WVU’s Bob Huggins recalls colorful history of the Backyard Brawl with Pitt
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The subject of the zoom conference call Thursday morning was the Backyard Brawl, basketball style, but West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said he didn’t want to get into the history of the game.
Even though his footprints are all over it, whether he was wearing sneakers as a WVU player or dress shoes as a coach.
“It may incriminate me,” he said.
Told by a reporter that he probably couldn’t be prosecuted 48 years after his playing career ended, Huggins wasn’t sold.
“I don’t know,” he said with a straight face. “It is Pittsburgh.”
The Backyard Brawl moves indoors Friday night when West Virginia meets Pitt in the second game of the nonconference season for both teams. There will be a rematch next season in Morgantown, W.Va., Huggins said.
After that?
“It’s above my pay grade. The athletic directors do that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Huggins did share some memories he has of playing against Pitt, including carp being thrown onto the court while fans fought in the stands.
No memory is more vivid than the night WVU mascot Junior Taylor and his Pitt rival, Tiger Paul, got into a wrestling match.
“How does it get any better than that?” said Huggins, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year. “There were a lot of scraps and things. A lot of stuff went on. We looked forward to it.”
Probably because those games were ultimate tests of the players’ manhood.
“You only had two officials then,” Huggins said. “You could get away with a lot more. You have three officials now. There are more eyes watching you. It was way more physical back then, probably because of that.”
But Huggins said he made many friends among Pitt and Duquesne players.
In those days, there were so-called money tournaments, staged after the season by promoters who paid college stars, such as Huggins, to participate.
“(Pitt star guard) Tommy Richards and I were the backcourt in many of those games,” he said.
The WVU/Pitt basketball rivalry stretches back almost to the turn of the 20th century. The first two games were won by West Virginia, 15-12, and 40-9, in 1904 and 1905.
Pitt has played WVU 188 times, more than any opponent, with WVU holding a 100-88 edge. Pitt is 7-4 at the Pete, including a 68-53 loss in front of an empty Petersen Events Center during the covid season of 2020-21. WVU also won the rematch last season in Morgantown, 74-59.
Both teams have changed their looks dramatically in the ensuing 12 months. Of the 10 players who played for WVU in its 76-58 victory Monday against Mount St. Mary’s, only Kedrian Johnson and Kobe Johnson played against Pitt last season. Unless John Hugley or William Jeffress returns from injuries to suit up for Pitt, only Nate Santos played against WVU.
Speaking of Hugley, the Cleveland native who is Pitt’s best player and one of the ACC’s top centers, Huggins claims to know something.
“Hugley’s going to play,” he said. “I also know everybody in Cleveland, too. He’s going to play.”
In any case, Huggins said the Pitt team he remembers from 2021 will look nothing like the 2022 version.
“They do a great job of spreading you because they have multiple guys who can make shots,” Huggins said, aware of Pitt’s school-record 41 3-point attempts Monday against Tennessee Martin.
“They’ve done a really good job of solidifying their roster. They brought in a bunch of guys who can make shots.”
Huggins has made his team aware of Pitt’s Blake Hinson, a 6-foot-7, 235-pound forward who scored 27 points Monday.
“He can really, really shoot the ball. He has a great touch. He’s good enough that if you try to crowd him or you try to go at him a little bit off balance, he’s going to drive it by you.
“Pitt is way more versatile defensively than they were in the past. I think they’re going to bring a much bigger package than they have in the past.
“Jamie’s gone,” he said, referring to Jamie Dixon, the most recent coach to take Pitt to the NCAA Tournament. “It’s a different era for them. It’s a different style of play. Their tickets are a lot more expensive. It’s an entirely different ball game.”
The rivalry remains, though. Yet, it’s mainly between the fan bases.
“We don’t have guys who grew up watching the rivalry or hearing about the rivalry,” Huggins said. “We haven’t spent five seconds talking about it.”
Said Pitt coach Jeff Capel: “I understand the intensity of the rivalry. I don’t think it’s hatred. Maybe hatred with the fans. I know I don’t hate anyone.
“I have a lot of respect for coach Hugs. He’s been an outstanding coach everywhere he’s been. I feel for him. I thought he had the best team in the country when Kenyon Martin broke his leg (in 2000 when Huggins was the Cincinnati coach). That could have been the team that won him his national championship. It’s an honor to have a chance to play him.”
Born in Morgantown, Huggins became a Mountaineers fan sitting on his grandfather’s lap, listening to games on the radio. He’s been their coach since 2008, with one Final Four and four Sweet 16 appearances. In 40 seasons at five schools, Huggins has 917 career victories, second only to Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim among active coaches.
What would 1,000 victories mean to Huggins, now 69?
“It would mean I’m older,” he said.
How long does he want to coach?
“I don’t want to overstay my time,” he said.
But he still loves to coach.
”I feel good about it now. I think I still got the energy to do it,” he said. “I think I can still relate to the guys. I’m enjoying this year. I enjoy this team. The answer is I don’t know.”