Getty Image / Kevin C. Cox
It’s been a rough few months for the West Virginia Mountaineers basketball team. Former head coach Bob Huggins has been in the middle of two scandals, and ultimately was relieved of his duties on Sunday. But, West Virginia has found a new coach.
The trouble started when the Hall-Of-Fame coach made disparaging comments about Catholics and the LGBTQ+ community back in May. Huggins was suspended for three games and fined $1 million, which was to be given to various charitable organizations relating to both causes.
But, last Friday night, he was arrested for drunk driving in Pittsburgh, where he blew a .21, nearly three times over the Pennsylvania legal limit of 0.08. That left the administration no choice but to fire him.
And, West Virgina has made their interim hire in Josh Eilert.
Eilert Named Interim Head Coach
▶️ https://t.co/qmCNymkzCf#HailWV pic.twitter.com/dhOGp1zeo1
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) June 24, 2023
Here are more details courtesy of their press release.
“Josh Eilert, who has spent the last 16 seasons on the Mountaineer basketball staff, has been named head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University for an interim period, Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker announced today.
“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.”
Since coming to West Virginia in 2007, Eilert has helped the Mountaineers earn 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2010 Final Four and five NCAA Sweet 16s.”
West Virginia was linked with former Ole Miss coach and current UAB coach Andy Kennedy, as well as former WVU, Michigan and Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Beilein. But, the fact that it’s June probably complicated things in terms of getting a hire done. Maybe Eilert will have a similar season to Texas coach Rodney Terry, who was exceptional as an interim last year after Chris Beard got fired, and earned the full-time gig. If not, they will likely looking for a new coach next March.