WVU Basketball Names James Dickey as Senior Advisor

James Dickey, former Texas Tech and Houston head coach, has been named senior advisor at West Virginia, the team announced on Thursday. Dickey, 69, brings decades of coaching experience to WVU.

“I am thrilled to be able to add coach Dickey to our men’s basketball staff,” interim HC Josh Eilert said. “His experience and his resume speak for themselves, and he has seen it all. Coach Dickey will be an outstanding resource to me, our staff and, of course, to our players. We’ve already had numerous conversations, and we are anxious for him to get to Morgantown as is he.”

Along with his head coaching tenures at Texas Tech and Houston, Dickey has served as an assistant at Central Arkansas (1979-81), Arkansas (1981-85), Kentucky (1985-89), Texas Tech (1990-91) and Oklahoma State (2002-08, 2014-16).

“I am thrilled and honored to become a member of West Virginia basketball, joining coach Eilert, his dedicated staff and players. This presents a remarkable opportunity for me to be a part of an exceptional University renowned for its academic excellence and tradition-rich basketball program,” Dickey said.

After Bob Huggins resigned as head coach in June, Eilert and Director of Athletics Wren Baker both discussed having a senior advisor help run the program during the transitioning stage. Eilert hired former WVU guards Da’Sean Butler and Jordan McCabe as assistants while promoting Alex Ruoff from his grad assistant position. Eilert has found his guy in Dickey to help out around the younger staff.

“During my interactions with coach Eilert, I was thoroughly impressed with his visionary leadership, unwavering loyalty and genuine concern for the players and staff he has assembled. The insightful conversations I’ve had with the staff have been positive, enthusiastic and highly informative. I am excited to join the esteemed athletic staff and have the privilege of working under the guidance of Wren Baker and Steve Uryasz, both of whom I hold in the highest regard and have had the pleasure of working with in the past.”