Dick Vitale's Living a Dream by Dick Vitale

Author:Dick Vitale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

8

THE PRESSURE COOKER

Sometimes coaches push the envelope.

Last fall, Cincinnati coach Bobby Huggins was in the Pittsburgh airport at the end of a four-day road trip. He was rushing from the rental car return lot to catch a flight to Milwaukee, where he was scheduled to do a Nike coaches’ clinic. Then he became nauseous. He started having chest pains and began having problems breathing.

Huggins phoned longtime friend J.O. Straight—a Pittsburgh businessman who had been involved in an age-group traveling team and was the legal guardian of former Cincinnati All-American center Danny Fortson—on his cell phone and told him he felt like he had an elephant sitting on his chest. Huggins asked Straight to call 911. A woman who asked if he was in distress also called emergency services. “I was sweating. My pants were soaked all the way down,” Huggins recalled later at Conference USA media day in Chicago.

Huggins almost died that day.

When the paramedics arrived, they gave Huggins a nitroglycerin tablet, but it didn’t work. They put Huggins in the ambulance and had to use a defibrillator—not once, but twice—to restart his heart. Huggins had a 90 percent blockage in one artery and at least some degree of blockage in others. A metal stint had to be inserted during surgery.

The next day, John Calipari of Memphis visited him at Beaver Medical Center. When Coach Cal showed up, he said to Huggins, “Yo, it’s not time to die. I haven’t beaten you yet.”

“But, seriously,” John said later, “we can laugh about this stuff now; but it wasn’t funny then. When I showed up, I could see the burn marks from the paddles they had to use.”

Six weeks later, Huggins was back coaching, putting in 12-hour days as he prepared for his team’s season opener against Tennessee Tech.

Huggins is a working man’s hero in this blue-collar factory town. He was heavily romanced by West Virginia last March when that Big East job opened, but turned down a $1 million-plus offer. He also turned down an offer from the NBAs L.A. Clippers two years ago.

The bottom line is that he just can’t pull himself away from Cincinnati.

These are his people, and this is his program. It’s a special connection that is beautiful to see. It’s a side of Huggins that many fans may not know or appreciate.

Huggins never gave any thought to taking off this season. He never considered lowering his voice a few decibels in practice.

“Same of Hugs,” UC sophomore forward Jason Maxiell admitted.

Well, almost.

Huggins approached his comeback with the same unbelievable intensity he had used to become one of the best coaches in college basketball. He’s started exercising again for the first time since college, working out on a treadmill, a stationary bike and a rowing ma chine. He’s walking three times a day, something he’d never done before. His heart is being monitored regularly. He is trying to control his schedule, and he is getting more rest.

Huggins is the driving force behind Cincinnati basketball. He has a 517-184 record over his career heading into the 2003-04 season.

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