Notable Former Mountaineer Promotes Familiar Name as Next WVU Head Coach

Whenever WVU is looking for a new coach, former players are often the most outspoken. Former Mountaineer John Flowers wants a familiar name to be considered as the next leader of his beloved Mountaineers.

Flowers, known for being on WVU’s last Final Four run in 2010, took it upon himself to promote former WVU assistant Erik Martin for the job.

WV ties.. great coach✅ proven leader✅ Recruiting ability ✅ https://t.co/wqiV15AiIG

— john flowers (@jflow41) March 20, 2025

“WV ties, great coach, proven leader recruiting ability,” said Flowers in response to seeing a post about Martin being named the Ben Jobe NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year for his work at South Carolina State. 

“Thanks to God for allowing me to win this award. This award belongs to my staff, and my team. We had a great season. Go Bulldogs!,” said Martin about the national recognition.

Martin led SCSU to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season title. He also won the conference’s Coach of the Year honor.

Martin served as an assistant at West Virginia under Bob Huggins from 2007-22, which of course means he coached Flowers. He took over at SCSU in 2022 and coached at Kansas State, also under Huggins, and Cincinnati State before his time in Morgantown.

For a related story, WV Sports Now has put together a list of potential candidates to the next WVU basketball head coach.