BEAVER, Pa., Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Doctors said Sunday Cincinnati basketball coach Bob Huggins has made progress since suffering a heart attack Saturday, but that he would take several months to recover.
Huggins, 49, remained hospitalized in suburban Pittsburgh after undergoing emergency surgery.
Huggins was stricken at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. A heart cathetorization was performed and a stent was inserted for management of an acute myocardial infarction.
"The good news is he got through the evening very successfully," Cincinnati athletic director Bob Goin said at a Sunday night news conference. "I think the doctors were encouraged by that.
"He's talking, but he's in pain. The pain he is complaining about is in his back. I don't know how that relates, but that's what he was complaining about."
Dr. Lynne Wagoner, director of cardiac services at Cincinnati's University Hospital, said Huggins could need up to three months to recover, depending on the amount of damage to the heart.
Practice for the 2002-03 college basketball season begins in two weeks. Cincinnati's first game is Nov. 23.
"It sounds like in his case that he got treated quickly, and that is very important to saving the heart muscle," Wagoner said. "He was very lucky that this occurred when it did. Once someone has had a heart attack, it's a matter of getting them on medication and making sure the artery stays open."
Huggins is the second-winningest active coach in Division I with a 500-172 record and .736 percentage in 21 seasons.
