“Villanova’s trying to buy a coach out who’s in the NCAA tournament right now.” With this revelation, new NC State head coach Will Wade shed some light on how the 6th Big East team is currently handling its coaching dilemma. Villanova has had a hard time since Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright abruptly resigned in 2022. The program turned to Kyle Neptune, Wright’s longtime assistant, hoping to continue the era of success, but it didn’t turn out as they had envisioned. Defeats to Temple and Portland in the first month of his job underlined the task at hand for Neptune. What followed was a period of inconsistent performances and missing out on the NCAA tournament in each of the last three seasons. No wonder they are looking for a coach who knows how to get there.

Ever since Kyle Neptune was fired right in the early stages of the March Madness tournament, questions have arisen over where the Villanova Wildcats can go from here. Richard Pitino’s name was linked to the program, and things looked promising. Pitino had an 88-49 record in the Mountain West while at New Mexico and participated in the past two NCAA Tournaments, an achievement that Villanova desperately seeks in their next hire. It appeared that it was only a matter of time before Pitino was announced as Neptune’s replacement, but, on Tuesday night, Xavier confirmed that Pitino will be taking over their head coaching role after Sean Miller left for Texas, leaving Villanova red-faced. So what’s next for the program?

Well, according to the latest developments, there is interest in one particular name for Villanova’s head coach vacancy. We are talking about former West Virginia University men’s basketball head coach Bob Huggins. A Naismith Hall of Famer, Huggins has over 45 years of coaching experience to his name. But the 71-year-old has not coached since June 2023. This scenario can change if the Villanova Wildcats become serious about him.

On Tuesday, reporter Rob Reinhart tweeted, “An interesting name that has come up multiple times concerning Villanova’s head coach vacancy: Bob Huggins.” His last stint as head coach was a 16-year run with the West Virginia Mountaineers men’s basketball team, which ended in somewhat controversial fashion.

In June 2023, Huggins was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence. Days later, he reportedly resigned from the head coach position. A month later, however, Huggins’ attorney reportedly sent a letter to the university, stating that the coach had “never signed a resignation letter and never communicated a resignation to anyone at WVU”. The University responded by stating that it will not reinstate Huggins and confirmed to defend itself against any “spurious allegations.” The head coach didn’t return to WVU, but given his success and experience, it is easy to see why Villanova would want him to take charge.

By the end of his tenure with West Virginia, his win record stood at 345-203 over 16 seasons, which included a run to the Final Four in the 2009–2010 season. Having begun his career at West Virginia as an assistant coach in 1977, Huggins went on to have 41 seasons as a head coach. His first HC role came at Walsh, followed by Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and West Virginia.

His teams battled their way into the postseason an impressive 35 times, with 26 NCAA tournament appearances. Along the way, he reached the Sweet 16 nine times, the Elite Eight on four occasions, and twice made it all the way to the Final Four. Over the course of his legendary 41-season career, Huggins dominated the conference landscape, securing 13 regular-season titles and 12 conference tournament championships, while racking up 935 wins overall. His experience and big game mentality might be exactly what Villanova needs after Neptune’s underwhelming reign.

Neptune spent eight seasons (2013-2021) as a key assistant under Wright, helping secure two national championships along the way. After the 2020-21 season, he landed his first head-coaching role at Fordham, leading the Rams to a 16-16 record in his lone season. His tenure was short-lived, however, as Villanova brought him back to replace Wright. But the struggles were visible from the start.

Defeats to Temple and Portland marked the beginning of a concerning pattern of nonconference losses to middling opponents. Across all three seasons at Villanova, his teams fell to at least one sub-150 opponent, including this season’s surprise loss to Columbia in November. When Villanova fell to Connecticut in the Big East tournament quarterfinals, the writing was on the wall for Neptune, and 48 hours later, he was gone. Huggins, however, is not the only name linked with Villanova.

Top Comment by Ajc

Totally wrong hire. His coaching skills do not match Villanova tradition. Villanova will be sorry if they make...more

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Maryland’s Kevin Willard is another candidate rumored to sign with Villanova. According to Andrew Holleran of The Spun, “Willard to Villanova rumors have been swirling for a week or so.” The head coach, preparing his side for the Sweet 16 game against Florida on Thursday night, notably didn’t show up for an interview on The Sports Junkies, a local radio program in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, further fueling the rumors.

Villanova would do well to keep their options open, as there is no guarantee it would land Huggins, who has been linked with a surprise return to West Virginia.

Will Bob Huggins return to West Virginia?

Before he was recently brought into discussion for the Villanova Wildcats’ HC position, Huggins was among the vast field of candidates being speculated to receive the job from Indiana’s basketball team. Meanwhile, West Virginia is also on the lookout for a new HC after interim coach Josh Eilert accepted the Indiana basketball coaching job, and will leave the Mountaineers after narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament in his only season in Morgantown.

West Virginia is now back to square one, with Athletic director Wren Baker reportedly set to be tasked with overseeing the search for the fourth West Virginia basketball coach in as many years. Under such a situation, what better thing would be than, as they say, partner with the ‘devil you know’? With Bob Huggins not associated with any other college team, West Virginia can attempt to bring him back.

Huggins standing out as a potential candidate for the Mountaineers’ HC position isn’t something people are taking lightly. AD Wren Baker was questioned regarding the same during his press conference this week. He declined to go into specifics about candidates for the job by stating, “I’m not going to talk about candidates. I think I answered that last year by saying, appreciate our tradition, especially his contributions to it, but really focused on the future. And that’s probably the same way I would answer it today. Other than that, I don’t have a lot to offer in terms of specific candidates.”

When asked if Baker was not speaking about Huggins because he is a candidate, he responded by saying that he wouldn’t discuss “any specific candidates.” Well, well, well! If that isn’t a reason enough to speculate a potential return, then what is?

In the end, however, Bob Huggins might very well not make it back to West Virginia. After all, he faces competition from other big names like Bill Armstrong (Baylor), James Miller (Okl St.), Matt Woodley (Wake), former Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall, Chase Buford (KU), and even former NBA head coach Sam Mitchell. Yes, a former NBA coach! Furthermore, threatening to take legal action against his former university would not have put Huggins in a good spot with them.

Would you like to see Bob Huggins return to West Virginia? Or should he carve out a new coaching career with the Villanova Wildcats? Let us know in the comments section down below.