MORGANTOWN -
If only Monday night's win had given WVU a 9-1 record this
season rather than its current showing of 8-2, there would have been quite a
celebration at the Coliseum.
Instead, the ninth win of the year will likely come in Las
Vegas in a game against Missouri State (7-3) on Thursday night away from the
home crowd. If Bob Huggins can guide his Mountaineers to a victory in that
matchup, he will have notched 700 wins in his career.
As of now, he sits at 699 and even though his players may be
acutely aware of the approaching milestone, they don't believe the head coach
is paying it any mind.
"Not at all. Honestly, I don't think Huggs even knows he has
700 wins, to be honest with you, unless somebody brings it up," says senior
guard Truck Bryant. "He just comes out here everyday and just pushes us to the
max to try to get us better."
Bryant and fellow senior Kevin Jones have been with Huggins
for 83 of those wins and learned immensely through nearly four years with the
future hall of fame coach. They chose to play for him for a reason and with a
conference title and Final Four appearance under their belts, that decision has
paid off.
"He was the main reason why I came to this university and
just to see him reach that milestone is great and just to be here when it
happens is a great experience for me and like I said, hopefully we can get it
for him on Thursday," says Jones. "We're not looking too far ahead. We've still
got a day of practice tomorrow and then get rested for Missouri State."
That mindset is precisely what Huggins wants from his
players and it's what he will carry with him in the coming days and beyond. He
isn't coaching these games to reach milestones and reflect on them. He will
have plenty of time for that when he retires.
"Honestly, I don't think about those things," says Huggins.
"I've never done this for any other reason than I enjoyed doing it, I enjoyed
working with young people, I enjoyed watching guys grow. I saw it as an
opportunity that you can help people."
Huggins believes a big part of his unwillingness to seek
recognition and acclaim is a result of his father's humility. He notes that his
father's name can be found in hall of fames around the state of Ohio, but he
would never put together and send out his own resume. It just wasn't in him to
self-promote.
If reaching this milestone means West Virginia is one step
closer to becoming a team that can compete in league play and make a postseason
run, then he wants it more than anything. But not for himself. He wants it for
the young men who make up his roster.
He points out that along with all the wins, there have been
quite a few losses, too. When Huggins was approaching 600 wins back in 2007, a
friend called him prior to the game against Canisius and reminded him that over
200 losses accompanied the success.
Huggins has 255 losses at this point in his career.
"I've done this 30 years," he says. "You do it 30 years, you
better win some games or you're probably selling insurance."
There may come a time down the road when Huggins takes on
his investment in various charitable foundations full time, but for now, he's
still just as focused on coaching his team to a win against Missouri State as
he would have been in year one of his career.
Whenever he loses that, he'll know it's time to hang up the
track jacket for good.
"I've always said when the point in time comes that I don't
think I can give them everything that I have, then I'm going to quit. I'm not
going to cheat them," says Huggins. "I don't want to go out being a bum. I want
to go out letting people know that I went out doing everything that I could
possibly do."
In 699 games, everything he could possibly do was just
enough. On Thursday, he can make it 700.
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