Craig Smith and the Utah basketball program announce the hiring of assistant coach Josh Eilert

On Thursday, University of Utah and head men’s basketball coach Craig Smith announced the hiring of Josh Eilert as an assistant head coach. Eilert comes to Utah after spending the last 17 years at West Virginia, which included interim head coaching duties last season. 

Eilert will join the program as the big man assistant, where he will focus on coaching the bigs on the roster. He spent last season as the interim head coach for the Mountaineers. He was named an assistant coach the season prior in 2022-23. Before being named an assistant coach at West Virginia, he served as assistant athletic director for basketball operations and before that was director of basketball operations between 2013-22. 

When looking at his career, Eilert is someone that has worked his way up ladder in the industry, something that Utahns often appreciate. His combined experience in the Big 12 Conference will be a valuable addition to the program and the coaching staff. The familiarity with the conference will help in scouting and game preparation. There will also be experience recruiting in the Big 12 and relationships that will be added to pool on staff. 

Eilert fills the second assistant coaching vacancy and joins Loren Leath as new assistant coaches at Utah.