The Real Reason Why West Virginia Passed on Jerrod Calhoun a Year Ago

This time a year ago, West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker was unexpectedly forced into another coaching search for the men's basketball program as Darian DeVries bolted for Indiana after just one season.

One of the candidates he interviewed, Utah State's Jerrod Calhoun, is now set to become the next head coach at Cincinnati.

Why did West Virginia pass on Calhoun last year?

It's really simple. It comes down to his pedigree on the defensive side of the ball. Prior to this season, his teams, both at Utah State and Youngstown State, had some major gaffes on that end of the floor. Here is a year-by-year breakdown of where Calhoun's teams ranked in defensive efficiency over the years.

2017-18: Youngstown State (335th)
2018-19: Youngstown State (333rd)
2019-20: Youngstown State (265th)
2020-21: Youngstown State (302nd)
2021-22: Youngstown State (262nd)
2022-23: Youngstown State (203rd)
2023-24: Youngstown State (87th)
2024-25: Utah State (141st)
2025-26: Utah State (70th)

Now, Ross Hodge's in his three years as a Division I head coach (in bold), along with the years he served as North Texas's "defensive coordinator."

2017-18: North Texas (101st)
2018-19: North Texas (12th)
2019-20: North Texas (136th)
2020-21: North Texas (33rd)
2021-22: North Texas (12th)
2022-23 North Texas (9th)
2023-24: North Texas (73rd)
2024-25: North Texas (26th)
2025-26: West Virginia (32nd)

Obviously, Baker only had the two years at North Texas to go off of, but when you consider that Grant McCasland left, and he had to rebuild that team from scratch, 73rd is pretty darn good. Not to mention, he was basically the defensive coordinator for Grant McCasland at North Texas before taking over as his replacement, and they were just as strong. Calhoun's highest mark was this season, a year after he was involved in WVU's search. Before this season, he had finished in the top 140 just once.

There are multiple ways you can play and win games in college basketball, but in the Big 12 Conference, it's evident that if you're not one of the top defensive teams in the league, you don't really stand much of a chance. Hence why Baker hired two defensive-minded guys in consecutive years with DeVries and Hodge.

No, it's not because Baker didn't want to have any affiliation with someone tied to Bob Huggins. If that were the case, why would he have even interviewed him? Why would he do it in person, too?

You may love or hate the hire of Hodge, or maybe you find yourself somewhere in between, and that's okay. But the idea that Baker avoided Calhoun solely because of the Huggins connection is not factual. To any degree.

The idea behind going after Hodge was because of his success on the defensive end of the floor, and had he stayed at North Texas two or three more years, he would have been at the top of many Power Four schools' wish lists. West Virginia may have grabbed him a tad early with the understanding that there could be some bumps early on but that it would eventually pay