West Virginia Head Coach Candidates Coaching in the NCAA Tournament

Unfortunately, West Virginia is not participating in this year’s NCAA Tournament and could be considered one of the biggest snubs in the history of the event. Also, instead of attacking the transfer portal to build on a strong first year under Darian DeVries, athletic director Wren Baker finds himself in another coaching search.

Which coaches should Mountaineer fans keep an eye on during March Madness? Here’s a list of potential candidates, appearing in order of the time of their first round game.

1st round game: vs. No. 4 Purdue

Game info: March 20th at 12:40 p.m. ET on truTV

Huss led the Panthers to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Big South Conference championship last week. It’s been an incredible start to his coaching career, compiling a 56-14 record in his first two years. Like Darian DeVries, he also comes from the Greg McDermott coaching tree.

1st round game: vs. No. 6 BYU

Game info: March 20th at 4:05 p.m. ET on TNT

Odom was the coach who led No. 16 seed UMBC past No. 1 seed Virginia a few years back. He has since had stints at Utah State (44-25) and of course, VCU, where he’s gone 52-20 over the last two seasons.

1st round game: vs. No. 6 Missouri

Game info: March 20th at 7:35 p.m. ET on truTV

McCollum had a ton of success at Northwest Missouri State, where he worked with WVU AD Wren Baker and won four Division II national titles. In his first year at Drake, he’s led the Bulldogs to a 30-3 record with a brand new roster, most of which is made up of his guys from the D-II level.

1st round game: vs. No. 7 UCLA

Game info: March 20th at 9:25 p.m. ET on TNT

Calhoun is the only one on this list who has a direct tie to West Virginia University, spending time as an assistant here from 2007-12. He won big at Fairmont State, turned around a bad Youngstown State program, and is now finding success at Utah State.

1st round game: vs. No. 5 Memphis

Game info: March 21st at 2 p.m. ET on TBS

Medved was a name that was linked to West Virginia last year, so surely he’ll be at least in the conversation once again. He’s led the Rams to the NCAA Tournament three times in the last four years.

1st round game: vs. No. 4 Maryland

Game info: March 21st at 4:35 p.m. ET on CBS

Drew didn’t have much success in his first big-time job at Vanderbilt, but he might be ready for a second chance. He’s done wonders with the Grand Canyon program, going 120-39 in five seasons. Before his stint at Vandy, he was very successful at Valparaiso, going 124-49.

1st round game: No. 7 Marquette

Game info: March 21st at 7:25 p.m. ET on TBS

The son of the legendary Rick Pitino is having success with the Lobos and considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in the game. He had an up-and-down stint at Minnesota from 2013-21, but didn’t have much to work with there and may have been taking on a job he wasn’t quite ready for. Pitino is 87-48 in four seasons at New Mexico.

John Groce (Akron) vs. No. 4 Arizona

Ritchie McKay (Liberty) vs. No. 5 Oregon

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