12/21/24
April 04, 2010
Huggins Hugs Injured Da'Sean Butler: As senior Da'Sean Butler writhed on the floor in pain from a knee injury suffered during last night's Final Four loss to Duke, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins looked more like a parent than a coach as he leaned down and cradled the athlete's head in his arms, talked to him and wiped away his tears. See the video. "He said don't worry, and I love you," Butler said afterwards about what the coach told him.
posted by rcade to basketball at 11:29 AM - 8 comments
While, yes, it looked awkward, I was impressed with the way the coach handled the situation. He knew what emotions Butler would be going through and took the time to ensure that his player was ok.
posted by dviking at 01:00 PM on April 04, 2010
While you obviously never want to see a guy injured, let alone in the biggest and possibly last game of his college career, at least it happened once the game had basically been decided. It did look a bit odd, but you knew the coach cared about the player, and that's a good thing.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:16 PM on April 04, 2010
Bob Huggins showed exactly why his players love playing for him. When Butler went down and Huggins leaned down to console Butler, it was one of the most emotional moments that I've seen in sports.
I agree that it seemed a bit awkward at first but when you have an understanding of what Huggins was telling Butler, it became clear that it was about a coach showing his player that he cared more about making sure that Butler was ok than the outcome of the game.
posted by BornIcon at 02:11 PM on April 04, 2010
Huggins' gesture was surprising, but I don't see why so many people around the web seem to be freaked out by it. He thought the guy blew up his knee in his final college game, mere months before the NBA Draft in which he's projected as a second-rounder. And more immediately, his injury appeared to doom any final glimmer of hope West Virginia had of coming back.
I did enjoy a Twitter crack about the Brokeback Mountaineers.
posted by rcade at 03:32 PM on April 04, 2010
Butler is the same kid that was honoured before the game with some sort of "Senior Class" award for finishing his schooling, playing exceptionally well, and community service.
Even if he doesn't have a career in the NBA ahead of him, I think the kid's gonna be alright.
posted by grum@work at 04:12 PM on April 04, 2010
They're saying it's a torn ACL. A real shame. Here's hoping he can still come back and make a career for himself in the NBA, even if he has to sign as a rookie free agent.
posted by NerfballPro at 06:01 PM on April 04, 2010
Huggins' gesture was surprising, but I don't see why so many people around the web seem to be freaked out by it.
Because it's a guy hugging a guy, and that's all "so many people" need to be freaked out. You knew that.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:39 AM on April 05, 2010
One of the weirdest sports momes I've seen in years. Everyone that I was watching the game with was wondering if Huggins was going to peck him on the cheek or go full-tongue on national TV.