Sunday, September 29, 2002
Huggins' coaching status unclear
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Huggins
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Will Bob Huggins coach the UC basketball team this season? Ever again? It's simply too early to tell. First, doctors will have to see how he recovers from Saturday's heart attack and surgery.
“In the day and age we live - and this is an absurd statement - if it's a mild heart attack, then he'll sit out for two or three weeks and he'll be back,” UC assistant coach Andy Kennedy said. "If it's serious, then who knows? It could be six months. If it's real serious, he's done. I don't think anybody knows yet.”
“We're lucky, I think,” UC Athletic Director Bob Goin said. “We're lucky and he's lucky. He's got to get through this night, then there will be an assessment (today) on his condition.
“The situation that we're hoping for is to get him back up on his feet as soon as he can travel and get him back home to Cincinnati and get him under medical care there in Cincinnati. It's going to be a few days.”
Said UC team orthopedic surgeon Angelo Colosimo: “In any event such as this, the first 24 to 48 hours is critical to evaluate the extent of the damage. Nothing else can be said at this point.”
Huggins, credited with returning UC basketball to national prominence, was in serious but stable condition Saturday night in Beaver, Pa., after suffering a heart attack at the end of a recruiting trip to Pittsburgh.
The 49-year-old Huggins, about to begin his 14th season at UC, had chest pains while at the airport, about 11 miles west of Pittsburgh, and was taken to a nearby hospital before he was transferred to Medical Center in Beaver, about 24 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Huggins had surgery to implant a stent, hospital spokesman Scott Monit said during a press conference. The tiny metal mesh device is designed to keep Huggins' once-clogged artery open.
“I don't know if he realizes how close he came to not being here,” said Goin, who flew to Pittsburgh from Philadelphia, where he was planning to watch the UC-Temple football game.
Huggins will remain in the hospital for at least two days, Monit said, but offered no prognosis on his health.
Huggins' wife, June, and their daughters, Jenna, 20, a UC sophomore, and Jacqueline, 17, had gathered at the hospital late Saturday with Goin.
Huggins' family has a history of heart problems. His father, Charlie, a high school coach in northern Ohio, had a heart attack before the age of 40.
In 1998, Huggins had tests on his heart as a precaution.
Bobby Lutz coach of Conference USA rival North Carolina-Charlotte, called the Huggins family after hearing the news. Family members told him doctors were considering additional procedures and that they expressed hope he could be transferred to Cincinnati as early as the end of the week.
“I'm thankful that he's OK,” Lutz said. “It's a competitive business, but I know I have tremendous respect for him. When we come (to play) in January,
I expect to see him on the sideline.”
The UC players were going through weight lifting and conditioning Saturday morning when they were summoned to the locker room. Senior Leonard Stokes, for one, thought nothing of it.
Then associate head coach Dan Peters delivered the news.
“They were shocked,” Peters said.
“It was dead silent,” Stokes said. “You could hear a pin drop. I can't even explain it - my heart just dropped. We said a prayer and we all just left. Nobody could play after that.
“He taught us how to be warriors, and now we're pulling for him,” Stokes said.
Peters said Saturday night he called every player to update them on Huggins' condition.
“Everybody just needs to do their job, just keep doing what they're supposed to do and work and hopefully he'll be there for practice,” said Peters. “I don't know how much he'll be able to coach, but he should be there for the practices.”
The Bearcats begin practicing for the 2002-03 season Oct. 12.
Huggins was scheduled to be on the road recruiting every day this week, the final week of the contact period. Kennedy will go into schools and try to reassure players that Huggins will recover and continue to coach the Bearcats.
As for when Huggins might return, Peters said: “Heck, he's got to make Breakfast with Bob. We've got to have him there for that.”
The university plans to move away from Midnight Madness activities and hold an open-to-the-public event with Huggins and the players the morning of Oct. 12. That was the least of anyone's concern Saturday night.
“With anything like that, it would be very premature to make a decision,” sports information director Tom Hathaway said. “Our concern is about Coach Huggins and his family.”
Goin, who was in Philadelphia Saturday for the football team's game at Temple, found out about Huggins' condition when he was standing on the sideline at Franklin Field 20 minutes before kickoff. He got a police escort to the Philadelphia airport and quickly caught a flight to Pittsburgh.
UC athletic trainer Jayd Grossman drove to Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon after hearing the news.
Jim Hannah, Michael Perry, Shannon Russell, Erica Solvig, Neil Schmidt, Kevin Cooney and wire services contributed to today's reports on Bob Huggins.
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Huggins' coaching status unclear