Former WVU Assistant Jerrod Calhoun to Take Over at Cincinnati

Former WVU assistant Jerrod Calhoun to join the Big 12 as the new head coach at Cincinnati. Calhoun accepted the job, leaving Utah State days after securing his first career NCAA Tournament win, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

And Calhoun even mentioned West Virginia after his career milestone.

“Everybody’s stories, everybody’s paths, all of you guys here had to take some risks, had to take some chances. Mine was leaving West Virginia to take a Division II job,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun, 44, started at WVU in 2008 as the director of basketball operations for four years before earning a role as an assistant coach in 2011 under Bob Huggins. Despite having major success, including a 120-36 record at WVU and a trip to the Final Four, Calhoun took a risk in deciding to bet on himself and leave.

“I don’t know if there’s another coach in the country that would have done that. We had a $30 million practice facility in the Big East, and I wanted to be a head coach,” Calhoun said. “I went down the road to Fairmont State and started my journey with Joe Mazzulla and Paul Molinary and Mantras Robinson and here we are.”

Calhoun owns a 297–159 overall record as a head coach and a 1-2 mark in the NCAA Tournament. He led Utah State to the Mountain West regular season and tournament title this past season and Youngstown State to the Horizon League championship in 2023.