WVU Recruit EJ Walker Will ‘Wait and See’ How Coaching Search Plays Out, Says His Dad

2025 F EJ Walker has been on West Virginia’s radar for over a year-and-a-half now, as the Kentucky native included the Mountaineers in his top 12 list earlier this month. His father, Michael, spoke with WV Sports Now about his son’s thought process during WVU’s search for a new men’s basketball coach.

“EJ was really high on West Virginia. In terms of now, I don’t know,” Michael said. “We don’t know who the coach is going to be and how long that process is going to take to find one.”

Walker’s recruitment with West Virginia picked up in the summer of 2022 thanks to then-assistant Josh Eilert. Eilert visited Walker at Lloyd Memorial HS and the four-star recruit was on campus just a short time later. Walker unofficially visited WVU in September 2022 and was extended an offer during the trip. The 6-foot-8 forward visited West Virginia again four months later, attending a conference home game vs. Texas.

“Prior to everything that happened, West Virginia was a school he was really, really high on. He had a great relationship with coach Eilert, as me and my wife did also. Eilert did a great job of recruiting EJ, building that relationship with him and our family as a whole,” Michael said.

“Josh Eilert is a great man. I thought he did a great job with the cards that were dealt to him,” he added.

Eilert, as well as assistants Alex Ruoff and Jordan McCabe, continued to stay in touch with Walker throughout the last calendar year. Walker’s narrowed-down list also includes Cal, Dayton, Illinois, Iowa, Louisville, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Xavier. Michael mentions that his son wants to commit before his senior season of high school basketball.

Out of Walker’s list, Louisville, Ohio State and West Virginia are all currently looking for a new head coach. UofL parted ways with Kenny Payne, while WVU moved on from Eilert to begin its search. OSU is still in-season with interim HC Jake Diebler, as Chris Holtmann was fired in February.

Walker’s dad agreed that it’s a “wait and see” game with the job openings in regard to EJ’s recruitment. Michael did mention that West Virginia will remain in consideration for now based on the prior relationships.

“I mean depending on who gets the job, if they re-offer EJ and they try to build that relationship with him,” he said.

West Virginia currently has one signee for the 2024 class in guard Carmelo Adkins, while on 2025 five-star recruit Jasper Johnson’s top list.

WVSN will provide updates on the latest WVU basketball recruiting news and the coaching search as more information is known.