Bob Huggins, the University of West Virginia basketball coach, used a homophobic slur twice on the radio Monday, and later expressed regret for the “abhorrent phrase.” (Listen to the audio below.)
Huggins, who coached at the University of Cincinnati from 1989 to 2005, appeared on “The Bill Cunningham Show” on Cincinnati’s Newsradio 700 WLW. The subject came around to Cincinnati’s rivalry with intracity foe Xavier.
“Any school that can throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn’t do it, my God, they can get away with anything,” Huggins said.
“I think it was transgender night, wasn’t it?” Cunningham said.
“What it was, was all those f*gs, those Catholic f*gs, I think,” Huggins said.
A laughing Cunningham responded: “Bob Huggins, is he the best?”
“I used a completely insensitive and abhorrent phrase that there is simply no excuse for ― and I won’t try to make one here,” Huggins said in a statement on WVU’s basketball Twitter account. “As I have shared with my players over my 40 years of coaching, there are consequences for our words and actions, and I will fully accept [anything] coming my way. I am ashamed and embarrassed and heartbroken for those I have hurt.”
A short time later, the university called Huggins’ remarks “offensive” and said it was reviewing the situation.
Huggins’ comment was among several controversial sports broadcasting moments in the past week.
Oakland A’s announcer Glen Kuiper was suspended indefinitely for saying “n****r” on the air in reference to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. ESPN hockey analyst P.K. Subban made a random body-shaming joke about rapper Lizzo while reviewing a Stanley Cup playoff game.
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