Josh Eilert isn’t going to allow his team to play victim.
Yes, circumstances have changed quite drastically for this West Virginia team over the past several weeks with the personnel.
During that time, guard Jose Perez was dismissed from the team, the immediate eligibility waiver for guard RaeQuan Battle was denied by the NCAA, an emergency medical situation unfolded on the floor of the exhibition game with forward Akok Akok and point guard Kerr Kriisa was ruled ineligible for the first nine games of the season.
That's a long list to a number of players that were suspected to be critical to the outcome of this team. And there's also a non-zero chance that none of those players listed are in the picture this season outside Kriisa following his nine-game suspension depending on what unfolds in the coming weeks.
Related: Without Kriisa, WVU men's hoops must shift in point guard room
But instead of looking at the negative, Eilert is instead flipping the script.
“We certainly have our challenges. I told the team the other day don’t take the victim mentality. We are not victims, we have an opportunity in front of us,” he said.
The interim head coach isn’t wrong. Eilert treats this situation in itself as a massive opportunity not just for his team but himself as the leader of the program. And while the deck has been stacked against him some to start his tenure, there are far more serious issues unfolding in the world than this.
“My opportunity is to lead these young men and put them in the best opportunity to succeed, there are a lot of people in life going through a lot more challenges than I am on a basketball court,” he said.
The Mountaineers are currently down to just eight scholarship players, but Eilert is expressing confidence in what he does have on his roster.
With Akok out for the immediate future in the wake of his medical incident, forward Quinn Slazinki will be bumped into the starting lineup at that spot while Kobe Johnson will inherit the starting job at point guard over the next nine games. Both have already proven to Eilert that they are up to the task, but now they must show it until the possibility the team is back at full strength.
“I’ve got guys I think we can count on and guys we can go to bat with,” he said.
That was on display against George Mason when Akok was carted off the floor due to his situation, but the Mountaineers were able to rally and show resolve in coming back for the win. The situation for Akok is that he will not return in the immediate future and is still undergoing testing to determine a return.
“They work with him every day to determine what the next step is,” Eilert said.
The challenges of being down to eight scholarship players, and nine in total for the time being, are real though. Foul trouble could cause massive issues for this team and could force the Mountaineers into moving away from their planned man-to-man defense, into more zone looks to preserve those totals.
It’s something that the coaching staff is currently considering with the season set to begin, but Eilert is assuring his team that all they can do is control what they can control.
And the challenge for Eilert is to remain optimistic while playing to his personnel despite a very different rotation than he initially anticipated at his disposal.
“Maybe the tides are going to start turning. Maybe things will start going our way. We might we more challenges, who knows, but we have to win the day,” he said.
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