West Virginia’s Bob Huggins — he of 688 career wins and two Final Four appearances — plays host to Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun tonight and then welcomes eventual HoFer Rick Pitino Saturday. Eventually, the doors may one day open for Huggins, too. Watch them coach and command on the sidelines and see how their teams develop identifiable traits that lead to success and you see things in common.

Ask, though, and you learn of other similarities.

“Most people would think they’re crazy,” Huggins joked. “There is so much single-mindedness of purpose probably is a good way to put it. You read about Coach (Bob) Knight going down and spending time with Clair Bee or spending time with the older kind of innovators. He was very close with Pete Newell. I think if you really know (some of the great coaches) … everybody had time to spend with guys who did what we do very well before us.”