At the Big 12 Tipoff event on Wednesday, interim head men’s basketball coach Josh Eilert gave an update on where West Virginia stands heading into the final few weeks of the preseason.
“We’ve had a couple good weeks of practice and things are going well and we’re excited for where the program is going,” Eilert said.
Eilert acknowledged the distractions that were throughout the program this summer due to the resignation from former head coach Bob Huggins. Eilert then said he knows he has big shoes to fill and Huggins’ influence is not lost on him.
“This summer was whirlwind and we had a lot of distractions. Trying to keep everybody with their head down and focused on what the goal was. Mid-summer we had five or six guys on our roster. We had to keep those guys and that foundation together and we had to figure out how we build and move on each and every day,” Eilert said.
On Huggins, Eilert said, “That influence is always going to be with me. I was with him for 16 years. I learned a lot from him and he’s a tremendous human being and a tremendous basketball coach.”
Another change this offseason was the assistant coaching staff. The Mountaineers welcomed in three former players to full-time assistant roles. Eilert loves the youthfulness of his staff and how they work on a daily basis.
They’ve lived and died West Virginia basketball throughout their career, ” Eilert said. “We have a great young staff. Probably one of the youngest staffs in the country. They all got equity in the process. Three of the four have played at West Virginia so they’re exited to go ut there and represent our state and our people.”
Those assistants, along with Eilert, have continued to recruit even with the future contract status surrounding Eilert is up in the air. To Eilert, that is a product of him looking past the interim tag and wanting to do what is best for West Virginia basketball as a whole.
“We’ve got a great group of young assistants that are eager everyday and we’re building a culture and we plan on being here. So when we go out and recruit, that’s the message we portray to them. On the recruiting trail we just sell what we have,” Eilert said.
“We have a great group of guys that want to work everyday and bring the energy everyday and a staff that guys are going to gravitate towards. We tell a lot of them we have one of the best staffs for individual development in the country and I really think we do .We’re going to keep recruiting and put ourselves in a position to have this job in a year. I’m mindful enough to know we have to win games and we will win games but we’er going to recruit for the future as well.”
