As the college basketball coaching search intensifies, West Virginia University appears to have narrowed its focus to two primary candidates Ben McCollum and Jerrod Calhoun. While both are highly regarded, they represent distinct choices for the program.
According to reports from ‘WV Sports Now’, WVU athletic director Wren Baker has McCollum as his top choice, with Calhoun as a backup option. Hiring McCollum would mean securing one of the best available coaches, and ironically, it would mark the second straight year that WVU poached Drake’s head coach. On the other hand, bringing in Calhoun would mean reconnecting with the program’s past, given his ties to both the state and former WVU coach Bob Huggins. While Huggins is not in consideration for a return following his controversial exit in 2023, hiring a former assistant suggests Baker isn’t opposed to maintaining a link to Huggins’ legacy.
By all accounts and from what I've always heard, it definitely appears WVU has two main candidates in this order: Ben McCollum and then Jerrod Calhoun.
McCollum would be another Drake coach (kinda a weird coincidence) and one of the top names on the market. Calhoun would be a…
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) March 22, 2025
Ben McCollum
Despite having only one season of Division I coaching experience, McCollum has quickly made a name for himself. In his first year at Drake, he led the team to a 30-3 record and an NCAA Tournament berth. His connection to Baker also plays a role in his candidacy, McCollum previously coached for 15 seasons at Division II Northwest Missouri State, where he overlapped with Baker from 2010 to 2013. While Baker didn’t originally hire him at NWMS, their prior working relationship could be a key factor in this decision. Notably, Baker has already hired a coach with NWMS ties at WVU women’s basketball coach Mark Kellogg.
Jerrod Calhoun
Calhoun is a familiar figure in Morgantown, having served as an assistant under Bob Huggins from 2007 to 2012. After leaving WVU, he found success at Fairmont State, leading the Division II program for five years before moving on to Youngstown State in 2017. Though his first year with the Penguins was challenging, he eventually turned the program around, guiding them to consecutive 20-win seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24. This past offseason, he took the head coaching job at Utah State and led the Aggies to a 26-7 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
With WVU’s coaching search coming into focus, the decision between McCollum and Calhoun could shape the direction of the program for years to come.
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