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Broadcast – Huggins’ Legacy

Years ago when former basketball coach Bob Huggins was honored at Fifth Third Arena, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. He was hailed as UC’s winningest coach with 399 wins, ten league titles and 16 postseason appearances.

The hard truth is the missing statistic was the number of Bearcats’ players charged with crimes. One Huggins’ product, Corrie Blount, went to prison on drug charges. He got caught with 29 pounds of pot! Others were charged with other crimes. Huggins had so many criminals on his teams that Sports Illustrated once named the Bearcats their least “rootable” team.

Recently, another of “Huggs’ Thugs,” Art Long was convicted of drug and gun charges. During his playing days in Cincinnati, Long was jailed for choking his girlfriend. Whether he recruited the wrong types or didn’t mentor them properly, Huggins’ legacy is still being felt today.