Bob Huggins Lost A Lawyer, But He Has Depth There As He Fights To Return As WVU Coach

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Coach "Huggy Bear" just got a little more room in his den.

That is because former West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins' lawyer just entered the Attorney Transfer Portal.

Attorney Robert P. Fitzsimmons of Wheeling, West Virginia, will no longer be representing Huggins in any matters involving West Virginia University, Fitzsimmons informed West Virginia's general counsel on Tuesday.

Fitzsimmons said he did not make the decision public, but it got out there.

The letter from Fitzsimmons comes three days after news broke Saturday that Huggins wants to be reinstated as coach because he said he never resigned after West Virginia said he did on June 17. That was the day after he was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence in Pittsburgh. Huggins maintains his wife June said in a text to a West Virginia official that he would be resigning - not him.

West Virginia Says Bob Huggins Resigned Last Month

"Please be advised that myself and my law firm no longer represents Bob Huggins in connection with any matter related to West Virginia University," Fitzsimmons says in his letter addressed to Stephanie Taylor, general counsel for West Virginia University.

Fitzsimmons has represented West Virginia in the past and also represented former coaches against West Virginia.

OutKick reached Fitzsimmons Tuesday night.

"I cannot comment," he said when asked why he is no longer representing Huggins regarding West Virginia. "That would be a client-attorney matter and confidential."

Fitzsimmons did say he would continue to represent Huggins as far as his DUI charge.

Bob Huggins Has Depth At Lawyer

Huggins also seems to have as many lawyers as he had guards on his last Mountaineer basketball team.

David A. Campbell, an attorney from Cleveland, is representing Huggins in his quest to return as West Virginia's basketball coach. Campbell says West Virginia did not follow proper resignation protocol in removing Huggins from his job.

WVU then quickly promoted assistant coach Josh Eilert to interim head coach.

Just last Friday, Fitzsimmons reached out to West Virginia about Huggins' compensation and benefits. Also last week, Fitzsimmons and another attorney, William D. Wilmoth of Wheeling, appeared with Huggins in court in Pittsburgh concerning the DUI charge.

As Huggins might say, you can't have enough lawyers.

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Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.