MORGANTOWN — There were two trains of thought in the search for the next West Virginia men’s basketball coach, and WVU athletic director Wren Baker was quick to go down both.
“We really started two parallel tracks,” Baker said on Monday, in introducing Josh Eilert as the interim coach for the 2023-24 season. “One was for a permanent head coach and one was for an interim head coach. On the interim side, we were willing to consider outside candidates, but we were also very confident we had some really good candidates inside our program.”
Former head coach Bob Huggins resigned on June 17, following a DUI arrest in Pittsburgh.
Beginning the following day, Baker said he realized this was not going to be a typical search.
“This is the 20th time I’ve been through a coaching search,” he said. “For a variety of reasons, this one was the most complicated.”
Huggins, who did talk with Baker about potential candidates on June 18, was beloved by the state, his staff and his players, putting an extra emphasis on WVU officials to make the right call.
Another factor was the stability of the WVU roster. The NCAA allows players an additional 30 days to enter the transfer portal if there is a coaching change at their school.
Baker said he was reminded by a colleague that just about every Division I program in the country would be making a run at WVU players.
In making the call to replace Huggins, Baker said inquiries were made to other Hall-of-Fame coaches who might consider getting back on the sideline. The Dominion Post previously reported the school talked to Jay Wright and Roy Williams.
“If there was one out there, we called him,” Baker said. “We tried to exhaust the list, because I think you have a responsibility to do that. People that think that we had to rush this, no. This is a top-20 job and we had to do our due diligence and get through a process. That’s what we did.”
School officials also talked with former WVU coach John Beilein, who initially expressed some interest in the position, but ultimately passed.
“Beyond picking his brain, the nature of conversations beyond that I won’t divulge,” Baker said of his conversations with Beilein.
By last Wednesday, Baker said it was becoming clear that deciding on an interim coach may be the better route.
Eilert first interviewed for the job on Thursday over a Zoom call.
Other interim candidates, including other WVU assistants Ron Everhart and DeMarr Johnson, were also interviewed, as well as some outside candidates. Those calls were completed by Friday.
“After weighing all the factors, we felt pursuing an interim option made the most sense,” Baker said. “We met with coach Eilert again for two hours on Saturday, and he met with (WVU President E. Gordon Gee) afterwards. Shortly after that, we made the decision.”
Throughout the process, Eilert said Baker was up front and honest about the situation.
“He’s been absolutely incredible through this process with me,” Eilert said. “He’s put me in charge to try and keep everything together and keep everyone level-headed after a very hard and unfortunate circumstance.”
Eilert’s interim deal is for 10 months, and Baker said the school would go forth with another coaching search next April, a search that will include Eilert, but also a host of other potential candidates.
“I feel like it was important to make our intentions known now,” Baker said. “That way people don’t have to sit around and speculate. They know what our plan is. We can all work that plan.
“I’ve said this consistently, I don’t put expectations on wins and losses. I’m more concerned with how you run and manage a program and how you treat people. I believe if you do all of those things, the wins eventually come.”
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