It’s safe to say, interim head coach Josh Eilert has been put in an almost impossible situation.
Eilert was named the interim head coach of West Virginia men’s basketball this summer, and since then has faced even more challenges regarding eligibility and availability of different players.
Through 11 games, West Virginia is 4-7 and has two non-conference games remaining before they get into the gauntlet of the Big 12.
On Thursday, West Virginia Director of Athletics Wren Baker gave an update on Eilert’s situation and how he plans to value him come the end of the season.
“I think what I would probably say to that is the general public and you all for that matter, it’s like an iceberg and you see the tip of it. You see what happens out there on gameday. I get a chance to see the entire iceberg. I’m there everyday but I see all the behind the scenes of the battles that have been faced,” Baker said.
“I think just like I’ve said with football before, I get the focus from the public on wins and losses because it’s the only metric they really have a window into, but I get a 360 view of everything that goes on in the program. My goal is to do a pretty thorough review of each of our programs at the end of the year,” Baker added.
Baker also recognized WVU is only 11 games in and hasn’t reached Big 12 play yet. He still has a level of optimism surrounding this team, but knows the road ahead won’t be easy.
“In terms of men’s basketball, they’ve only played a third of their games, so they still have two-thirds of the season left. It’s certainly been a season that’s been full of challenges. I’ve been clear, I think Coach Eilert’s handled most, if not all those challenges well and he’ll have my full support throughout this season and at the conclusion of this season, we’ll decide where we go from there,” Baker said.
Baker admitted he knew it was going to be a challenge for Eilert to come into his first head coaching role and be dealt the hand he was dealt this summer when he was granted the interim role.
“I always knew the challenge was great,” Baker said. “I told Coach Eilert that. I think I told him, in one of our last meetings, I almost feel guilty considering putting you in this position because I know how hard it’s going to be. You’ve got a lot of new student-athletes coming in.
“You had some guys that had been here and were probably hoping to play. No matter if there was not a coaching change, no matter who was coaching them, it was going to be a big coaching job, when you take that many new people, a lot of them who are in their last year of eligibility, they’re coming here, trying to have a good career, most of them wanting to go pro or having aspirations of going pro. They don’t know each other, haven’t played together and you’re trying to get those guys to be a team. Just that, would’ve been a monumental job.”
Baker then added the challenges of the roster construction due to circumstances such as the suspension of Kerr Kriisa, departure of Jose Perez, or injuries to Akok Akok, which really hurt the Mountaineers during the beginning of the season.
“Then you take the coaching change, the transfer portal opening, some more roster fluctuations, not being able to get waivers for a couple of the kids, injuries, there was one coach Eilert moved on from. And you just take all of that and it’s certainly been challenging.”
Eilert was asked about the evaluation of his situation earlier this week.
He did not budge on the thought of how he would be evaluated, but said he is going to control what he can control in the meantime.
“I just continue to take the approach, I’m going to make the best decisions possible for the people in this program I’m representing and continue to do the right thing in terms of who I’m representing,” Eilert said.
“I know I’m representing the hard-working group of people in this state. 1.8 million people that go to work everyday and grind, that’s the same approach I’m going to have. I represent this university the best way I can and make good decisions for this university when I’m at the helm. How they judge me on that, that’s totally up to someone else. I’m going to be true to my character and my beliefs and the way I want to run things and do things the right way and that’s all I can do.”
