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Teaser released for Bob Huggins coaching career documentary

Danby: Daniel Hager3 hours agoDanielHagerOn3

The teaser trailer for the Bob Huggins documentary, Beyond the Bench, has been released.

The documentary will focus on the life and career of Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins, who accrued a 934–415 record and two Final Four appearances (1992 and 2010) across five programs (Wabash, Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and West Virginia).

Huggins last coached in 2023. Following the 2022-23 season, his 16th with West Virginia, he resigned on June 17 after being charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol in Pittsburgh.

“It’s time (to make the documentary)”, Executive Producer Allen Hilsinger said during an interview with Locked on West Virginia. “The whole mentality behind this was that I thought it was necessary as an independent filmmaker to explain and tell the story of why guys he coached 35 years ago still call him every week. Still call him a father. Still love him. What you’ll see in the documentary is that theme comes out. Every player has their hysterical stories about him. Every player has their disciplinary stories about him. But what comes out more than anything is how much they love the guy.”

Bob Huggins coached at five programs, most notably Cincinnati and West Virginia

Following stints at Wabash and Akron, Huggins earned his first big-brand job with Cincinnati in 1989. Prior to Huggins’ arrival at the program, the Bearcats had not been selected to the NCAA Tournament since 1977. Over the course of Huggins’ 16-year stint at Cincinnati, ‘Huggy Bear’ led the program to the Tournament in 14 consecutive seasons from 1992-2005.

Huggins was named Conference USA Coach of the Year three times and led the Bearcats to eight C-USA regular season titles and four C-USA Tournament titles. He remains the program’s all-time winningest coach (398 wins). His stint with the program came to an end in August 2005 following his first DUI arrest and a string of arrests within his program.

He spent one season at Kansas State (2006-07) before latching on with West Virginia, where he’d coach from 2007-2023. He led the Mountaineers to a Big East Tournament victory and a Final Four appearance in 2010 and totaled 345 wins, good for second most in program history (behind Gale Catlett).

There’s no doubt that the Morgantown native is one of the best coaches of his generation, along with being one of the most controversial. The documentary will no doubt serve as an in-depth look at the life and legacy of the larger than life figure.