Former longtime WVU assistant and interim head coach Josh Eilert returns to the WVU coliseum for the first time since not being retained by the university.
Josh Eilert was on staff in numerous roles at West Virginia from 2007-2024. Eilert took on the interim head coaching position after the dismissal of Bob Huggins before the 2023 season. Under Eilert, WVU went 9-23 with wins over Kansas and Texas who were in the top 25 at the time. Eilert was hired by Utah in the offseason.
“Josh is terrific. He was really helpful. We sat down and met for a long time. He was incredibly helpful in the transition,” DeVries said. “Anything I needed from his end, he was certainly willing to help with. I obviously don’t know him well but the short time that I have, he’s a really good guy. I’m happy for him that he got another opportunity at Utah.”
West Virginia has now started a new era with Darian Devries, and they have ultimately exceeded expectations with a 14-8 record and three top-10 wins.
WVU is led by the Big 12’s leading scorer, Senior Guard Javon Small, who is averaging 19.0 points per game. Small has been the backbone of the WVU offense for the whole season. West Virginia is coming off of a loss to Texas Christian University 65-60. Small led the team in scoring with 20 points and 5th year Guard Joseph Yesufu had 11 off the bench for the Mountaineers.
In its last time out, Utah defeated Colorado 72-59 in Salt Lake City, picking up their 5th conference win making their Big 12 record 5-6. Utah was led by Senior Guard Gabe Madsen who put up 17 points.
The Utes are 1-6 on the road this season, that one victory came against TCU earlier this season. Utah will look to show different matchups defensively to try and throw West Virginia off.
“It makes it harder to recognize and it keeps you off balance,” DeVries said. “That’s why I think it is important as an offense you don’t try to do too much either. You have to be able to still play and be aggressive and not get caught staring at it and trying to figure it out. By the time you do, it is too late and you end up with a bad possession.”
Saturday’s game will be the “Coal Rush” game where WVU will wear their alternate black uniforms. The game has been announced as a sellout, the first since WVU defeated No. 2 Iowa State on January 18.
U92 will have live coverage of the game with play-by-play Gabe Schon and color analyst Nico Caretto bringing you all the action from inside The Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 PM and Pregame starts at 4:30 PM. Andrew Hartlove will be hosting Pre/Half/Post alongside Kam Tomasetti, Benjamin Stautzenbach, and Dom Brusco.
The broadcast can be heard locally on 91.7 FM, u92themoose.com, an Alexa At-Home Device, or the RadioFX and TuneIn apps.