WVU hoops coach Huggins competes in Infiniti Coaches Charity Challenge to benefit cancer research

WVU men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins is looking to Mountaineer fans for their support to help him win $100,000 for the Norma Mae Huggins Cancer Research Endowment at the WVU Cancer Institute.

Huggins began the Infiniti Coaches' Charity Challenge as one of 48 coaches and now is one of 24 seeking to advance to Round 3. Only 16 of them will make it into the next round. The program, sponsored by luxury automobile manufacturer Infiniti, in partnership with the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the NCAA and ESPN, benefits each coach's favorite charity.

Infiniti will donate at least $1,000 to each participating coach. It will award $100,000 to the coach who receives the most fan votes over a 10-week period that started Jan. 4 and ends on March 13 at 11:59 a.m.  

Fans can register and vote online daily at www.espn.com/infiniti for their favorite coach. Following four rounds of voting, the coach who wins the grand prize will be announced on March 13 after voting ends.

If Huggins wins the Challenge, the prize money will go to the Norma Mae Huggins Cancer Research Endowment Fund he established at the WVU Cancer Institute in memory of his mother who died in 2003 following a long battle with colon cancer. In keeping with Coach Huggins’ wishes, this fund supports clinical research, specifically providing access to cancer clinical trials at WVU Medicine affiliates for all West Virginians.

“Mountaineer fans are the greatest,” Huggins says. “But I want them to realize that this event isn’t a popularity contest. When they vote for me, they’ll be voting to find new and better treatments for cancer, and bringing hope to those afflicted with the disease.”