Huggins, Calipari set for 12th all-time clash
In 2002, then-University of Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins was heading to a university hospital in an ambulance after suffering a heart attack.
Huggins though noticed a paramedic that he believed wasn’t taking the situation as seriously as he should’ve been. After Huggins was sure he wasn’t to make it and then passed out again, that paramedic, who was now paying more attention, reassured him after he woke up that he was going to live for a particular reason.
“Coach, listen man, you’re going to make it,” he said to Huggins. “I can’t let you die, I’m John Calipari’s cousin. Hey, you can’t die until he beats you at least once.”
At the time, Huggins held a 5-0 record against Calipari since the two legendary coaches first faced off in 1993 while Huggins was coaching at Cincinnati and Calipari was coaching at the University of Massachusetts.
Calipari would get his first win over Huggins in 2003 as the head coach at Memphis. The Tigers defeated the Bearcats that year, 67-48.
Competition aside, Huggins and Calipari have developed a friendship over the years that goes beyond the wins and losses and originated in the 1970’s through Joe Fryz, who was a teammate of Huggins’ at West Virginia and a friend of Calipari’s during high school in Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
“We’ve had a great relationship since the 70’s,” Huggins said. “We got to be pretty good friends. Obviously I’m older than what (Calipari) is, but I’d see him at five-star or we’d spend some time, we spent time on the road. We’ve done seemingly hundreds of charity events together.”
One of those charity events was the annual Bob Huggins Fish Fry, which benefits Remember The Miners Scholars Program and the Norma Mae Huggins Cancer Research Endowment Fund. Calipari served as this year’s guest speaker for the event.
Since their first meeting in 1993, Huggins has put up an 8-3 all-time record against Calipari, but has dropped the past two meetings with the latest one coming in the 2015 Sweet 16 when then-unbeaten Kentucky dismantled the Mountaineers, 78-39.
The last time Huggins came out victorious against Calipari was in 2010, when West Virginia defeated the Wildcats, 73-66, to advance to the Final Four. Together, Huggins and Calipari have combined for over 1,500 wins, 41 NCAA Tournament appearances and eight Final Four appearances,
As both legendary basketball add to their already monumental resumes and look to get their teams back in the win column, one thing that will not change is the relationship they’ve built over a long period of time even with the wins and losses.
“Both obviously are really passionate guys,” ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis said. “I think one of the cool things about these two guys is that through all of the tough, hard nosed games they’ve had through the big stages that they’ve gone at and broken each other’s hearts in various ways...that they’ve maintained that same type of relationship.”
