Some say success is the sweetest revenge and the ultimate victory you can achieve over your enemies. If that’s the case, Bob Huggins must be enjoying the unparalleled sweetness of eating black forest chocolate cake like everyday’s his birthday. After pulling off a second-round upset win over Duke, Coach Huggins guided the West Virginia Mountaineers to the Sweet 16 where they’ll face the third seeded Xavier Musketeers tonight at 7:10. Three years removed from a heated, highly-publicized dismissal from Cincinnati University, hate it or love it Huggins is now on top, and he’s going to make sure his program keeps shining like a solar eclipse.
 
 Huggins was an excellent coach long before he decided to patrol the sidelines of his alma mater. In 26 seasons as a head coach, Huggins has compiled 616 victories and 11 conference championships. Huggins resuscitated a lifeless Cincinnati program that hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1976, when he took over in 1989 and restored its rich basketball tradition. Huggins was able to attract All-Americans like Nike Van Exel and Danny Fortson, and Player of the Year winners Kenyon Martin and Steve Logan. Huggins was the architect of a renovation process that resulted in the Bearcats winning 10 consecutive conference titles, making 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and two stops at the Elite 8 and a Final Four trip in 1992.

Yet for all of his accolades, Huggins has never really received the recognition he deserves on a national scale. Sure, Huggins was voted National Coach of the Year (COY) by ESPN.com in 2002, collected three COY trophies in Conference USA (C-USA) and was honored as C-USA Coach of the Decade, but Huggins has never really got his props when it comes to the coaching hierarchy. He’s a master motivator, recruiter and strategist. Huggins gets the most out of his players and helps them maximize their potential. He’s also good at adapting.
 
 When John Beilein bolted for the frigid winters of Michigan last off-season, Huggins inherited a type of team he never had before. Beilein ran a motion offense with interchangeable parts predicated on ball-movement and firing up a litany of threes, and relied mostly on zone defenses. The formula was definitely prosperous, as Beilien’s Mountaineers reached the Elite 8 in 2005 and Sweet 16 in 2006. However, it was totally atypical of any Huggins led team.

 Huggins squads are notorious for toughness, physical style, and ravenous defense. Wanting to keep some of the same principles while still integrate his own personality, Huggins has managed to still run an open offense and put his imprint on WV. The Mountaineers now play almost exclusively man-to-man, but they have maintained some components of their previous system. Alex Ruoff, Da’Sean Butler and Darris Nichols still have the freedom to freestyle and shoot treyballs, but there’s more of an emphasis on maximizing possessions and playing stout defense. Huggins has also hardened his squad through tough love with the incorporation of the treadmill. Whenever a player makes an error, like boxing out, they get the dubious punishment of sprinting on the tread at 15 mph for 45 seconds. It’s a torturous tactic, but it’s worked cause now WV is burning rubber on their adversaries. 

 Yet, Huggins greatest accomplishment may be the improvement of Joe Alexander.
 
 A fledgling player who spent more time in Beilein’s doghouse than Rin Tin-Tin, Alexander has underwent a dramatic transformation under Huggins. Once a trigger-happy, three-point pullin small forward with a two-guard mentality, Alexander has become a hardwood terror. Lacking a true interior presence, Huggins mission was to convert the 6’8 Alexander into a player capable of dominating on the perimeter as well as the paint. In the embryonic stage initially, Alexander has matured into full-grown manhood.

 The Maryland native’s triple attempts dropped from 132 to 40 this year. The focus of Alexander’s repertoire has become turnaround post jumpers, and fierce board-crashing to go along with his lethal mid-range game. For the year, Alexander’s averaging 16.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, and in the last 8 games Alexander has been barbecuing kids to the tune of 24.6 points and 7.8 rips. Alexander’s gone from a player with tremendous skills but lacked consistency, to one of the premiere ballers in the country. He’s equally adept at banging and swanging and inducing the nets to melodic sanging. That can only happen with the tutelage and motivation of a great coach.
 
 WV will get a stiff test tonight in Xavier. Casual fans will look at the name, and the fact the Musketeers Atlantic 10 Conference isn’t as strong as the Big East, but make no mistake about it, Xavier is one of the best teams in the Tourney. They’re a #3 seed for a reason. Xavier is efficient, scrappy and diverse enough to beat opponents in a half or full-court game. One thing is for certain, if it’s a physical battle WV will play with the mental and physical tenacity that’s become synonymous with Huggins’ squads and the Mountaineers won’t back down or get punked out, cause their coach is crazy enough to bust out the treadmill during the game.