ESPN Talks Potential Candidates for WVU MBB Job

ESPN‘s Jeff Borzello completed a summary for the early stages of this upcoming coaching carousel. Borzello included WVU in “jobs already open” with Ohio State and DePaul.

Borzello explained the Mountaineers’ situation and included a list of coaches West Virginia could be looking at.

Dusty May, Florida Atlantic

May has been the mid-major darling ever since he led the Owls to the Final Four last season. FAU ran it back this season and currently sits at 20-6. This week marks their first week of the season not included in the AP poll.

WVU did not contact May last June following Bob Huggins’ resignation, according to reports.

May has been linked to Indiana as he served as a manager under Bob Knight from 1996-2000. It’s not known if or when Indiana will give up on Mike Woodson, who is in his third season with the Hoosiers.

Mark Byington, James Madison

Byington has done a great job rebuilding James Madison’s program since 2020-21, where the team won 13 games. Now, JMU has 25 wins this season under Byington, including an opening night win at Michigan State. JMU will look to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 with the eighth-highest scoring team in the country.

Byington would be a traditional mid-major hire for the Mountaineers.

Dustin Kerns, Appalachian State

Kerns is in his fifth season at App State, where he has the Mountaineers sitting at 22 wins. App State’s NCAA Tournament resume this season is highlighted by a win over Auburn during non-conference play.

Former WVU F Frank Young is a current assistant under Kerns at App State.

Niko Medved, Colorado State

Medved arguably has the most consistent mid-major success compared to the rest of the list. Medved has coached at Furman (2013-17), Drake (2017-18) and Colorado State (2018-). Medved has a 61.5 winning percentage during his six seasons at CSU and led the Rams to the NCAA Tournament in 2022. Colorado State is currently at 20-6, hitting No. 13 as their peak in the AP poll.

Medved’s wife is from Morgantown and the two got married at the Marriott Waterfront over a decade ago.

Pat Kelsey, College of Charleston

Last offseason, Kelsey was on the tier with May as the mid-major darling. Kelsey’s stock has dropped slightly but is still being included in Power-5 job opportunities. College of Charleston sits with 20 wins, sitting at the top of the CAA.

Kelsey led the Cougars to 31-4 last season, making an NCAA Tournament appearance as a 12-seed, before losing to the eventual national runner-up San Diego State.

Borzello goes into further detail regarding the coaching carousel landscape. Click here to read more.