Huggie Bear

The Bob Huggins era is over in Manhattan, Kansas. Now the ball is in the K-State's athletic director's hands: Does he want to treat kids fairly or does he want to reap as much as he can from Huggins' brief stint. The players suffer the most. I support Huggs' decision. He passed on the job at his alma mater in 2002, because he felt a loyalty to Cincinnati. We all saw where that got him. He would be a fool to pass on his dream job a second time. The timing of it is just unfortunate and I don't think there is anyone to blame. Try telling that to Bill Walker. The Cincinnati native and NCH grad followed Huggins to Manhattan after he was declared ineligible before the start of the 2006-07 high school basketball season. Once he was cleared to play, he only played in six games before blowing out his knee. I thought he would be one of the first to announce his transfer to WVU, but according to one of his teammates, Bill is stuck at KSU. Of course, there is no way he would have gone there if it wasn't for Huggins. It is going to be very interesting to see what happens to one of the top recruiting classes of '07. Michael Beasley could become a free agent and start the recruiting process all over again, opening it up to any high-profile programs with a scholarship to spare. My guess is that if Huggins could get him to come to KSU, he will have no problem talking him in to Morgantown. West Virginia is a more established program in a better conference with more national exposure. Also intriguing is the relationship between a certain West Virginia native and the new head coach at the state school. Huggins and OJ Mayo have a history. Mayo's teammate and best friend, Walker, followed Huggs to K-State. Mayo declared his loyalty to Tim Floyd and USC, but we've all seen how unpredictable the precocious star can be. If Walker is able to transfer (in which case he would have to sit out another year), would Mayo want to reunite with his Cincinnati crew?

A few weeks ago, i wrote an article about K-State walk-on guard Ryan Patzwald. Patz was a star at Anderson High School and intended to play for Division II Northern Kentucky. At the last minute, he decided to walk on for Huggins, a family friend that he'd known all his life, at UC. When Huggins left for KSU, Patzwald asked to join him. Huggins knew there would be room for one walk on, so he told Patzwald to bring his 3 point sharpshooting to Manhattan. I talked to Patz earlier today and jokingly asked if his father would let him transfer again. Dr. Patzwald was not thrilled with his son's decision to leave UC in the first place. To my surprise (sort of), Patzwald has already decided to stick with Huggins. He approached the coach and asked to follow him to WVU. He told me that Huggins was surprised that he wanted to transfer again. Unfortunately, scholarship players like Walker can't move as freely as walk-ons like Patz. Patz told me that Walker is basically stuck in Manhattan. Like i said, it's up to the KSU AD to determine the fate of Walker, Beasley and other young athletes. The man basically controls the immediate futures of these young men. It might not be fair, but it's the NCAA.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with Boston College football player Ty Hall. When the Eagles' head coach left towards the end of the '06 season, Hall told me that he chose a school based on more than just the head coach. Our high school coach, Vince Suriano, told us that we should choose a school that we would still attend even if the coaching staff left or if we could no longer play football. I doubt Bill Walker or Michael Beasley would be at Kansas State if it wasn't for Bob Huggins. Now Walker is stuck there and Beasley could have a big choice to make.

It looks like Huggins will get the last laugh from his bitter breakup with UC. While the Bearcats toil in the cellar of the Big East, the Mountaineers could contend for the conference crown. Of course, this all depends on who is on each team's roster come October. Hopefully, the 'Cats will become competitive and a fierce conference rivalry will be born.


Patzwald--keep following the dream, but get a degree before it's all said and done.

Can't wait to see the reception Huggs gets when the 'Eers play at Fifth Third Arena this year.