Thanks to a line in this week's Columbus Dispatch I fielded a number of questions about whether I thought Bob Huggins might the next Ohio State basketball coach.

 

The Dispatch, citing sources close to Bob Huggins, said Huggins was interested. 

 

Mountaineer fans have been through this kind of thing before with coaches, but it's been a while. For a stretch of about five to seven years, this kind of story seemed to pop up once or twice a year. 

 

The more Rich Rodriguez won, the more his name was floated for other jobs until he eventually left for Michigan. Same routine with John Beilein, ending in the same trek from Morgantown to Ann Arbor. But, since then it's been all quiet on the coaching carousel when it comes to WVU. 

 

Dana Holgorsen won big in year one, but then cooled off and has a below .500 Big 12 record. His phone wasn't ringing. 

 

Bob Huggins returned home, proceeded to win big and immersed himself into the fabric of the state. Yeah, I know other coaches have professed their love of West Virginia too, but with Huggins it felt different. Huggins often refers to the talks he has with his players about their importance to the entire state, not just basketball fans.

 

His work on behalf of WVU for cancer research is more than just a coach doing his part. It's personal.

 

Bob Huggins has become more than just a basketball coach at WVU. For those reasons, I never believed he would be the next Ohio State basketball coach. 

 

If that wasn't enough to convince you Huggins wasn't going to Ohio State, one other aspect of the search should have.

 

The timing.

 

Reports of Huggins' interest in the Ohio State job surfaced  AFTER Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg and Creighton coach Greg McDermott reportedly passed on the job.  If Bob Huggins was going to be the next head coach at Ohio State the deal would have been in place the minute Thad Matta was fired. Heck, maybe before he was fired. 

 

There is no way a guy with Huggins' credentials was going to be a backup candidate after the Buckeyes whiffed on McDermott. It doesn't work that way with coaches of Huggins' caliber. This "story" officially died Friday when Ohio State named former Butler coach, Chris Holtmann as its new head coach. 

 

To quote Jevon Carter's mom from a few weeks ago regarding his decision to "return" to WVU: "it's not returning if you never left." And so it is with Bob Huggins. 

 

Editor's Note: Photos of Bob Huggins by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.