solidified his legacy in the sense of winning a national championship, but he has been to two Final Fours with Cincinnati (1992) and West Virginia (2010).  Teams led by the West Virginia native are usually looking at a NCAA tournament berth and a possible deep run.  WVU has reached the Final Four and Sweet 16 since Huggins returned to his alma matter in 2007. 

When people think of Mountaineers basketball, Huggins is the face of the program.  He's loved by many around the state.  Huggins should be talked about more in comparison to the likes of Jim Calhoun, Rick Pitino, Mike Krzyzweski, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo and and Jim Boeheim.  Perhaps Huggins needs a national championship in Morgantown to be considered for this list. 

His best chance came in the 2009 with leader Da'Sean Butler.  The Mountaineers won the Big East championship and were able to upset top seed Kentucky in the Elite Eight.  They eventually fell to Duke in the Final Four, but the future looked bright for West Virginia basketball. 

Huggins is underrated, however.  He usually gets three-star recruits, unlike some of the coaches mentioned above.  With this most recent season full of freshmen, Huggins was still able to take the young squad to the NCAA tournament. 

He was without a doubt one of the best coaches in the Big East Conference, always remaining competitive in one of the top conferences in college basketball.  Huggins is WVU basketball and he brings a great deal of pride to the state of West Virginia.

WVU is known as a football school all around the country, but the basketball program has been on the rise in the past decade.  Back in the days of Jerry West, West Virginia was close to its first national title in a championship loss to California. 

With Huggins, the future looks to be bright for West Virginia hoops, especially in the Big 12.  It's a conference Huggins knows fairly well, and can see his legacy skyrocket to the next level with a national championship.