NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - WEST VIRGINIA VS MARYLAND

March 15, 2023

Bob Huggins

Legacy Arena

West Virginia Mountaineers

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We will go straight to questions.

Q. So, Bob, start with the basics. Keys for you guys tomorrow. What do you have to do well?

COACH HUGGINS: Make shots. They are -- from everything I've watched, they do a great job of spreading and make shots. We have to make shots. If we make shots obviously we will be fine.

Q. Bob, I saw some comments from you earlier this year that it took you a while to figure out how to coach or how to deal with the portal guys on your team. How much has the experience you have had this year going to inform how you build teams in the future and how you coach them?

COACH HUGGINS: I think this year helped. You have returning guys, generally, I didn't know whether you should or you shouldn't, we recruited some freshmen guys into the program. Obviously they weren't ready. And then you got guys out of the portal that honestly some of them fit in, some of them struggled to fit in. It just took some time. And all that being said we had opportunities early. We had opportunities early, particularly in the conference season where we should have won games and we didn't win games. We missed free throws, we missed lay-ups, we threw it away at a crucial time. We just did a lot of things that are uncharacteristic of, really, of this group. And it cost us. And it got to the point where it was time to sit down and say, "Fellas, we have screwed up. We put our backs against the wall. And we can either fight our way out or we can give." Obviously they decided to fight their way out.

Q. Coach, I know you've talked about Erik a lot throughout the season. You know, probably depends on what day I ask you this what your answer will be. What's your relationship with him mean to you, and what's it been like watching him in this environment now that he finally has a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament?

COACH HUGGINS: Believe it or not, Erik and I have always had a pretty good relationship. I think there's been a lot of guys through the years that we have great relationships that people really have no idea, because I think most of us think that it's nobody's damn idea anyways other than ours. When you take care of each other, which obviously he has done a great job of, particularly here of late. You know, I forget what the question was. He's never played in an NCAA Tournament, which is really hard to believe. It's hard to believe that he's played for the coaches that he's played for and the programs he's played in and he hasn't played in an NCAA Tournament. So hopefully he's kind of settled down and plays this like he would play any other game.

Q. On the topic of relationships, what has it been like to have a relationship with Andy Kennedy who is obviously the head coach of UAB. Will you have a chance to see and talk to each other? I know you are both pretty busy this weekend, but just wanted to ask.

COACH HUGGINS: Well, Andy and I have been close for a long time. I was at the Peach Jam sitting over there watching the game, Andy came over and sat down and started talking, and next thing I know I hired him as an assistant. Had quite a crew. At one time I had Andy, Frank Martin, Brad Underwood. I have been blessed. I have been blessed and certainly Andy's right at the top of the list of guys. He was really good for me because, as you know, he has a great sense of humor and there's a lot of times I don't. So he was a great mix for me.

Q. So, Bob, we talked about keys for you. Keys for Maryland, what do they do well, and what do you guys have to defend?

COACH HUGGINS: Well, hereof late, they make a lot of shots, and Kevin has done a great job. He's done a great job with what they do offensively. I think he's done a great job of putting that team together. Defensively I think from what I saw early and what you watch now, they are much much improved and certainly Kevin deserves the credit for that. They seem to be extremely coachable. They are rebounding the ball very well. They are just doing a lot of things right.

Q. Like you, he's a coach's kid. Talked about it before. What is it about coach's kids that leads them into the profession?

COACH HUGGINS: I'm not sure. My mother wanted me to be a doctor. And I found out how many classes you had to take to do that, and there's got to be a better way out than this. So -- I did it because I loved the game, I love being around the game. I got an opportunity to be a -- whatever it was. A volunteer coach or whatever right after I got done playing, and I liked it. I like working with the guys. I like coaching the guys. I like sharing what I learned as a player with them. And it just seemed like the right thing to do. Plus I didn't want to leave Morgantown.

Q. When you talk about how this team dug itself out of the hole, how do you know if you can when you're leaning so heavily on players that have only been here a short amount of time, you haven't really had a chance to develop them through their whole college career?

COACH HUGGINS: I have a way. It varies. You know, the idea that you treat them all the same is absolute BS. You can't treat them all the same. They are all different. They are all different. They have different expectations, they have different goals, you find out what makes them tick. You find out where they want to go, what they want to do, what they want to be. It's the same thing that happened to me as a player. I had no idea what I want to do. I wanted to play basketball. And right now, if you had asked every one of them what they want to do, they want to play basketball, whether that be in Europe, whether that be in the CBA, the ABA, the NBA. They all want to keep playing. And you try to spend time, work with them, try to make things realistic with them, try to tell them what it takes to try to achieve the goals that they want to achieve. And I have been there. And I've got a great staff. I've got the guy who was the sixth pick in the draft. Pretty good. And that's coming out as a freshman. I had a teammate who was the first pick in the draft with a broken leg, if you recall. He understands, he's been through it, he can relate to them. I got another assistant who played for me. And then I got another assistant who was a kid who used to come down and rebound for me when I try to get shots up after the game if I had a bad game. And I have known him since he was a little kid. So I've got guys I can trust. I got guys I can trust. I got guys who in a lot of ways know a lot more than I know about a lot of different things.

Q. Congratulations making the tournament. Just talk about playing against Maryland. You haven't played them in a very long time. What do they look like now in the Big 10?

COACH HUGGINS: I think they are playing extremely well. You know, obviously I haven't seen them in person, I just have seen them in tape, but I think they are playing extremely well. And again, Kevin has done a terrific job of putting them in positions where they can be successful, which is what we're supposed to try to do. Which is put them in positions where they can be successful. I think he's done a great job of putting guys in positions that fits them.

Q. Coach, I wanted to ask your perspective on this: We have a unique situation here in this situation having Auburn and Alabama essentially having home court advantage in this tournament. You have so much experience in the tournament. How much of a benefit is that for a team to actually get to play in front of its home crowd since it is such a unique advantage for teams?

COACH HUGGINS: I think playing in front of your home crowd is a terrific advantage. I think that's why the majority of teams when you look at their won/loss record and you study it a little bit, they have a lot more wins at home than they have wins on the road. I think it's a comfortable factor, I think just the bearing that the crowd has. It has a lot to do with it.

Q. Coach, I guess on this note, it seemed like last year when you were down here there was a pretty good WVU set of fans that were hear against UAB. What are expectations for WV fans coming to tomorrow's game and maybe one on Saturday as well?

COACH HUGGINS: I would be shocked if there weren't a lot here. We travel well. Our people travel well. And I think with pretty much the way we played towards the end of the year, I think our fans are excited about us making a run.

Q. A number of players going into the transfer portal this week, how do you balance preparing for this NCAA Tournament game and preparing for the future as well beyond this?

COACH HUGGINS: I haven't. I haven't. I'm trying to get our guys ready, give them every opportunity to win. That's what we're supposed to do. We'll worry about that later.

Q. Bob, you got such a great coaching tree at this point in your career. What are some of the insights into developing great assistant coaches?

COACH HUGGINS: I think the majority of those went through it. You know, I was blessed to have a father who's probably if you took a poll would be the best coach in the history of Ohio basketball. I grew up with that. I was blessed to be able to be around a guy like Eldon Miller at Ohio State for three years, who actually a few weeks ago came down and spent a couple weeks with me. And a couple weeks watching us practice. I have been just been blessed to be around basketball people. I probably spent more time around Charlie Spoonhour than his wife. Love Spoon. And Spoon and I had a great relationship. And you learn a lot from a guy like that. I have just been blessed. I've had a great relationship with most coaches. There's been a few, we maybe haven't seen eye-to-eye, but not very many. And the reality of it is I love being around coaches. I grew up that way. I grew up in a trailer with four sisters and two brothers. Close family. Better be close. You grew up in a trailer with that many people. We're from a town of 500 people. Two stoplights, nine bars. I grew up the right way. I grew up in what people really think of when you think back about it, that's real America. I have been blessed.

Q. Basketball NCAA Tournaments play different, officiated different, style, nerves. What's the difference at this stage compared to the rest of the year?

COACH HUGGINS: I can only guess, but I sure hope it's officiated different. The other part of it -- we're just going to go play. Obviously we're going to study film, we're going to look at tendencies and hopefully see what they are good at. If there's anything they are not good at, I suspect there's not a whole lot they are not good at, because Kevin does a great job with them. You know, who knows? I think the hard thing for officials is -- I shouldn't talk about officials, but you get different guys there. During the year they all to work together. They are all varying crews. And I don't know how much crewing there is, you know. So different guys have different ideas. And that's not wrong. I just think sometimes it makes it a little harder on them.

Q. Yeah, question about trailer life. What are some of the values that you learned, you know, around sharing and things like that growing up in such close quarters?

COACH HUGGINS: Don't be the last one in the tub. It's rough. Last one in the tub is rough. You know, you are in a trailer. You kind of share the same water.

Q. Back to the point of just having two teams again, this unique situation with Auburn and Alabama. I want to know on the flip side of that, maybe there's extra pressure sometimes too. I know this doesn't happen often. As a coach, do you like the neutrality during the tournament to be in a new environment? Does it take some of the focus away maybe for the guys that are coming to something they are not familiar with?

COACH HUGGINS: No. I think we would love for you to come to Morgantown. Have a tournament in Morgantown. It would be fun. I would enjoy it. I'm sure Bruce is excited about playing here. And I'm sure both guys are excited about playing here. Why wouldn't you be?

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you very much.