Podcaster fired after airing, condemning Bob Huggins' anti-gay slur

"I made the conscious decision to play Bob Huggins’ comments in their entirety and also without censoring the slurs that he used." Neighbors said. "I did that because I thought it was important to play and get the full context of what he had said. I followed that up by saying, I thought what he had said was abhorrent. I thought it was hateful. And also I’d said, that if I were the AD, I would’ve fired him and not want someone like that espousing those views coaching my team."

According to Neighbors, he hosted more than 600 episodes of "Locked on Big 12" since joining the podcast in January 2020.

Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated reported on the firing, calling the decision "insane."

Huggins used the slur twice during a radio interview on 700WLW's "Bill Cunningham Show" on Monday. During his appearance on the Cincinnati radio show, the former Bearcats coach of 16 seasons was asked if his current program has recruited any Xavier players in the offseason.

The University of West Virginia announced Wednesday that the 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee would be suspended for the first three games of the 2022-23 season and his salary would be reduced from $4.2 million to $3.2 million. Huggins will also be required to take sensitivity training and his previous multi-year contract with the program will now be on a year-to-year basis.