Bob Huggins Learned Nothing From Meeting With Thom Brennaman, Fired Reds Announcer Famous For Castellanos Home Run

Bob Huggins' future at West Virginia is up in the air as the university reviews an on-air incident after learning nothing from Thom Brennaman. The 69-year-old Basketball Hall of Famer used a homophobic epithet during a radio appearance on Monday afternoon.

He was discussing the rivalry between Cincinnati and Xavier and used the word not once, but twice.

Huggins has since issued an apology. The school has promised that the situation "will be addressed," but it is unclear as to what that may mean at this time.

Huggins' use of the slur caught the radio hosts off-guard, based on the brief silence and awkward laughter, as well as the listeners. You simply cannot say what he said, period.

If anyone should know this, it would be Huggins. He learned that lesson first-hand back in 2020.

Thom Brennaman, an American television sportscaster, served as the voice of the Cubs in the 1990s, Diamondbacks from 1998 to 2006, and Reds from 2007 to 2020, among other things. The 59-year-old has not served in his role with Cincinnati since 2020 after being fired for his use of a homophobic slur.

It was the same slur that Bob Huggins used on Monday.

Brennaman was caught using the label on a hot mic after the pregame broadcast came back from commercial. He was unaware that his mic was on, and it went to air.

A few hours later, during the top of the fifth inning of the actual game, Brennaman issued an apology. It was famously interrupted by "a drive into deep left field by Castellanos," for a home run.

Brennaman did not call another Reds game. His employers cut him loose.

A few months later, Huggins invited Brennaman to Morgantown. The latter spoke to the Mountaineers' basketball team about accountability and confronting mistakes head-on.

Now, less than three years later, Huggins is under review after using the same slur that ended Brennaman's time in Cincinnati. The lesson that Brennaman gave to the West Virginia basketball team did not register for its head coach, clearly.