Bob Huggins coached his last game in Cincinnati for the UC Bearcats on March 2, 2005, a 77-56 rout of Tulane at what was then known as Shoemaker Center (Fifth Third Arena).
He would last coach West Virginia in the same arena against the Bearcats in January 2011, beating Mick Cronin’s squad, 66-55.
Since then, he’s made cameos on campus in celebration of his 1992 UC Final Four team or sometimes just to take in a game.
On Friday, April 17, one of the more memorable coaches in Cincinnati sports was back in town to share his memories on screen.
At Memorial Hall, the documentary “Beyond the Bench: The Bob Huggins Legacy” premiered with many former Bearcats on hand to relive the “Huggs” history, both happy and sad. If you’re old enough to remember local sports in the 1990s, particularly if you’re a UC Bearcats fan, the film will hold your attention for the entire one hour and 50 minutes.
“Unbelievable, really nice,” Huggins said when asked of the final product. “It’s great. It makes you feel like people care about you and you care about them.”
His most outspoken former player, current UC color commentator Terry Nelson, has always been a firm supporter of his former coach and was glad to see people come together to support the man he refers to as “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Huggs” in the movie.
“It’s always good to give flowers to somebody when they’re alive,” Nelson said. “I don’t like waiting ’til somebody dies, they can’t enjoy it. For us to do this for Bob Huggins, while he’s still alive, while people can still remember him and show him the love and credit that’s due to him, it’s amazing.”
Nelson and Corie Blount are among the Bearcats featured in the film along with Steve Logan, Kenyon Martin, Anthony Buford, Nick Van Exel, Melvin Levett, Erik Martin, Steve Sanders and Ruben Patterson, and Mountaineers like Darryl “Truck” Bryant, Miles “Deuce” McBride and Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier, who called games on WXIX-TV Fox 19 as well as current UC voice Dan Hoard.
Bob Huggins, former UC basketball coach, remains influential in Cincinnati sports history
When Huggins took over for head coach Tony Yates in 1989, UC hadn’t been to an NCAA Tournament since 1977 under Gale Catlett.
After back-to-back NIT appearances, Huggins not only had the Bearcats in the NCAA “Dance,” they made it to the Final Four, where they held a halftime lead against Michigan’s Fab Five in the Minneapolis Metrodome. They nearly returned the following year, but fell short against eventual national champion North Carolina in the Elite Eight.
For Bearcats fans, it was a return to relevance not to be forgotten.
Beyond the Bench, Bob Huggins highlights
The film goes back to his father’s roots, an Ohio Hall of Fame coach, running a basketball camp, where his mother cooked for the campers. Bob Huggins was the oldest of seven kids and played the game well enough to lead Indian Valley South to an unbeaten record in 1972 and a state title.
Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, Huggins made his way back as a player for the Mountaineers. Much of his past and recent times in West Virginia are featured, including his 2010 Final Four run derailed by late injuries to “Truck” Bryant and Da’Sean Butler, whom he famously consoled in the national semifinal game when he went down with an injury similarly to UC’s Kenyon Martin’s in 2000, which stopped another promising season.
His famous “Fish Fry,” dedicated to raising money for cancer research in memory of his mother and also to support coal miners, was also featured, in addition to his 2023 DUI arrest, which ended his tenure in West Virginia. Huggins, in the film, maintains he did not resign from WVU.
UC guard Steve Sanders delivers Huggins’ first Bearcats win
The building, now known as Fifth Third Arena, opened Nov. 25, 1989, with the first Bob Huggins Bearcats facing No. 20 Minnesota. Down 64-63, the Bearcats had less than a second. The scene is reshown in the film, but UC football player turned basketball hero Steve Sanders recalled the game-winning shot on a play that wasn’t meant for him.
“We were just trying to throw the ball to the front of the rim,” Sanders said. “The last thing he (Huggins) said was, ‘Steve, you have to be ready. If he can’t throw it inside, he’s going to throw it to you.'”
The rest is in the show, but UC would win 66-64 as Sanders was tackled by teammates.
Herb Jones was glue to UC’s Final Four
The recruiting of Herb Jones in 1990, as told by former Huggins assistant Steve Moeller, was the key in the turnaround to the Final Four. Following that, the group of Blount, Martin and Nelson from California, paired with Van Exel, led to many schools looking for help via junior colleges. Add in Buford, transferring from Akron to join Huggins at UC and history was made.
Nelson said he, Blount and Martin stopped at the “cut in the hill” on I-75 to look at the Cincinnati skyline in 1991 and start their dream of putting the Bearcats back on the map.
Blount mentions how his family was swayed to UC when Huggins brought up that Arizona State (also competing for Blount) didn’t recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Once recruiting was over, though, practice began. Suddenly, there was a transformation of Huggins that would eventually lead to success, but initially, a lot of questions.
“I never thought I would be able to do something to be able to understand how and why he became who he was,” Blount said. “At the time, I just thought he was a crazy white man. After a year, after knowing him, after loving him, to be a part of this, it’s just the culmination of our relationship.”
Blount would be a first-round pick of the Chicago Bulls and Van Exel would go in the second-round to the Los Angeles Lakers. Van Exel said the NBA was easier than a Huggins practice.
“Seeing his life, what he’s done as a coach is remarkable,” Van Exel said. “A guy that came from way at the bottom to make several Final Fours and push programs that were not elite and make ’em elite. That says a lot about himself and his coaching.”
Those teams eventually led to blue-chippers Dontonio Wingfield, Damon Flint, Danny Fortson, Ruben Patterson, Melvin Levett, Jason Maxiell, Eric Hicks, Steve Logan, Kenny Satterfield and a long line of Bearcats that would break the NIL bank in today’s market.
Huggins film drew cheers, but also boos from UC faithful
Though the first Bob Huggins DUI took place in 2004, then-president Nancy Zimpher was behind the ouster of Huggins after the 2005 season, leading Andy Kennedy to be a lame duck interim coach unable to recruit. The film admits faults, but there was never any love lost between Huggins and Zimpher and the Memorial Hall fans watching responded with the “Bronx cheer” during those clips.
Cincinnati Bearcats stories never told
Kenyon Martin tells a previously untold gem in the film about his broken leg in the Conference USA tournament. Without spoiling it too much, it may have been the footwear.
UC’s Great Alaska Shootout win over Duke
UC played Nov. 25-28 1998, in Alaska, beating Southern Utah, Iowa State and Duke. The Ryan Fletcher pass to Martin redirected to Mel Levett to beat the Blue Devils, is played often on UC’s videoboard.
“The Helicopter” hovered over more details of that game-winning dunk, which highlighted a chilly, Thanksgiving trip away from family.
“When people see the story, they’re going to get a chance to understand that whole Duke dunk thing,” Levett said. “What happened with that Duke dunk took place several nights before, with a gesture by Coach Huggins. For me to be able to talk about it in the film and let others know who he was, that’s the cool part for me right now.”
Ruben Patterson’s UC performance at UAB
Though Patterson calls him “crazy” in the film, it was Bob Huggins who had to knock on his hotel door early in the morning Feb. 19, 1998, to tell him his mother had died from a heart attack.
Patterson explains how Huggins hugged him tightly and told him arrangements were made for him to return home. Patterson would then decide to play in honor of his mother and scored 32 points in a 93-76 win over the UAB Blazers at Bartow Arena.
Bob Huggins quotes from coaches
Bill Self, Kansas on Huggins’ public mistakes – “Life is life. We’ve all got issues. We all deal with stuff. His issue was front and center in the public. Our sport isn’t as much fun without knowing, ‘Hey, I’m going against Huggy Bear tonight.’ “
John Calipari, Arkansas on Huggins’ bad luck with Kenyon Martin, Da’Sean Butler – “What he did after that kind of says who he is and what he’s about.”
Andy Kennedy, UAB on Bob Huggins teams – “They branded that villain’s hat on Bob Huggins. He tried it on. He liked the way it fit.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bob Huggins sees documentary premiere with UC Bearcats friends, family
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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