Legendary high school coach Huggins dies
Charlie Huggins, who established a legacy of high school boys basketball coaching success ranked as the all-time best in Ohio, has died at age 87.
He died Tuesday in Truman House in New Philadelphia. James Gardner of Baxter-gardner Funeral Home in Sherrodsville said no official cause of death has been released.
Huggins captured three small-school state championships — one at Strasburg in 1967 and two at the former Indian Valley South in 1972 and 1976.
He compiled arecord of 398-74 at Stone Creek, Strasburg, Conotton Valley, IVS and Hiland high schools. His overall winning percentage as a head coach — .843 — is the best of all time in the state of Ohio, according to the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association.
He won the three state, seven regional, 10 district, 15 sectional and eight league championships in 20 years of coaching.
Charlie's son, Bob, is head coach of the men's basketball team at West Virginia University, where he has over 900 wins, after successful stints at Walsh, Akron and Cincinnati. Another son, Larry, played for Ohio State from 197983.
Born Sept. 1, 1933, in Morgantown, West Virginia, Huggins graduated from Alderson-broaddus College in West Virginia in 1952 and earned a master's degree at WVU in 1962. For 20 years he taught an adult Sunday school, and five decades ago founded a Christian-based basketball camp now run by Larry.
Charlie Huggins' wife, Norma, died of colon cancer in 2003. Besides Bob and Larry Huggins, Charlie Huggins also is
survived by five other children and several grandchildren.
Longtime Dover High School boys basketball coach Bob Von Kaenel, who has more than 675 coaching wins, called Huggins a mentor.
"Coach Huggins was a man who taught the game with a demand for doing everything correctly all the time," said Von Kaenel. "He was a mentor to me, and I went to him for advice throughout my entire career. As a coach, he demanded mental toughness, and awarded effort. He taught you life lessons and was respected by everyone. He was ahead of his time as a technician. I admired his coaching ability. I loved Coach."
Some of the hallmarks from the Huggins era included a dedication to mental toughness and long practices. Another hallmark: “jumping” on officials from the start to the finish of games.
Charlie Jones, a member of Strasburg's 1967 state championship team, said Huggins was a master at making adjustments.
“Charlie and his assistant Jim Bieleski were equally adept coaching the transition game or a slow-paced game," Jones said. "Charlie's rigorous threehour practices were legendary and so intense, it made the games seem easy.
"He ran a disciplined ship, evidenced by his team of crew-cut hairstyles, his 50-lap penalty if caught with a girlfriend during hoops season, (a second violation meant being kicked off the team) or his one-lap-per-point when the opponent scored above 45. His legacy was developing players to shoot accurately and play defense, but more importantly, teaching discipline, character and turning kids into responsible young men.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.