September 21st is also a very important date, because it marks the 60 year anniversary of the greatest thing that ever happened to college basketball. 60 years ago, the modern day version of Robert Montgomery Knight was born. When asked who is the best coach in college basketball, you probably go with all-time wins and say Coach K or Jim Boeheim, or maybe you go with a trendy pick like Tom Izzo or John Calipari. They are all fine choices, but if you ask me, it has to be Bob Huggins. It has nothing to do with his 690 career wins or the fact that he has lead teams to the postseason in 25 of 28 years, but with how he interacts with his players.
When Huggy Bear recruits players out of high school he uses the same tactics that those players use on the girls at school. He leaves them feeling excited and optimistic after the first date and then never calls them again. He waits three days to return their calls and always mispronounces their names. But just like the girl in high school, they always commit and decide to follow him to college because they are convinced that one day he will change his mind and like them.
The first three weeks of practice are awkward because Huggy Bear only yells at them and calls them all by the same name, and because this is a family friendly blog I cannot say that name here. They also have to earn the right to wear shoes at practice, and they practice outside in the parking lot next to the bar because Huggy loves beer. He is notorious for throwing chairs and empty beer bottles at the players while they practice as a way to toughen them up.
Huggy tears his players down to size and treats them like they are nothing, and then builds them back up into the hard-nosed, tough-minded players that excel in his system. They learn to respect him and will do whatever it takes for the team to succeed, and in return he treats them like they are his kids. All of these things make Bob "Huggy Bear" Huggins the best coach in college basketball!
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