Utah head coach Craig Smith announced the hire of Josh Eilert as an assistant coach on Thursday afternoon.
Eilert spent the 2023-24 season as West Virginia’s interim head coach, following the dismissal of former WVU head coach Bob Huggins, and another 16 seasons in various other roles. During his time with the Mountaineers, Eilert helped guide them to 11 March Madness berths, five Sweet 16s and one Final Four appearance.
“Josh is an excellent coach in all facets,” Smith said in a news release. “He is well rounded in all phases of the game and articulates the game in a clear and concise manner. Josh has an excellent background in player development and will specifically work with the ‘bigs’ in our program. He also has a vast knowledge of the Big 12, having played and coached in it for nearly two decades; which will be very impactful as we head into that conference this season.”
Prior to working at West Virginia, Eilert was a graduate assistant at Kansas State, his alma mater, from 2005-07 before being hired by Huggins. He also played two seasons for the Wildcats from 2002-04 after transferring from Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas.
Eilert’s hire comes just in time for Utah’s move to the Big 12, which is widely regarded as the best basketball conference in the nation. Last season eight Big 12 teams were selected into the NCAA Tournament, which was tied with the Southeastern Conference for the most tournament berths from a conference for the 2023-24 season.
Despite adding Eilert to his coaching staff, Smith still has work to do in terms of filling out the Runnin’ Utes’ roster. As it stands, Utah has three open roster spots despite the NCAA transfer portal closing on May 1.
