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MORGANTOWN, W.Va -- Spent most of the evening Monday searching through the voluminous closet space in my one-bedroom Morgantown apartment looking for my floor-length black judge's robe, to no avail, before realizing I had not picked it up following West Virginia University's last basketball legal battle from when Dan Dakich resigned as head coach eight days after he was named.
Didn't think I'd ever need it again, really.
But in a country where, in 250 or more years it can't get its presidential election results down conclusively, can one really expect a state university that trains its own lawyers to send out into the world to get something as relatively simple as an employment agreement down with a basketball coach?
Bob Huggins v. WVU heats up, now on almost a daily basis, over his status (or non-status) as Mountaineer basketball coach -- over just what constitutes a resignation.
Saying I quit, apparently, isn't enough. It isn't, according to Huggins' challenge to the university to retain the job he has held for 16 years, claiming through his attorney, David A. Campbell of the Cleveland, Ohio, office of a nationwide law firm Lewis Brisbois, that he did not follow the proper protocol laid out among the whereases and whereofs.
The weekend saw attorneys for both sides -- Stephanie D. Taylor, WVU vice president and general counsel, representing the school -- trade contentious letters as if they were engaged in the 3-point shooting contest at the NCAA Final Four.
This is getting so heated that it may require more than a judge to keep the peace and come to a decision.
Anyone got basketball referee John Higgins' number?
No one argues whether the school received an email announcing Huggins' resignation and intended retirement.
However, the contract calls for such an action to be in writing and delivered to either the school president E. Gordon Gee or athletic director Wren Baker.
It was none of the above, according to Campbell, being an email from Huggins' wife June's email account, and it was sent to deputy athletic director Steve Uryasz.
That the school would use this as "evidence" he had resigned amazed Campbell, who wrote in his original letter to Taylor that he had "never communicated his resignation to Gee or Baker and their assumption he had resigned was "incredibly based on a text message from Coach Huggins' wife."
There is no denial the email came from her account, Campbell explained that Huggins never uses email.
Therefore, to use one of those legal terms, Campbell reasons Huggins is still the WVU coach despite having cleaned out his office, met with his team and gone into rehab.
Let us take a sidestep here. Huggins' entry into what he terms a "world-class" rehab facility is a step in having his DUI arrest, which ignited this whole affair, expunged. On Monday, it was ruled in Pittsburgh that Huggins' DUI is eligible for the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) for first-time DUI offenders.
Huggins' 2004 DUI in Cincinnati does not count, as it occurred outside of Pennsylvania. If he completes the program and stays clean for 12 months, the arrest can be expunged from his record.
So now we have a resignation that is being challenged as not a resignation and a DUI that may wind up not being a DUI at all.
Where is that robe?
Anyway, WVU's counsel Taylor vehemently challenged Huggins' claim here in her letter, calling it "completely factually inaccurate."
She stressed that the school had conducted conversations with attorneys who had represented Huggins before Campbell entered the case, including former WVU athlete Rocky Gianola, a long-time Huggins representative, and that they wanted to discuss benefits as part of his resignation and retirement.
She also emphasized that Huggins had met with the team on the night of June 17 to announce to them his resignation before submitting his email later that evening.
Huggins vigorously challenges this statement.
Yes, he met with his team, but here is how he put it in a statement.
"I met with my players on June 17, 2023 and let them know the truth -- that I did not know what would happen with me, but that if I was not their coach, I was hoping that I would be replaced by a coach that I recommended to WVU. Most importantly, whether I was staying or not, I was encouraging the players to stay at WVU. My players come first and they needed to hear my support for WVU directly from me."
Five players have since transferred, and Josh Eilert was named interim coach.
Note, there is a subtle difference between whether Huggins said he had resigned and would retire or if he said he was unsure what his situation was.
Huggins also takes sharp exception with a message purported to be from Huggins to the WVU fans about his resignation put out by WVU.
Campbell wrote in his latest letter that the release was "not only false, but appeared to be an after-the-fact attempt to remedy WVU's breach of the Employment Agreement."
And Huggins, in a statement of his own, addressed that document.
"I did not draft or review WVU's statement," he wrote. "This false statement was sent under my name, but no signature is included. In addition, the unsigned document was accompanied by a joint statement from the President and Athletic Director that clearly implied that they had received this purported resignation letter from me: 'Coach Huggins informed us of his intent to retire and has submitted his letter of resignation, and we have accepted it in light of recent events. We support his decision so that he can focus on his health and family.'
This is sounding more and more like a double foul.
It has come down to 'he said, she said,' proving once again, divorce court is hell.
In her closing statement, WVU's Taylor left no doubt about where the school stands on this matter:
"Moreover, if Mr. Huggins or his counsel attempts to publicly suggest that he somehow did not resign and retire from his position, please be advised that the University will swiftly and aggressively defend itself from these spurious allegations."