West Virginia Basketball Coaching Hotboard Version 3
West Virginia is looking to replace former head coach Bob Huggins and we look at possible candidates that have emerged in the early search.
WVSports.com looks at each of the options.
UAB head coach Andy Kennedy
Kennedy is an obvious name on any immediate short list given his familiarity with the Bob Huggins coaching tree and An experienced coach, Kennedy has a career record of 315-184 as a coach and has led the Blazers to three straight 20-win seasons. The Mississippi native served as an assistant under Huggins during his time at Cincinnati and the two remained close. That could mean little adjustments for those already on the roster in terms of playing style especially in the realm of potentially holding the rest of the roster and some of the staff together which could be an easy transition. Led the Blazers to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and is a name that has emerged on the short list for the program for clear reasons.
West Virginia assistant Josh Eilert
Eilert has spent 15-seasons with the West Virginia basketball program as first the video coordinator and then as the Assistant Athletics Director for Basketball Operations. Eilert was promoted to a full-time role as an assistant after Erik Martin left to take the South Carolina State job and previously served as an interim assistant in 2006-07. He has handled many areas of the job such as on-court scouting, off-campus recruiting and development while he also was tasked with scheduling. Eilert is a familiar face that the current players trust and could go a long way toward retaining the current roster if he was tabbed in an interim role for the position.
John Beilein
The over 40-year coaching veteran is a familiar name for West Virginia fans. Beilein, 70, previously spent five seasons in Morgantown from 2002-07 and led the program to an Elite 8 appearance in 2005 and followed that up with a Sweet 16 trip the following year. He qualified for either the NCAA Tournament or NIT in four of his five seasons including winning the latter in his final season atop the program during the 2007 campaign. Beilein was 754-425 in his college coaching career and the New York native has taken 13 teams to the NCAA Tournament, four trips to the Elite 8, two Final Fours and two national runner ups. He has been out of coaching for several years but has had success at every stop in his career. Could once again come to stabilize the program after stepping in previously when Gale Catlett resigned.
OTHERS:
College of Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey
Kelsey was named the 24th head coach at The College of Charleston in 2021 and led the Cougars to a 31-4 record this past season including the first CAA title since 2008. He also put the program into the NCAA Tournament and has three NCAA trips on his resume. He has an overall record of 234-111 and was the 2021 Big South Conference Coach of the Year. The Cincinnati native is known for his passion and is a graduate of Xavier. Could be an interesting fit outside the box.
Northwest Missouri State head coach Ben McCollum
McCollum was named the head coach in 2009 and has amassed a career record of 334-83. He has won 10 MIAA regular season championships and 6 tournament titles over the course of his career. The Iowa native is a seven-time MIAA coach of the year and is a five-time NABC Division II National Coach of the Year which is a record. He has a long history of sustained success and has ties to current West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker. He has 29-5 NCAA Tournament Division II record with national titles in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Youngstown State head coach Jerod Calhoun
Calhoun has been the head coach at Youngstown State for seven seasons and has obvious ties to the West Virginia program considering he spent five years at the program as the director of basketball operations and then as an assistant for a season. Has been a successful head coach during his time with the Penguins and is coming off a 24-10 season where he was named 2023 Horizon League Men's Basketball Coach of the Year and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 12 Coach of the Year. Calhoun spent five seasons as the head coach at Fairmont State where he accumulated an overall record of 124-38.
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