Wren Baker explains why West Virginia named Josh Eilert interim coach

West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker is ready to move forward into the 2023-24 basketball season with Josh Eilert. The Mountaineers announced Saturday that Eilert is set to take over as interim head coach following the resignation of longtime coach Bob Huggins.

Both Eilert and Baker appeared in front of media members Monday for an introductory press conference, where the AD explained what went into the decision.

“He is the type of human being that you want leading young people and the type of person you can to work with,” Baker said. “He has incredible integrity. I was very impressed with him during this process. He is loyal. He hasn’t been a job-hopper. He stayed right here and worked his way up as a Mountaineer. He is thoughtful and strategic. He is honest. He also has a great basketball mind. As we talked to various people in and around the program, it had been clear he had been given a tremendous amount of responsibilities over his time at WVU. He knows every aspect of our program having served in basketball operations and as our video coordinator before being named assistant coach.”

Eilert is set to enter his 16th season with West Virginia, but it wasn’t until the 2022-23 season that he was promoted to the assistant coach level. He has handled a wide variety of duties in that time including recruiting, opponent scouting, developing post and wing players, film preparation and worked camps, fundraisers and other special projects.

A native of Osborne, Kansas, Eilert was a basketball player at Kansas State from 2002-04. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing before earning his master’s in College Student Personnel/Intercollegiate Athletics in 2007.

Now Eilert will become a head coach, at least for one season. There is no guarantee that he will stay on after this year, but Baker made it clear that he has the program’s “full support” heading into 2023-24.

“He is a tremendously hard worker, I believe a farm boy,” the AD said. “He’s a devoted husband and father. He and Brandi, who’s sitting in the front row, have three terrific kids. He’s just the kind of person you’d want to play for, the kind of person you’d want to work with. He has my full support.

“I told him I view him as the head coach for an interim period of time, not as the interim head coach, and here’s what I mean by that. He will have my full support and the full support of this department and university to make decisions he feels are in the best interest of the program during this season. He doesn’t need to feel like he doesn’t have the ability to make changes that he sees fit to make. He is the head coach and I want him to feel and know he’s empowered in that role.”

Eilert’s hiring has already resulted in guard Kerr Kriisa‘s decision to withdraw from the transfer portal and return to Morgantown next season. With the support of the administration and players, he’ll hope to keep things afloat and make his case to stay on past this upcoming season.