West Virginia Basketball: 10 candidates to replace Bob Huggins as head coach

Jeff Boals

Nobody knows exactly the direction that West Virginia will lean with this next hire, but hiring a hot mid-major coach is never a bad idea for a program like this. The Mountaineers did this tactic just over two decades ago when they brought John Beilein (who himself could be a candidate) to Morgantown from Richmond. If they went with Boals, they’d also be bringing in someone with experience coaching in West Virginia.

Boals is from Ohio and played for the Bobcats back in the early 90’s. He spent time on staff of the University of Charleston and also Marshall in West Virginia early in his career and is very familiar with this part of the country. He was a key piece on Ohio State’s staff for many years and has led his alma mater to the NCAA Tournament; he’s been head coach at Ohio since 2019.

The first question is whether Boals would leave his alma mater for a project like West Virginia at this time of the year. Even if West Virginia doesn’t make this hire until next year, Boals will likely have another decent year at Ohio under his belt and could be an even more intriguing candidate for the Mountaineers. He’s built winning teams at both Stony Brook and Ohio and could be ready for a more prominent school.