CINCINNATI -- Bob Huggins clearly didn't want to talk to reporters after he stepped off a plane from Las Vegas Tuesday night, but UC officials had plenty to say earlier when they announced they had given their basketball coach this ultimatum: resign or be fired.

"I haven't read the letter. I didn't know there was a letter until you people started calling. Nobody informed me there was a letter coming. I've got to talk to Rich," Huggins told News 5's George Vogel at the airport.

With that, Huggins headed off to meet with his lawyer, Richard Katz, and choose the ending to his 16-year UC coaching career.

Huggins came out the loser in a power struggle with university President Nancy Zimpher, News 5 Sports Director Ken Broo reported.

In a letter faxed to Katz Tuesday, the university gave Huggins 24 hours to resign and accept about $3 million in compensation or take a job outside the athletic department for the rest of his contract, through March 31, 2008.

If he doesn't accept one of those options by 2 p.m. Wednesday, he will be fired and get $1.9 million in termination pay, UC said.

The letter was signed by the school's legal counsel, Zimpher, athletic director Bob Goin and the chairman of the board of trustees.

Zimpher was "obsessed with running Huggins out of town," Broo reported, and the basketball program will suffer a huge setback at just the time UC is moving into the prestigious Big East Conference.

"It will take three years to dig out of this, from a basketball recruiting standpoint," Broo said.

It will also cost UC plenty in alumni donations from supporters who considered Huggins to be the backbone of the athletic program, Broo reported.

Extra police were on duty around the campus Tuesday night in case Huggins supporters wanted to take out their anger, News 5 reported.

At a news conference, Zimpher said Katz notified the university last month that Huggins could not continue to coach at UC unless the university extended his contract beyond the remaining two years. UC felt negotiations were going nowhere, and it was time to break the impasse.

Zimpher made it clear that she didn't think Huggins and his basketball program fit into her sweeping new academic plan called UC|21.

Saying that the decision to oust Huggins was not based on Huggins' DUI conviction last year or any single factor, she emphasized that Huggins' players had not met academic standards.

She said she had "reflected on his historical track record, especially the academic record of recruits."

She said athletes would have to work diligently toward a degree under UC|21.

She also said it was important to improve the reputation of the university, and that she expected coaches and players to be role models.

"Character counts. Our coaches must be exemplary role models, on the court and off. Our student athletes are highly visible ambassadors for the University of Cincinnati. They must be expected to treat others with respect and to recognize that they, too, are role models," Zimpher said.

"We make no apologies for setting high standards," Zimpher said.

She said she regretted that Huggins would not coach UC in the Big East Conference. She said she wanted to give him that opportunity for two years as an "acknowledgement" of the success of his basketball program.

HUGGINS' DUI ARREST Video: Huggins Flunks Field Sobriety Test Images: Huggins' Arrest

Zimpher said reports that she tried to get Huggins to take a buyout in May were only part of the story, that the university had privately given him several options. At the time, Huggins held a news conference, said he was refusing a buyout and vowed to finish the last two years of his contract.

But since then, Katz said, Huggins realized he would have problems recruiting as a lame-duck coach, and Katz had been asking the school to extend Huggins' contract.

"We've been discussing with them for the last six or eight weeks an extension of the contract," Katz said. "It appeared he wasn't going to be able to fulfill the remaining two years of the contract because he couldn't recruit, he was running into obstacles at the university. It would not have been appropriate for that to continue."

Goin, who is retiring next year, will name an interim coach for the 2005-06 season, and a new athletic director will hire Huggins' successor, Zimpher said. Goin did not say who might coach the team this season, but assistant coach Andy Kennedy has been mentioned as a likely choice.

Goin, one of Huggins' most loyal supporters over the years, said he backed the decision.

"It's time for the university to move on," Goin said. "We've reached an impasse."

Phil Cox, chairman of the UC trustees, expressed the "full support" of the board for the decision. He also acknowledged it would not be well received by the legions of Huggins' fans.

"We know many supporters of our basketball program will be disappointed in the outcome. We ask them to understand that the overall quality of UC as an educational institution has to be our first priority," Cox said.

Not long after that, Huggins supporters put up "Fire Zimpher" banners at Uncle Woody's, a popular bar near campus.

Zimpher came to UC in October 2003 and quickly made it clear she would not be beholden to Huggins or his supporters.

After Huggins' DUI conviction, Zimpher stripped a rollover provision from his contract, which had automatically added a year each summer. Huggins also was placed on unpaid leave for several months.

In July, Huggins supporters booed Zimpher at a rally on Fountain Square to mark UC's official entry into the Big East.

Basketball-wise, Huggins has been good for UC and good for Cincinnati. UC probably would not be joining the Big East this season had he not rebuilt a nationally prominent program after years of disarray. Huggins' teams have made 14 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Final Four in 1992. With a record of 399-127 in 16 seasons, he is the winningest coach in UC history and ranks eighth in winning percentage among active coaches.

Still, some fans aren't satisfied with what he's done for them lately. UC has lost in the first or second round in eight of the past nine NCAA tournaments.

Off the court, Huggins has caused the university some black eyes. Beside his DUI conviction, his program has a history of player arrests and infractions. The program went on two years' probation in 1998 after the NCAA concluded there was a lack of institutional control.

Since last season, problems for Huggins and his program have multiplied. Assistant coach Keith LeGree was suspended after he was charged with drunken driving. Huggins kicked freshman forward Roy Bright off the team after Bright acknowledged he had a firearm on campus.

LeGree was reinstated after a jury found him not guilty.

Stay tuned to News 5 and refresh ChannelCincinnati.com for more on this developing story.