March 23, 2006
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Bob Huggins, one of the most successful coaches in the country with over 500 career wins and 15 NCAA Tournament appearances to his credit, has been named the 21st head men's basketball coach at Kansas State, Athletics Director Tim Weiser announced Thursday.
Huggins signed a five-year agreement with the university. Terms of the agreement reached with Huggins were not made available.
"I believe that Kansas State was the right opportunity for me because of the people, first and foremost," said Huggins. "I am incredibly impressed with the athletics administration, and when I had a chance to meet with the university administration I was sold. They are great people who care about their student-athletes and that's what I've been looking for.
"From my first meeting with Tim I felt that Kansas State University was a great fit for me. My dealings with everyone at the university have been terrific. I am the son of a coach and I am very well aware of the history and tradition that most programs in college basketball have and I don't know that anybody has a much better tradition and rich history than K-State."
Huggins, 52, has compiled a 567-199 (.740) in his 24 seasons as a head coach, which includes stints at Walsh College (1980-83), Akron (1984-89) and Cincinnati (1989-2005). He ranks both eighth in winning percentage and total victories among active Division I head coaches. Huggins' teams have participated in postseason play in 21 of his 24 seasons, including 15 NCAA Tournament appearances. His current string of 14 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament ranks as the third-longest streak among active coaches in the nation. Huggins' teams have won 20 or more games in all but four of his 24 campaigns, including 30 or more twice, and he has averaged 23.5 victories a season.
"I have said all along that it is our goal in every sport we sponsor to provide our student-athletes with the opportunity to compete at the highest level," said Weiser. "We were determined to find the right person to accomplish that with our men's basketball program. I believe that we have clearly done that with the hiring of Bob Huggins.
"Are there risks involved with this hire? Absolutely. But there were risks when we hired Ron Prince to lead our football program. I believe this administration and University have an excellent reputation and we are in a great position to be of assistance to help Coach Huggins resume his career and accomplish the goals we have for our men's basketball program."
Huggins earned much of his coaching reputation during his 16-year stint at Cincinnati, where he elevated the Bearcat program to among the nation's elite. He registered a 399-127 record (.759) during his tenure, making him the winningest coach in terms of victories and percentage in the school's rich basketball history. Huggins directed Cincinnati to 10 conference regular season titles and eight league tournament titles. The Bearcats advanced to postseason play in each of his 16 seasons, advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament three times and in 1991-92, appearing in the Final Four.
Huggins earned the Ray Meyer Award as the Conference USA Coach of the Year a record three times (1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000), and was a unanimous choice as the Conference USA Coach of the Decade. He was selected as national coach of the year by ESPN.com in 2001-02. He was named co-national coach of the year by The Sporting News in 2004-05 and was Basketball Times' national coach of the year in 1997-98. He earned national coach of the year recognition from Hoop Scoop in 1991-92 and Playboy in 1992-93.
A proven success as a program-builder, recruiter, game strategist and inspirational leader, Huggins directed the Bearcats to successive finishes in the Final Four and Elite Eight. Over the ensuing seasons, he developed young and inexperienced teams with as many as three freshmen starters into squads that captured two more league titles and made another pair of NCAA appearances. Huggins surprised even the most astute college basketball followers in 1997-98 by directing a team which had only one returning starter to a 27-6 record, conference regular season and tournament titles, a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and a Top-10 finish in the polls. Huggins' 2001-02 team, unranked when the season began, posted a 31-4 record, setting a UC mark for victories.
Huggins has also directed star-studded teams, while developing the individual talents of players such as consensus All-Americans Danny Fortson, Kenyon Martin and Steve Logan, to a succession of conference championships and NCAA tournament runs. Huggins has achieved similar success on the recruiting trails. He signed three No. 1-rated junior college players and five McDonald's All-Americans to Cincinnati, while six of his last nine recruiting classes ranked among the nation's top 10.
In 2002-03, Huggins suffered a major heart attack on the last Saturday of September but was present for the team's first practice two weeks later and coached the Bearcats with the same intensity that has become his trademark. The 2003-04 season was business as usual for Huggins, who piloted UC to C-USA regular season and tournament titles and an NCAA tourney berth while amassing a 25-7 record.
Huggins accepted his first Division I head coaching position at Akron in 1984, following a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Central Florida. He quickly resurrected another program that had fallen on difficult times, as he guided the Zips to a 97-46 (.678) overall record and to postseason play in three of his five seasons. The program posted 20 or more wins in a season on four occasions.
After recording a 12-14 mark in his first season, Huggins led Akron to both its first NCAA Tournament appearance and conference title at the Division I level in 1985-86 with a 22-8 overall record. Winners of both the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championship, the 15th-seeded Zips lost in the first round of NCAA Tournament to fifth-seeded Michigan, 70-64. In guiding the team to its highest win total in 13 seasons, Huggins was named the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year. He continued his success with the first of three consecutive 21-win seasons in 1986-87 and an appearance in the first round of the NIT. Huggins capped his five-year tenure at Akron in 1988-89 by helping the Zips to the second trip to the NIT in 1988-89 with a 21-8 record.
Huggins coached one player at Akron who earned All-America distinction in Brian Roth in 1985, while another - Eric McLaughlin - was selected as an Academic All-American in 1989. Three players earned first team all-conference honors during his tenure, including two-time selection and 1986 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year Marcel Boyce. McLaughlin was also named the tournament MVP during the Zips' run to the Ohio Valley Tournament championship in 1986.
Huggins earned his first head coaching assignment at Walsh College (now University), a NAIA school in North Canton, Ohio, in 1980 at the tender age of 27. A program with just two winning seasons in the previous 17 years, Huggins transformed the Cavalier program into one of the best in the NAIA ranks in just three short seasons. He compiled a 71-26 record (.732) from 1980 to 1983, twice guiding the team to the postseason, including their first-ever NAIA National Tournament appearance.
After coaching the team to 14 victories in his first season, Huggins helped produce a 23-9 record in his sophomore campaign and a NAIA District playoff appearance in 1981-82, which included the school's first Mid-Ohio Championship. His final team finished the regular season with a perfect 30-0 record and a No. 2 national ranking before winning four more games to qualify for the program's first-ever NAIA National Tournament at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. The Cavaliers lost in the national tournament to Salem College, 65-63, to end the nation's longest winning streak at 34. Huggins was twice named NAIA District 22 Coach of the Year following the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons.
After concluding his playing career at West Virginia, Huggins began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Mountaineers under his college coach, Joedy Gardner, in 1977. He moved to Ohio State the following season to assist head coach Eldon Miller. During his two-year stint from 1978-80, Huggins helped the Buckeyes to a 40-20 (.667) record and a pair of postseason appearances, including the second round of the 1980 NCAA Tournament.
Huggins was a three-year All-Ohio selection and the 1972 Ohio Player of the Year while playing for his father, Charles, at Indian Valley South High School in Gnadenhutten, Ohio. He first attended Ohio University but transferred to West Virginia after his freshman season. Huggins was a two-year letterman for the Mountaineers under Joedy Gardner from 1975-77.
As a senior and tri-captain, he helped lead the squad to an 18-11 overall record and a tie for the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (ECBL) Western Division title. In addition to helping the team earn their highest win total in nine seasons, he was named team most valuable player after pacing the squad with a 3.8 assists per game average.
A two-time Academic All-American, Huggins graduated from West Virginia magna cum laude in 1977 and received his master's in health administration from West Virginia in 1978.
Huggins was born in Morgantown, W. Va., on Sept. 21, 1953. He and his wife, June, have two daughters, Jenna Leigh (23) and Jacqueline (20).
Huggins will take over a Kansas State program that will return four starters, including second team All-Big 12 selection Cartier Martin, from a team that posted a 15-13 overall record and a 6-10 mark in Big 12 play. The Wildcats will return over 90 percent of its scoring and assists totals and over 75 percent of its rebounding totals in 2006-07.