Former West Virginia head coach Josh Eilert is set to return to the WVU Coliseum on Saturday. After spending 16 seasons as an assistant for the Mountaineers, Eilert now sees himself on the other side of the court, as an assistant coach for the University of Utah.
Eilert spent his collegiate career at Kansas State, where he was a two-year letter winner. He graduated in 2004 and immediately began looking to coach at the college level. After starting his career as a graduate assistant for the Mountaineers, Eilert was promoted to video coordinator in 2007.
It was not until 2016 that Eilert got his first big break, becoming the Interim Assistant Coach for the Mountaineers under Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins.
Eilert’s time at West Virginia is not a time to be overshadowed, he assisted the Mountaineers in 10 NCAA tournament appearances, including a Final Four appearance in 2010.
After Huggins was let go before the 2023 season, West Virginia had to quickly make an unexpected decision on their new head coach. Athletic Director Wren Baker decided to keep someone who was already in the building. Josh Eilert was promoted to Interim Head Coach for the 2023-24 season, hoping to coach his way into a long-term contract.
Eilert began by retaining a top ten portal class in the country, which included stars such as RaeQuan Battle and Jesse Edwards. Once the season began, it was clear West Virginia was a few steps behind the rest of the competition. The team had loads of individual talent, but they could not get on the winning side of games. They finished 9-23 (4-14 in the Big 12), which became the most losses in a season in the history of WVU Men’s Basketball.
Shortly after the conclusion of the 2023-2024 season, Eilert was released, and the university began its nationwide coaching search.
West Virginia will host Utah for the Coal Rush game on Feb. 8 at 5:00 p.m.
