MORGANTOWN — After a week’s long search for a men’s basketball coach put WVU officials in touch with some of the biggest names in the game, the school named assistant coach Josh Eilert as the interim head coach Saturday.
“I’m excited about this opportunity to lead the wonderful group of guys that we have in our locker room,” Eilert said in a statement released by the university. “They have been working extremely hard on the court, in the weight room and in the classroom since they returned to campus on June 5. In the coming days and weeks, I will be solidifying our roster and getting our team ready to head to Italy later this summer.”
A press conference with Eilert and WVU athletic director Wren Baker has been called for 3 p.m. Monday.
Eilert will replace Bob Huggins for one season, after Huggins resigned on June 17 following an arrest and being charged with driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol in Pittsburgh.
Huggins has a preliminary hearing on the charge on Aug. 3.
Eilert has been an assistant coach for one season with the Mountaineers but has spent the last 16 years at the school, first coming to Morgantown from Kansas State when Huggins was first hired in 2007. Eilert earned $180,000, plus incentives, as an assistant last season.
In those 16 years, Eilert worked his way up the ranks from video coordinator to director of operations to assistant coach last season, replacing Erik Martin after he was hired as the head coach at South Carolina State.
At 42, Eilert is the youngest men’s basketball coach at WVU since Gale Catlett was hired in 1978 at the age of 38.
WVU’s search for a full-time replacement included inquiries with retired Hall-of-Fame coaches Roy Williams and Jay Wright, as well as a sit-down interview with former WVU head coach John Beilein.
There was medium interest from Beilein, sources told The Dominion Post, but ultimately he passed on the opportunity.
“I spoke with knowledgeable basketball people around the country over the last week, including coaches, professional basketball executives and others of whom I trust to identify a strong group of candidates to speak with,” Baker said. “Ultimately what I came to recognize, was that conducting this search in late June was difficult for many of our candidates and also it put our talented student-athletes at a real disadvantage. With that said, we will conduct our national search at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.”
The school also interviewed Youngstown State head coach Jerrod Calhoun and UAB head coach Andy Kennedy, both of whom have ties to Huggins.
Kennedy was on Huggins’ staff at Cincinnati and eventually became the school’s head coach when Huggins resigned there in 2005.
Calhoun was a graduate assistant at Cincinnati under Huggins and later served as director of operations and assistant coach at WVU, before leaving to become the head coach at Fairmont State in 2012. He was hired at Youngstown State in 2017.
WVU has already seen three players — Tre Mitchell, Kerr Kriisa and Joe Toussaint — enter the transfer portal since Huggins’ resignation.
It’s possible some, if not all, of them could return to WVU with Eilert named as the interim.
Sources have told The Dominion Post that the WVU players had always favored having someone already on the staff named as the coach for next season.
Eilert being named the interim will also help keep the current staff of assistants in place, with Alex Ruoff expected to move up from graduate assistant to assistant coach this season.
A native of Osborne, Kan., Eilert earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Kansas State in 2004. He earned his master’s degree in College Student Personnel/Intercollegiate Athletics from Kansas State in 2007.
“Josh Eilert is the right person to lead our men’s basketball program next season,” Baker said. “He has been an important part of our success, and he has displayed great integrity, work ethic and dedication. He has been involved in all facets of our program during his time on the basketball staff, and he has earned this opportunity to coach our team on an interim basis for the 2023-24 season.
“Our athletics department will provide Josh, his staff and our student-athletes with a great support system and will do everything we can to ensure a successful season. Change is never easy and always presents challenges, but I am confident that this is the correct decision at this time. Moving forward and continuing our preparation for the upcoming season is the top priority now for our program.”
TWEET @bigjax3211
