Bob Huggins Biography

Bob Huggins has been the head coach at the University of Cincinnati for 14 seasons. He has had all veteran teams, he's had a mix of veterans and inexperienced players and he has had teams woefully short on experience. Regardless of the mix of players he's had one thing is certain, Huggins has instilled in all his teams a will to win and they've won.

Huggins is ranked among the top major college coaches in the nation. He owns a glittering 517-184 (.738) record achieved over 22 seasons as a head coach. This incredible winning record places him sixth in winning percentage and 18th in victories among active Division I coaches.

He has reeled off a string of 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances placing him third among active coaches. In his 22 seasons as head coach he has suffered only four seasons in which his team won less than 20 games. Huggins teams have averaged a sparkling 23.5 wins a season during his tenureas a head coach and 26.3 per season over the past eight seasons.

At Cincinnati, Huggins has amassed an incredible 349-112 record (.757) placing him number one in the schools long and storied basketball history in terms of wins and winning percentage. He has coached the Bearcats to nine conference regular season titles and seven league tournament crowns. Huggins teams have enjoyed postseason play each of his fourteen seasons at UC. They have been to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament three times and the Final Four once.

Huggins, has been the recipient of the Ray Meyer Award given annually to the Conference USA Coach of the Year three of the past five years. He was chosen the national coach of the year by ESPN following the 2001-02' season. He was selected co-national coach of the year by The Sporting News for his work in the 1999-00' season. Huggins was named national coach of the year by Basketball Times' after the 1997-98' season and chosen national coach of the year by Hoop Scoop following the 1991-92' season.

Perhaps, the 2001-02' team best typifies his success. The Bearcats were unranked prior to the season. All that team did was record a school-record 31-4 season, win both the regular season and tournament Conference USA championships and cap it off with a numer one seed in the NCAA Tournament, first ever in school history. The 2001-02' team, unranked before the season began was ranked 5th in the final AP poll and 8th in the final USA Today/ESPN poll.

No matter the odds, no matter the obstacles Huggins has won everwhere he's gone. He was just 27 when he got his first college head coaching job. He was tapped by Walsh College in 1980 and compiled a 71-26 record in three seasons. He earned the NAIA District 22 Coach of the Year distinction twice while at Walsh and accomplished something rarely done in any sport at any level. He coached the 1982-83' team to a perfect 30-0 regular season record and wound up with a 34-1 overall mark for the year.

Following a year as an assistant at Central Florida in the 1983-84' season he went to Akron as head coach where he had a record of 97-46 (.678) and took his team to postseason play in three of the five seasons he was there.

As they say in the real estate game its all about location-location-location. Bob Huggins says in the game of basketball its all about defense-defense-defense. Defense coupled with unquestioned dedication, a healthy dose of intensity and an unparalleled work ethic will pay tremendous dividends, Huggins has certainly proved this to be true over his career.

Some of his accomplishments are:

Head coach at the University of Cincinnati for 14 seasons
Ranked among the top major college coaches in the nation
Owns a glittering 517-184 (.738) lifetime record
22 seasons as a college head coach
Sixth in winning percentage among active Division I coaches
18th in victories among active Division I coaches
12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances placing him third among active coaches
Only four seasons his team won less than 20 games (22 seasons)
Averaged 23.5 wins a season as head coach
Averaged 26.3 wins per season over past eight seasons
Amassed 349-112 record (.757) at Cincinnati
Number one at Cincinnati in wins and winning percentage
Coached Bearcats to nine conference regular season titles
Coached Bearcats to seven league tournament crowns
Huggins teams have been to postseason tournament each of his 14 seasona at UC
Been to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament three times
Been to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament once
Three time Conference USA Coach of the Year
Chosen national coach of the year by ESPN following the 2001-02'
Sporting News co-national coach of the year after the 1999-00' season
Named national coach of the year by Basketball Times' after the 1997-98' season
Chosen national coach of the year by Hoop Scoop following the 1991-92' season
Coached 2001-02' team to a school record 31-4 season
First ever at Cincinnati number one seed in the NCAA Tournament following 2001-02' season
Final ranking nationally AP poll number five
71-26 (73.1%) record in 3 seasons at Walsh College
NAIA District 22 Coach of the Year twice at Walsh
Unbeaten regular season (30-0) at Walsh
97-45 (66.9%) in 5 years at Akron
Coached team to postseason play (3) years at Akron