Jerrod Calhoun's first Division 1 assistant coaching opportunity came with WVU. Now, he is taking his successful resume to the Big 12 for his first-ever Power 5 head coaching gig after missing out on opportunities with the Mountaineers in recent years.
After leaving West Virginia, Calhoun was a head coach at the Division 2 level with Fairmont State (WV) before earning opportunities at the Division 1 level with Youngstown State and Utah State. His name came up during WVU's coaching searches over the past two seasons, but ultimately, nothing came of it.
Now, Calhoun will get his first power conference opportunity with the Cincinnati Bearcats, where he served as a student assistant before his coaching career properly began. He earns the opportunity after back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances with Utah State the past two seasons – this year, the Aggies knocked off Villanova in the First Round before falling to Arizona by 12 points in the Second Round.
Calhoun has quite the successful history as a head coach. He took Fairmont State to multiple NCAA Tournaments at the Division 2 level, including a run to the 2017 Division 2 Championship game. He earned five straight winning seasons at Youngstown State with multiple postseason tournament invites, and then saw recent NCAA Tournament success with Utah State. And WVU fans know better than anyone not to discount someone from Huggins' coaching tree.
Now, the Mountaineers will have to contend with Calhoun at least once per year in the Big 12, if not multiple times each season. And there's no doubt he won't make anything easy for the Mountaineers. Luckily for West Virginia fans, they also have an incredible coach in Ross Hodge, who is more than up to the challenge Calhoun and other Big 12 coaches pose.