West Virginia Starts Search For A New Men’s Basketball Coach After 9-23 Season – News18

West Virginia opened a seek for a brand new males’s basketball coach Wednesday because it tries to place behind one of many worst seasons in class historical past.

Interim coach Josh Eilert led the Mountaineers to a 9-23 mark, together with a loss to Cincinnati within the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday. West Virginia set a faculty document for losses whereas ending with its fewest wins for the reason that 2001-02 crew went 8-20 in Gale Catlett’s last season.

In a press release, West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker mentioned he knowledgeable Eilert, his workers and the crew upon their return to Morgantown, West Virginia, that “we are moving forward with our search plans.”

“All of Mountaineer Nation owes a debt of gratitude to Coach Eilert for his leadership during a challenging season, as he and his staff faced all obstacles with class and professionalism,” Baker mentioned.

Baker’s assertion didn’t embrace a selected timeline for hiring a coach. He’ll must take care of the eye that candidates will obtain for different job openings equivalent to at Louisville, which fired Kenny Payne on Wednesday, and at Washington, which knowledgeable Mike Hopkins final week that he gained’t return after seven seasons. DePaul fired Tony Stubblefield in January and Ohio State parted methods with Chris Holtmann final month.

“We are now focused on our collective future, and I am excited about what comes next,” Baker mentioned. “I am confident we will engage a strong pool of candidates and identify the right leader for our program. As I shared with our student-athletes, we will move deliberately but as swiftly as we can in the days ahead.”

Eilert took over final summer season after the resignation of Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins. Huggins left following a drunken driving arrest in June and after utilizing a homophobic slur to consult with Xavier followers whereas additionally denigrating Catholics throughout a radio interview in May.

Eilert, who was given a ten-month contract that paid him $1.5 million, was left with a multitude.

Several veteran gamers transferred underneath an emergency 30-day window to enter the switch portal. Some who entered the portal stayed and lots of newcomers arrived weeks after Huggins left. Once practices began, Eilert kicked graduate switch guard Jose Perez off the crew. Perez mentioned on X, previously Twitter, that his exit was over an educational disagreement involving examine corridor. Eilert mentioned he set some non-negotiable guidelines throughout their first crew assembly.

Once the competitors began, guard Kerr Kriisa was suspended for the primary 9 video games for accepting impermissible advantages when he was at Arizona. Forward Akok Akok suffered a medical emergency in an exhibition and missed a number of video games. Center Jesse Edwards missed six weeks with a damaged wrist. Guards RaeQuan Battle and Noah Farrakhan missed greater than a month earlier than the NCAA allowed a number of-switch athletes to compete for the remainder of the season.

West Virginia had the Big 12’s worst protection, giving up 81 factors per recreation.

“This whole entire year, from the moment I got the job, has been full of challenges and problems to solve and issues to deal with,” Eilert mentioned after the 90-85 loss to Cincinnati. “It’s been quite the roller coaster, a minefield to navigate.

“We got to the finish line. It’s certainly not where we want to be from a record standpoint. But I think everybody learned and grew as humans and individuals.”

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

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)