West Virginia names Bob Huggins’ replacement

Following his resignation after a DUI arrest, Bob Huggins will not be the head coach of West Virginia’s mens basketball team going forward. The Mountaineers, however, will be led by a familiar name and face — at least for the time being.

Josh Eilert has been an assistant at West Virginia for the last 16 years.

On Saturday, the school announced that he’ll serve as the interim coach, leading the team for the 2023-24 season.

Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker explained the decision.

“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, per Bryan Messerly, WVUsports.com. “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.”

Baker added that “We will conduct our national search at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.”

The decision may be enough to help West Virginia keep one of its better players. Following Huggins’ resignation, it was reported that Joe Toussaint would enter the transfer portal.

But Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported that Toussaint was “still considering a return to Morgantown next season while also considering other schools.”

Eilert played at Kansas State and was a graduate assistant for Huggins in his one season as head coach of the Wildcats. When Huggins became West Virginia’s head coach for the 2007-08 season, Eilert came with him and has remained on the Mountaineers’ coaching staff ever since.

[WVUsports.com, Jon Rothstein]