San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
HUGGINS RESIGNS AT W. VIRGINIA AFTER DUI
West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has resigned following a drunken driving arrest.
The university announced his resignation Saturday night.
Huggins was charged with driving under the influence on Friday night after his SUV had stopped in the middle of traffic in Pittsburgh with a shredded tire. According to a criminal complaint, a breath test determined Hug- gins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21 percent, more than twice the legal limit.
The move comes a month after the university suspended him for three games for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.
Huggins, 69, of Morgantown, W.VA., was pulled over by police in Pittsburgh on Friday night. He was charged with driving under the influence, was released from custody and will appear at a later date for a preliminary hearing, according to a police report.
In a statement to the West Virginia community, Huggins said: “Today, I have submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately.
“My recent actions do not represent the values of the University or the leadership expected in this role.”
On Friday night, an officer observed garbage bags with empty beer containers both inside the vehicle and in the trunk, according to a criminal complaint. Huggins said he had been to a basketball camp with his brother in Sherrodsville, Ohio. An officer said Huggins was asked multiple times what city he was in but never got a response. A blood sample also was taken from Huggins at a hospital before his release.
It was Huggins’ second such arrest. The other occurred in 2004 when he was the head coach at Cincinnati.
Last month Huggins agreed to a three-game suspension, a $1 million salary reduction and sensitivity training for using the slur during an interview with Cincinnati radio station WLW. Huggins was asked about the transfer portal and whether he had a chance of landing a player at West Virginia from Xavier, a Jesuit school.
Golf
Amy Yang birdied all five par 5s at Blythefield and shot her third straight 5-under 67 to take the thirdround lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic at Belmont, Mich. Yang rebounded from bogeys on the par-3 11th and 13th to birdie the par-5 14th, par-4 17th and par-5 18th to reach 15-under 201 on the tree-lined course.
Soccer
Erling Haaland scored on his return to Norway and it wasn’t enough as Scotland came back to win 2-1 and keep a perfect record in qualifying for next year’s European Championship.
Elsewhere, Bruno Fernandes scored twice in a 3-0 win for Portugal against Bosnia-herzegovina as Cristiano Ronaldo played his 199th international game, and Belgium drew with Austria 1-1 without the injured Kevin de Bruyne.
Tennis
Frances Tiafoe will contest his first grass-court final after the American player outlasted Marton Fucsovics in a marathon Stuttgart Open tiebreak. Tiafoe won their semifinal 6-3, 7-6 (11) after saving six set points in the tiebreak. He seized his chance at 11-10 down to win the next three points, sealing victory with a stinging return shot. Tiafoe will play Jan-lennard Struff in today’s final after the home crowd cheered the German player past Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
WNBA
Jewell Loyd scored a careerhigh 39 points, Seattle made 17 3pointers and the Storm defeated the host Dallas Wings 109-103. Seattle’s victory overshadowed a careerhigh 41-point performance by Arike Ogunbowale of the Wings.
Horse racing
Irad Ortiz Jr. rode five winners at Belmont Park, including Goodnight Olive in the $200,000 Bed o’ Roses. Ortiz Jr., a four-time Eclipse Award-winning rider, is nearing 200 wins this year, including 25 wins in graded stakes races.
Sailing
Peter Burling of Team New Zealand mastered tricky light winds on Lake Michigan to win a slow-speed drag race against rival Tom Slingsby and three-time defending champion Australia in the podium race of the opening regatta in Season 4 of tech titan Larry Ellison’s global league.