When West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker hired Josh Eilert as interim basketball coach in June, he made it clear: Eilert had a season to audition for the top job.
The season ended Tuesday with West Virginia’s sixth consecutive loss — 90-85 to Cincinnati in the Big 12 Tournament — and an overall 9-23 record (4-14 in the conference). The record marked the first time West Virginia won fewer than 10 games since 2001-02 (8-20).
Baker decided it was time for another change, and he took action Wednesday morning, announcing the start of a national search for West Virginia’s new head coach. It will be Baker’s second coach search in nine months after the resignation of legendary Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins on June 17 after a DUI arrest in Pittsburgh.
“As I shared last summer following our initial coaching transition,” Baker said Wednesday in a statement, “we decided to wait until the conclusion of the 2023-24 season before embarking on a full national search.
“Upon our return to Morgantown from the Big 12 men’s basketball championship, I met with coach Eilert, the coaching staff and the team to let them know we are moving forward with our search plans. All of Mountaineer Nation owes a debt of gratitude to coach Eilert for his leadership during a challenging season, as he and his staff faced all obstacles with class and professionalism.
“We are now focused on our collective future, and I am excited about what comes next. We compete in the best men’s basketball conference in America, we have incredible fans and supporters, we have a history of success and we have a commitment to winning. I am confident we will engage a strong pool of candidates and identify the right leader for our program.
“As I shared with our student-athletes, we will move deliberately but as swiftly as we can in the days ahead.”
Eilert, 42, never had been a head coach before being handed the job after Huggins’ resignation. He had worked on Huggins’ staffs at Kansas State and West Virginia for 17 years.
The Mountaineers had their triumphant moments this season, including upset victories against then-No. 3 Kansas and then-No. 25 Texas in the space of a week in January at West Virginia Coliseum. But they also suffered home losses to mid-major nonconference opponents Monmouth and Radford.
Baker said last June that Eilert’s interim contract called for him to be paid $1.5 million over 10 months.
