DeCourcy's SportingBlog
Huggins' days at Cincinnati numbered
Tuesday, August 23, 2005, 12:32 p.m. ET
Bob Huggins has won 399 basketball games as head coach at Cincinnati - which is about the number of rumors that have developed this offseason about his job security. Half the time, the rumors have him fired. The other half, he's getting a contract extension.
The latest is more than a rumor, though. The university is making a hard push to remove Huggins from his position as Bearcats head coach, and the result of that effort could be known before the end of the week.
Huggins was offered a minimal buyout of his remaining two contract years following the Bearcats' 25-8 finish in the 2004-05 season. Huggins earns more than $1 million annually, but the school offered only the guaranteed portions of his contract -- a total of $1.4 million for the two years. Huggins opted to decline that offer and coach the two remaining seasons.
He previously had a four-year rollover deal that extended his contract term every summer, but university president Nancy Zimpher opted not to roll over the contract following Huggins' DUI citation in June 2004. Huggins and his representation asked that the rollover be reinstated following the basketball team's strong performance last season, but that approach was rejected. The Bearcats are to play their first season in the Big East Conference in 2005-06. Huggins has been their coach since 1998 and has led the program to 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the third-longest active streak and fifth-best in history. That has not mattered to Zimpher. She wants a new direction for Cincinnati basketball. It seems any direction will do.
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