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Assistant Josh Eilert picked as interim coach at West Virginia, replacing Hall of Famer Bob Huggins

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Assistant Josh Eilert picked as interim coach at West Virginia, replacing Hall of Famer Bob Huggins


Assistant Josh Eilert has been selected as the interim coach at West Virginia, punctuating a hectic week after Bob Huggins resigned following a drunken driving arrest.

Eilert, who has no previous head coaching experience, emerged as athletic director Wren Baker’s choice to shepherd the team through a challenging offseason stretch. Baker stayed in-house and chose not to hire a full-time coach given the limited options of conducting a nationwide search in June and the urgency of finding someone — anyone — with the start of practice only four months away.

“I spoke with knowledgeable basketball people around the country over the last week, including coaches, professional basketball executives and others of whom I trust to identify a strong group of candidates to speak with,” Baker said in a statement announcing the move Saturday night. “Ultimately what I came to recognize, was that conducting this search in late June was difficult for many of our candidates and also it put our talented student-athletes at a real disadvantage. With that said, we will conduct our national search at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.”

Under NCAA rules, West Virginia’s players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal, and several apparently have chosen to do so, although they have the option to return. Eilert could be the glue that keeps together an upper class-heavy roster built largely through transfers.

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“Josh Eilert is the right person to lead our men’s basketball program next season,” Baker said. “He has been an important part of our success, and he has displayed great integrity, work ethic and dedication. He has been involved in all facets of our program during his time on the basketball staff, and he has earned this opportunity to coach our team on an interim basis for the 2023-24 season.”

The 43-year-old Eilert first joined Huggins as a graduate assistant at Kansas State in 2006, then followed him to West Virginia in 2007. Eilert has had a variety of roles with the Mountaineers, including video coordinator and director of basketball operations, before being named an assistant coach in July 2022.

“I would like to thank Wren Baker, President Gee, Rob Alsop, Steve Uryasz and the rest of our administration for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to lead our storied Mountaineer basketball program,” Eilert said. “I would also like to thank Coach Huggins for retaining me on his staff at K-State in 2006 and for bringing me to West Virginia in 2007. I’ve learned so much from Coach Huggins, and it was an honor to work for a Hall of Fame coach for the last 17 years.”

Among others who were linked to the opening were UAB coach and former Huggins assistant Andy Kennedy, and former West Virginia and Michigan coach John Beilein.

Huggins had assembled arguably one of the better recruiting classes in the country from the portal for next season, including Syracuse center Jesse Edwards, Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa, Manhattan guards Jose Perez and Omar Silverio, and Montana State guard RaeQuan Battle.

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Huggins’ 16-year run as West Virginia’s coach ended with his resignation on June 17. The day before, he was charged with driving under the influence in Pittsburgh. According to a criminal complaint, Huggins initially believed he was in Columbus, Ohio. A breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Aug. 3 in Pittsburgh.

Huggins also pleaded no contest in 2004 to driving under the influence when he was the coach at Cincinnati. He was fired a year later amid a power struggle with the school’s president as well as the aftermath of the DUI arrest.

His resignation at West Virginia came a month after the university suspended him for three games for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.

The 69-year-old Huggins was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last September.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25





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Virginia woman falls victim to bitcoin scam, loses more than $30,000 – WTOP News

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Virginia woman falls victim to bitcoin scam, loses more than ,000 – WTOP News


A Richmond, Virginia, woman lost more than $30,000 after police say she fell victim to a scam.

Click here for updates on this story

RICHMOND, Virginia (WTVR) — A Richmond, Virginia, woman lost more than $30,000 after police say she fell victim to a scam.

CBS 6 Crime Insider Jon Burkett spoke to Frank Oley, her financial adviser and Greg Wade, a Richmond detective about how this happened.

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The woman got an email which appeared to be from PayPal.

“It was about the purchase of some type of malware and if you didn’t want it to call a certain number,” Wade said.

She then called the number and got swindled.

“After the transaction was done, he said, ‘You added too many zeroes,’ and, ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to lose my job, it’s Christmas time and I have kids,’ laid it on thick to her. This client being such a nice, honest and decent person felt sorry for this guy,” Wade explained.

The woman felt so bad she withdrew a total of $34,300 from two banks in an effort to pay for what she thought was her mistake.

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The scammer instructed her to load the cash into a bitcoin machine along Azalea Avenue. It took her two hours and 873 separate transactions to do.

Detective Wade got a search warrant and told the store to shut the machine down. A representative came to open it, and the woman’s money was still there.

Her money is being held as evidence for now, but she will get it all back.

“The good news is with George, the Richmond City Police Department, we got the money back,” Oley said.

Wade says the scammer was traced to a location outside the United States.

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East Carolina CB Isaiah Brown-Murray Commits To Virginia Tech

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East Carolina CB Isaiah Brown-Murray Commits To Virginia Tech


East Carolina cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray (26) committed to Virginia Tech on Saturday night. (East Carolina athletics)

Isaiah Brown-Murray 
Cornerback 
East Carolina 
5-10, 191 
2 years remaining (r-Jr.) 

Virginia Tech received a commitment from East Carolina cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray on Saturday night.

The Charlotte, N.C, native tallied 63 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in three seasons with the Pirates. He deflected 11 passes over that span, intercepting one, while forcing a fumble and recovering one.

He led ECU’s defense with 830 snaps this season, per PFF. He graded out well, too: 74.0 overall, 74.1 in run defense, 80.4 in tackling and 73.2 in coverage. Those marks ranked 13th, 12th, sixth and 13th at his position in the AAC, respectively.

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For comparison, here’s where his grades stack up against Hokies cornerbacks Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane:

In some ways, he’s a mix of Strong (coverage) and Delane (run defense, tackling). More than anything, though, he’s played 1,246 snaps in his career and is immediately the most experienced player in Tech’s cornerback room. With Strong and Delane gone, Dante Lovett has the most returning career snaps with 244.

Brown-Murray slid into ECU’s No. 1 cornerback role in Week 4 at Liberty after Shavon Revel, a projected first-round NFL Draft pick, tore his ACL in the third game of the season. The redshirt sophomore notched his first career interception against the Flames and returned it 34 yards, and he also forced his first career fumble that game. In the next outing vs. UTSA, he recovered a fumble for the first time.

A product of Hough High School in Cornelius, N.C., Brown-Murray was a three-star recruit in the 2022 class and a top-40 prospect in the state. He held Power Four offers from Arkansas, Louisville and Kansas while being heavily pursued from Group of Five schools like Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, Marshall and Old Dominion. He showed his versatility as a senior by scoring five all-purpose touchdowns: one interception return, two punt returns and two kickoff returns.

With the addition of Brown-Murray, the Hokies have eight scholarship cornerbacks for the 2025 season. He’ll slot in alongside Lovett and ahead of a young trio of Thomas Williams (r-So.), Krystian Williams (r-So.) and Joshua Clarke (r-Fr.). They’re all expected to see time in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Minnesota on Jan. 3. Tech also has three incoming freshmen at that position in Knahlij Harrell, Jordan Crim and Jahmari DeLoatch.

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He’s the fifth transfer portal addition of the offseason for the Hokies, joining Clemson safety Sherrod Covil Jr., Bowling Green running back Terion Stewart, Central Missouri running back Marcellous Hawkins and Hampton defensive tackle Jahzari Priester.

For more information on Virginia Tech’s comings and goings in the portal, click here for Tech Sideline’s roster management page.

Isaiah Brown-Murray links: 

247Sports 
East Carolina bio 
ESPN 



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Reynolds scores 25 as Saint Joseph’s pulls away from Virginia Tech in 2nd half, win 82-62

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Reynolds scores 25 as Saint Joseph’s pulls away from Virginia Tech in 2nd half, win 82-62


Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Erik Reynolds II knocked down five 3-pointers and put up 25 points to help Saint Joseph’s pull away from Virginia Tech to earn an 82-62 win on Saturday.

The victory gave the Hawks their first back-to-back wins since they won three straight in November.

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Reynolds hit from behind the arc with 27 seconds left in the first half to send the Hawks (8-4) into intermission with a 32-30 lead. After the Hokies got two free throws to start the second half, Reynolds’ layup kicked off a 10-0 run to take a double-digit lead at 42-32. Derek Simpson’s second 3 of the half made it a 47-34 lead with under 16 to play. Ben Hammond hit from deep to get Virginia Tech within 10 at 54-44, but Anthony Finkley answered with a 3 and Reynolds followed with a layup as the Hawks pulled away.

Reynolds was 10 of 19 from the field, including 5 of 11 from deep, with three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Simpson was 4 of 8 from 3-point range and scored 18 and Rasheer Fleming was 8 for 8 from the line to add 18 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Finkley chipped in 13 points by hitting 3 of 4 from deep. Saint Joseph’s was 15 of 32 from long range.

Hammond finished with 11 points and Ben Burnham was 3-for-3 from distance off the bench to add another 11.

Saint Joseph’s plays host to Delaware State December 28 before opening Atlantic 10 Conference play against UMass on New Year’s Eve.

Virginia Tech (5-7, 0-1) returns to Atlantic Coast Conference play New Year’s Eve at No. 5 Duke.

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