WVU is still without a coach over a week after Darian DeVries decided to leave WVU, with many of the top candidates coming off the board in the past few days, the pressure is starting to mount for the Mountaineers.
On Tuesday, it was announced that there may have been a level of interest in Richard Pitino for WVU. Later in the day, it was announced that Pitino would be joining Xavier to fill their head coach vacancy, crossing yet another name off the list for WVU.
Another candidate was Jerrod Calhoun, who finalized an extension to stay with Utah State over the next four seasons. Calhoun, earlier in the week, was considered the favorite to get the job in Morgantown. Same with Ben McCollum who was once considered a top candidate for the job and also took the opening at Iowa. Niko Medved came off the board too after taking the job at Minnesota.
The names that remain in contention for the job at WVU are Ross Hodge from North Texas, Chester Frazier who spent last season as an assistant at WVU, and Allan Huss from High Point seem to be the most likely candidates at this point.
Ross Hodge has seven years of head coaching experience and only two at the division one level. Hodge led North Texas to a 27-8 record and just advanced to the final four in the NIT tournament. He is viewed as a serious candidate for WVU, but them advancing in the NIT tournament will force WVU to wait until North Texas’ season is over.
Chester Frazier will make a good case for the job if the Mountaineers decide to promote from within, as he is well-respected around the program and has a great track record as a recruiter.
Allan Huss, from High Point, had just led his team to the NCAA tournament before they lost in the first round to Purdue. Huss is currently coaching at his alma mater and just finished his sixth season there. Huss holds a career coaching record of 56-15 and has won two conference titles. He is known as an elite national recruiter and could be a good option if the Mountaineers decide to pursue that option.
The candidates that have been linked to WVU over the past week or two have mostly all come off the board, putting pressure on Wren Baker and his staff to get this search done to begin preparing for the upcoming season since the transfer portal has already opened and WVU has lost Sencire Harris, Amani Hansberry, K.J. Tenner, and Jonathan Powell already.
