WVU’s Huggins hit with suspension and $1m salary reduction for homophobic slur

West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins is expected to return to the sideline next season after using an anti-gay slur in a radio interview this week, ESPN reported on Wednesday citing multiple sources.

Huggins, who expressed contrition in a meeting with university president Gordon Gee on Tuesday, is expected to sign a decision on Wednesday that includes a $1m salary reduction (from $4.2m to $3.2m), a “significant” suspension and sensitivity training, according to the network.

Huggins, 69, apologized on Monday after using a homophobic slur to refer to fans of Xavier University during a radio interview.

During a call to Cincinnati radio station WLW, Huggins, a former longtime coach at Cincinnati, was asked about the transfer portal and whether he had a chance of landing a player from Xavier, a Jesuit school and the Bearcats’ crosstown rival.

“Catholics don’t do that,” Huggins said. “I tell you what, any school that can throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn’t do it, by God they can get away with anything.”

⚠️ Here’s the audio of Bob Huggins calling Xavier fans “Catholic f--s” during an appearance on Bill Cunningham’s WLW radio show in Cincinnati pic.twitter.com/JTftGx9rQE

The show’s host then said: “I think it was transgender night”. Huggins replied: “It was the Crosstown Shootout. What it was, was all those fags, those Catholic fags, I think.”

Later Monday, Huggins issued a statement saying he “used a completely insensitive and abhorrent phrase that there is simply no excuse for – and I won’t try to make one here. I deeply apologize to the individuals I have offended, as well as to the Xavier University community, the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University.

“As I have shared with my