Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Eilert Hiring to Provide Calming Influence for Mountaineer Men’s Basketball
June 26, 2023 06:35 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – That cool breeze you are feeling right now is a collective exhale from a West Virginia University men's basketball fanbase that has experienced considerable turbulence since Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins' resignation on Saturday, June 17.
Since then, Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker, himself hired only seven months ago, spent a week pursuing two parallel tracks for Huggins' replacement – a permanent head coach and an interim leader.
Baker relied on a search committee consisting of Steve Uryasz, deputy athletics director, Natasha Oakes, senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator, and Rob Alsop, former interim athletics director and WVU vice president for strategic initiatives.
They began calling potential candidates last Monday, and after finishing those calls on Wednesday, Baker got feedback from them that the timing was too difficult for coaches to leave their respective teams this late in the summer.
Baker pointed out that no Power 5 program since the adoption of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL) has had to hire a men's basketball coach in the summertime so close to the start of a new academic year.
"Obviously, we didn't have a resolution until late Saturday night (June 17) that our men's basketball program would need a new head coach, and one consistent thing we heard from the coaches and agents was they knew this was a great job because of the passion of the fans, the resources we provide and the quality and depth of the conference," Baker said. "And they were absolutely interested, but the timing makes it too difficult."
That's when Baker accelerated the parallel track, which included more detailed conversations with assistant coach Josh Eilert.
Eventually, the decision was made this past Saturday evening to promote Eilert to interim head coach for the 2023-24 season. He will be working under a 10-month contract and will be paid $1.5 million.
"He will have my full support and the support of the University to make decisions he feels are in the best interest of the program during this season," Baker noted. "He is the head coach, and I want him to feel and know that he is empowered in that role."
Why Eilert, who has no head coaching experience and has been a full-time assistant coach at WVU for just one year and an interim assistant coach for two years prior to that?
Baker listed the reasons.
"For starters, he's the type of human being that you want leading young people and the type of person that you want to work with," he explained. "He has incredible integrity. He is loyal. He hasn't been a job hopper. He's stayed here and worked his way up as a Mountaineer.
"He is thoughtful and strategic. He's honest. He also has a great basketball mind and as we talked to various people in and around the program, it was clear he has been given a tremendous amount of responsibility over his time at WVU," Baker added. "He knows every aspect of the program. And lastly, he is a tremendously hard worker."
To Baker's point, last year when West Virginia was in the midst of a five-game conference losing streak after starting the season 11-2 and ranking in the top 25, it was Eilert's scouting report that helped the Mountaineers defeat TCU 74-65 at the WVU Coliseum on Jan. 18.
Following a loss to Texas, it was also Eilert's scout that helped West Virginia end its 12-game Big 12 road losing streak with a victory at Texas Tech. A scheduling conflict prohibited Huggins from meeting with the media prior to the game, so it was Eilert who was tasked to serve as a fill in.
Josh's answers - his candor, his directness and his command of the facts - were impressive.
The things he said West Virginia needed to do to win that basketball game, from sharing the ball and playing unselfishly to making the Red Raiders guard the entire floor, played out in real time right before our eyes the following night.
WVU's 76-61 triumph against Texas Tech was probably the Mountaineers' best conference road performance in the last couple of years.
Eilert was calm and reassuring then, just as he was calm and reassuring today meeting with media earlier this afternoon.
"We're going to take it day by day," he explained. "We're not going to get ahead of ourselves. First and foremost, we've got to solidify our roster. Guys are taking the opportunity to feel out the situation, and I feel like now that we're building a new foundation, I think some of that stuff will calm down.
"Today, it was business as usual with the guys that are on the roster," he continued. "They were in good spirits, working out, and we're going to move on. We are about a month away from going to Italy and having three dry runs at it and getting those opportunities, so we're looking forward to the next month and how it shapes up."
Baker said the University will fully support Eilert in how he chooses to construct his coaching staff, adding that he will work with Josh on a potential senior advisor role for help. Baker pointed out that first-time head coaches often don't realize there is much more to the job than just coaching.
Ten months from now, Baker said he will revisit things.
"We were clear this is a 10-month agreement, but there is no question he gets a chance to show every day what he's about, and we'll talk about (what lies ahead) at another day and time," the AD said. "But I thought it was important to have stability now."
"I've never been a head coach, and there are going to be a lot of questions raised about that," Eilert admitted. "But I have full confidence in myself. I think the character of a good man is surrounding yourself with good people and letting them help make decisions for you.
"I'm not going to sit here and say I know all of the answers right now, but I'm certainly going to put people around me that can help me make good decisions," he said.
Despite a stressful and anxiety filled week, Eilert said he was able to hold things together by staying true to himself. That's the message he will continue to preach to the players who choose to remain in the program for this season.
"Were there times of anxiety? One hundred percent," Eilert admitted. "If you are true to your values, it's a lot easier to have faith that things are going to work out. If you do right by people, it's easier to have faith that things are going to work out. It has hit me because of the reality of the situation in terms of where I could be a year from now, but I just try and keep a level head with my family that we're going to make this thing work."
The No. 1 priority right now is for Eilert to provide a calming influence for the players.
"These are 18- to 23-year-olds so there is a lot of uncertainty in their life right now," he said. "There are a lot of options in their life and the biggest message I have for them, and our staff has, is we care about them. We want to reassure them that this is a great place for them. We've got something special - a special group of individuals, a special administration, a special staff, and we can do something really neat here and turn the page and keep the Mountaineer tradition alive."
And Baker's message to Mountaineer fans?
"It's time to rally around this team and help them have as much success this year as they possibly can," he said.
"What has made our program successful, and what makes it special, is the passion people here have for WVU. That has not waned and that has been very evident this past week," Baker concluded.
Since then, Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker, himself hired only seven months ago, spent a week pursuing two parallel tracks for Huggins' replacement – a permanent head coach and an interim leader.
Baker relied on a search committee consisting of Steve Uryasz, deputy athletics director, Natasha Oakes, senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator, and Rob Alsop, former interim athletics director and WVU vice president for strategic initiatives.
They began calling potential candidates last Monday, and after finishing those calls on Wednesday, Baker got feedback from them that the timing was too difficult for coaches to leave their respective teams this late in the summer.
Baker pointed out that no Power 5 program since the adoption of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL) has had to hire a men's basketball coach in the summertime so close to the start of a new academic year.
"Obviously, we didn't have a resolution until late Saturday night (June 17) that our men's basketball program would need a new head coach, and one consistent thing we heard from the coaches and agents was they knew this was a great job because of the passion of the fans, the resources we provide and the quality and depth of the conference," Baker said. "And they were absolutely interested, but the timing makes it too difficult."
That's when Baker accelerated the parallel track, which included more detailed conversations with assistant coach Josh Eilert.
Eventually, the decision was made this past Saturday evening to promote Eilert to interim head coach for the 2023-24 season. He will be working under a 10-month contract and will be paid $1.5 million.
"He will have my full support and the support of the University to make decisions he feels are in the best interest of the program during this season," Baker noted. "He is the head coach, and I want him to feel and know that he is empowered in that role."
Why Eilert, who has no head coaching experience and has been a full-time assistant coach at WVU for just one year and an interim assistant coach for two years prior to that?
Baker listed the reasons.
"For starters, he's the type of human being that you want leading young people and the type of person that you want to work with," he explained. "He has incredible integrity. He is loyal. He hasn't been a job hopper. He's stayed here and worked his way up as a Mountaineer.
"He is thoughtful and strategic. He's honest. He also has a great basketball mind and as we talked to various people in and around the program, it was clear he has been given a tremendous amount of responsibility over his time at WVU," Baker added. "He knows every aspect of the program. And lastly, he is a tremendously hard worker."
To Baker's point, last year when West Virginia was in the midst of a five-game conference losing streak after starting the season 11-2 and ranking in the top 25, it was Eilert's scouting report that helped the Mountaineers defeat TCU 74-65 at the WVU Coliseum on Jan. 18.
Following a loss to Texas, it was also Eilert's scout that helped West Virginia end its 12-game Big 12 road losing streak with a victory at Texas Tech. A scheduling conflict prohibited Huggins from meeting with the media prior to the game, so it was Eilert who was tasked to serve as a fill in.
Josh's answers - his candor, his directness and his command of the facts - were impressive.
The things he said West Virginia needed to do to win that basketball game, from sharing the ball and playing unselfishly to making the Red Raiders guard the entire floor, played out in real time right before our eyes the following night.
WVU's 76-61 triumph against Texas Tech was probably the Mountaineers' best conference road performance in the last couple of years.
Eilert was calm and reassuring then, just as he was calm and reassuring today meeting with media earlier this afternoon.
"We're going to take it day by day," he explained. "We're not going to get ahead of ourselves. First and foremost, we've got to solidify our roster. Guys are taking the opportunity to feel out the situation, and I feel like now that we're building a new foundation, I think some of that stuff will calm down.
"Today, it was business as usual with the guys that are on the roster," he continued. "They were in good spirits, working out, and we're going to move on. We are about a month away from going to Italy and having three dry runs at it and getting those opportunities, so we're looking forward to the next month and how it shapes up."
Baker said the University will fully support Eilert in how he chooses to construct his coaching staff, adding that he will work with Josh on a potential senior advisor role for help. Baker pointed out that first-time head coaches often don't realize there is much more to the job than just coaching.
Ten months from now, Baker said he will revisit things.
"We were clear this is a 10-month agreement, but there is no question he gets a chance to show every day what he's about, and we'll talk about (what lies ahead) at another day and time," the AD said. "But I thought it was important to have stability now."
"I've never been a head coach, and there are going to be a lot of questions raised about that," Eilert admitted. "But I have full confidence in myself. I think the character of a good man is surrounding yourself with good people and letting them help make decisions for you.
"I'm not going to sit here and say I know all of the answers right now, but I'm certainly going to put people around me that can help me make good decisions," he said.
Despite a stressful and anxiety filled week, Eilert said he was able to hold things together by staying true to himself. That's the message he will continue to preach to the players who choose to remain in the program for this season.
"Were there times of anxiety? One hundred percent," Eilert admitted. "If you are true to your values, it's a lot easier to have faith that things are going to work out. If you do right by people, it's easier to have faith that things are going to work out. It has hit me because of the reality of the situation in terms of where I could be a year from now, but I just try and keep a level head with my family that we're going to make this thing work."
The No. 1 priority right now is for Eilert to provide a calming influence for the players.
"These are 18- to 23-year-olds so there is a lot of uncertainty in their life right now," he said. "There are a lot of options in their life and the biggest message I have for them, and our staff has, is we care about them. We want to reassure them that this is a great place for them. We've got something special - a special group of individuals, a special administration, a special staff, and we can do something really neat here and turn the page and keep the Mountaineer tradition alive."
And Baker's message to Mountaineer fans?
"It's time to rally around this team and help them have as much success this year as they possibly can," he said.
"What has made our program successful, and what makes it special, is the passion people here have for WVU. That has not waned and that has been very evident this past week," Baker concluded.
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