Wichita State basketball hires Kansas native as new assistant coach
In somewhat of a surprise on Tuesday afternoon, Wichita State men’s basketball head coach Paul Mills announced a departure and an arrival to his coaching staff.
Going out is Quincy Acy, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach for Mills, while the open position will be filled by Josh Eilert, a Beloit native who has previously served as the interim head coach at Utah and West Virginia the past two seasons.
According to sources in the program, Acy, 34, is leaving to spend more time with his family, as his oldest son, a standout player himself, enters high school. Acy, a former Baylor star when Mills was an assistant there, joined WSU when Mills was hired following a playing career that featured a 7-year stint in the NBA.
“Quincy Acy was a wonderful addition to our staff when I became the head coach,” Mills said in a statement. “He’s a phenomenal person and teacher and I couldn’t be happier for him as he leaves Wichita to spend more time with his family and pursue other opportunities.”
It is the second time Mills has had to reshuffle his bench this offseason, as he hired former Shocker star P.J. Couisnard as an assistant coach two weeks ago to fill the vacancy left by T.J. Cleveland, who left for an assistant job at Texas A&M. Associate head coach Kenton Paulino is the only holdover from the three recruiting assistants, while Iain Laymon and Xavier Holland are also slated to return as non-traveling assistant coaches.
Eilert brings two decades of Division-I experience at the power-conference level, mostly on the operations side, and four years of experience as a bench coach. The bulk of his career was spent at West Virginia, where he began as a video coordinator, then worked as a director of basketball operations, assistant athletic director for basketball operations, assistant coach before serving as interim head coach for the 2023-24 season.
He found himself as an interim head coach once again this past season, taking over the final six games of the season at Utah after beginning the season as an assistant coach. Eilert compiled a 10-28 record as an interim head coach.
Eilert was born in Beloit but was raised in Osborne, where he graduated high school as a standout player, and continued his career at Cloud County Community College and at Kansas State as a walk on. Following his playing career, Eilert began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at K-State, where he first earned the loyalty of Bob Huggins, who brought Eilert with him to West Virginia in 2007.
“(Eilert) is a Kansas native and has been involved with high level basketball at every step along his basketball journey from Kansas State, West Virginia and Utah,” Mills said in a statement. “He is a coach that other coaches and administrators have raved about when I spoke with people who have seen Josh’s work firsthand. He comes here as a proven teacher and leader. The more time I was able to visit with Coach Eilert and speak to others about him, it was evident to me and our staff that he was a person we wanted to be a part of what we are building here in Wichita.”
Josh Eilert coaching history
2005-07: graduate assistant at Kansas State
2007-13: video coordinator at West Virginia
2013-17: director of basketball operations at West Virginia
2017-18: interim assistant coach at West Virginia
2018-22: assistant athletic director for basketball operations at West Virginia
2022-23: assistant coach at West Virginia
2023-24: interim head coach at West Virginia
2024-25: assistant coach (later interim head coach) at Utah
2025-26: assistant coach at Wichita State
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 4:54 PM.
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