West Virginia interim coach Josh Eilert turns his attention to retaining players

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Josh Eilert was patient waiting to become a head coach, and he’s hoping West Virginia players will show the same trait and stay around now that he has been given a chance to run the program.

Eilert was selected as the interim coach at West Virginia on Saturday night after spending 17 years on Bob Huggins’ staffs at Kansas State and West Virginia, including as an assistant coach last season. It’s Eilert’s first head coaching job, and he said he knew that his perseverance would some day pay off.

Without mentioning his own team, Eilert said today’s athletes could benefit from that approach.

“I think that’s a lesson to all you young guys out there: Don’t jump ship just because you always see greener pastures,” he said Monday.

Huggins resigned June 17, a day after his drunken driving arrest in Pittsburgh. Under NCAA rules, West Virginia’s players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal.

For one player, at least, Eilert’s message came too late. Forward Tre Mitchell announced on Twitter that he was transferring to Kentucky. Mitchell averaged nearly 12 points and six rebounds in his lone season at West Virginia after transferring from Texas.

Eilert did get some good news when guard Kerr Kriisa, who transferred from Arizona in April, said Sunday on his Twitter and Instagram accounts that he was withdrawing from the portal and staying.

“The support and love that the Mountaineer fanbase has showed me and this team in 2 months is unmatched,” Kriisa wrote in a message that included a photo of him and Eilert. “I feel so lucky to call Morgantown home.”

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

While pulling out his best sales pitch, Eilert was realistic about the challenge of keeping the roster intact.

“These are 18 to 23 years old,” he said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty in their life right now. There’s a lot of options in their life. The biggest message that I have and our staff has is we care about them. We want to reassure them that this is a great place for them.”

Eilert said he understands if they want to look elsewhere, but he wants to remind the players they have something special and can turn things around.

Eilert, who will be paid $1.5 million under a 10-month contract, still has to put together a staff. The Mountaineers head to Italy for a series of exhibition games in August.

Eilert and athletic director Wren Baker mentioned Huggins several times on their own during the news conference. Eilert said anyone who was going to follow Huggins on the bench was going to feel pressure.

“I mean, he is a Hall of Fame coach,” Eilert said. “I look at it as an opportunity. I’m excited to show what I can do and what my staff can do and get them bought in in a difficult situation.”

Eilert said he plans to use many of Huggins’ coaching princciples, especially on defense. He won’t hestitate to ask Huggins for advice.

“He’s been a huge influential part of my life, and that’s not going to change,” Eilert said. “If I need to reach out to him, I promise you that he’ll take my phone call.”

Baker said the university had parallel tracks for hiring a permanent and interim coach before deciding the interim option made the most sense.

“This is the 20th time that I’ve led a head coaching search, and for a variety of reasons, it was certainly the most complicated,” he said.

And Baker doesn’t want to have Huggins go unrecognized for his accomplishment.

“We have already talked about ways that we could potentially have him back to honor him at some point,” Baker said. “Undoubtedly, that will happen.”