Former West Virginia head coach John Beilein was a serious candidate to become West Virginia’s head coach during their coaching search, but ultimately West Virginia chose to promote Josh Eilert.
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — John Beilein is considered one of the most respected and brilliant minds in college basketball. Beilein, 70, most recently served as the Senior Player Development Advisor for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association.
However, Beilein told The Michigan Insider right now that he no longer works with the Pistons: “I commuted for the Pistons for the last two years,” Beilein said. “And now there’s a new coaching team in there. So right now, I’m 70 years old and I guess I’m semi-retired, looking for my next opportunity.”
When asked about West Virginia being a possibility, Beilein responded by saying, “It’s closed now. I’m right here in Ann Arbor. I just turned 70 years old, so it would have to be a very unique situation for me.”
With that said, West Virginia’s director of athletics, Wren Baker, recently said that he would like to hire a senior advisor to help guide Josh Eilert through the upcoming season since Eilert has no head coaching experience.
Beilein is one of the most experienced head coaches in college basketball and is someone that could immediately step in and help the program in an advisory role. Beilein is searching for the right opportunity and what better opportunity would there be than to help get the West Virginia basketball program back on track after such a tumultuous offseason?
Beilein serving as a senior advisor to Josh Eilert almost makes too much sense and he should be the very first phone call Wren Baker makes when he begins his search. Beilein understands the state of West Virginia, is a brilliant basketball mind, and, most importantly, he knows how to win basketball games.
