Quote:Bob Huggins' coaching address always has been in Ohio, but he's found a familiarity in the foothills surrounding his new residence.

"This, to me, is so much like West Virginia and Morgantown," said Huggins, Kansas State's new basketball coach, recalling the school and town where he played hoops and graduated three decades ago. "Manhattan is a college town, a great college town. It has that college feel."

It also has a heightened interest in hoops, rooted in the March hiring of Huggins, who made headlines good and bad in 16 seasons at Cincinnati. His off-court problems with alcohol and tough-love for and tolerance of some troubled players are well chronicled.

He didn't coach last season as the Bearcats entered the Big East Conference, after accepting a $3 million contract settlement when ousted by UC President Nancy Zimpher.

Huggins has a five-year, $5.3 million contract (plus incentives) at K-State, including a $1 million annuity if he stays five seasons. He's moving into the Big 12 Conference at an opportune time, too, as other coaching changes at Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri and Nebraska change the face of league hoops.

"I really didn't know what to expect here," said Huggins on Saturday, standing on the Bill Snyder Family Stadium sideline as the Wildcats downed Marshall. "The people have been wonderful.

"The support already is unbelievable. We're probably going to sell out our arena (Bramlage Coliseum) in season tickets. Not a lot of schools do that with 13,500 seats. The administrative people have been terrific to me."

Huggins' intent is to rekindle the K-State program as he did Cincinnati's. His presence already is felt in many ways. No one should be surprised that not long after Huggins arrived, KSU got a six-year, $12.3 million apparel deal (with a two-year option) from longtime Huggins' provider Nike.

"I think program-wise, Kansas State and Cincinnati are a lot alike," said Huggins, who turns 53 on Thursday. "Cincinnati was really good in the '60s, and then it slipped. There's good tradition here, too, if you look back. It just hasn't been there of late."

Huggins first-year schedule, with many inherited contracts, isn't as testy as it will be in future seasons. Already, for 2007-08, the Wildcats are schedule into the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla., and the Jimmy V. Classic at Madison Square Garden.

However, the impact of a coaching name has been felt in the "Little Apple." K-State has four national telecast appearances in Big 12 games, including one against Texas Tech and Bob Knight.

"I'm going to try and come in and win," Huggins said. "That's what they want; that's what I want. We want to win at the national level, like at Cincinnati. When you win at the national level, it certainly helps everybody in the league.

"I think it would be hard finding anybody in Conference USA to complain about what Cincinnati did for the league. Hopefully, we'll be able to win at the national level."

Huggins hasn't had a losing winter since 1984-85 (12-14), his debut season at Akron. He's 567-199 in 24 seasons (Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati), including 399 wins and 14 straight NCAA bids (1992-2005) with the Bearcats.

Reportedly, K-State can terminate Huggins' contract if the coach is convicted of a criminal offense, a felony, fraud or any event that is judged to cause harm to the school's reputation.

Meanwhile, Huggins doesn't figure to be a stranger in West Virginia, since it's no secret he's recruiting Huntington High's newest senior, O.J. Mayo, and Mayo's former schoolboy teammate, Bill Walker.

"I can't talk about any of that," Huggins said, smiling, when asked whether he expects to visit the Mountain State for future Wildcat stars.

He also was reluctant to discuss the program new Cincinnati Coach Mick Cronin, a former Huggins assistant, is building.

"I kind of always have been a guy who kind of recruits the guys we recruit and doesn't worry about anybody else," Huggins said. "(Cronin) has gotten a pretty much new team, and I don't know anything about those guys."

His new hoops home not so long ago was the same to him.

"I didn't know what to expect when I came here and didn't have any notions about it, but Manhattan is a great place," Huggins said. "I'd never been here. I'd been pretty much in western Kansas, and Kansas City and Wichita, but not here.

"It's just a great college town. We've got a chance."