Not that you were concerned, despite some curious and concerning moments last season, but Bob Huggins has no designs on retiring anytime soon. Huggins, 59, will sign a new contract before the end of the year — and given the speed at which contracts happen, that’s virtually tomorrow.

Oliver Luck told me coach and school will be “looking at adding to both the length and the compensation.” Huggins told me he’ll know when it’s time to unplug the treadmill.

“I want to do this as long as I’m excited about doing it, as long as I feel like I can bring the kind of passion to it that I’ve always brought,” he said. “When it comes to where I say, ‘I just don’t want to go in there and do this,’ I need to quit.”

Huggins keeps two thoughts in his mind when he thinks about the end of his career. Most powerful is having watched his father, Charlie, retire as a winning high school coach in Ohio with no regrets.

“He was at the top of his business, but he walked away and never really thought anything about it,” Huggins said. “It didn’t bother him because he knew it was time.”

Huggins has also had time off and knows what to expect, while many coaches struggle to adjust to the newfound time. Huggins resigned at Cincinnati in 2005 and sat out the 2005-06 season before returning for one season at Kansas State. He said he enjoyed the break.

“Everyone thinks I’m (kidding) them, but the year I was out, I never missed the games,” he said. “I missed practice. I missed the camaraderie I had with Andy Kennedy and Frank Martin. I missed the kids. I missed Eric Hicks and James White and those guys and the interactions we had, but as far as the games? I never missed the games.”