Staten Accepts Head Coaching Position

Former West Virginia guard Juwan Staten will head home and begin his coaching career

The Bob Huggins coaching tree continues to grow as former West Virginia guard and graduate assistant, Juwan Staten has accepted the head coaching position for Flyght Academy Prep in Dayton, Ohio.

Welcome home to one of Dayton’s finest, Thurgood Marshall alum, West Virginia alum, former Professional Basketball Player, and the newly appointed Head Basketball Coach of Flyght Academy Prep, Juwan Staten (@JuwanStaten3) ✈️🏀#TakeFlyght #FlyWithUs #FlyghtPrep pic.twitter.com/0Fk199CGlX

— Flyght Academy Prep (@FlyghtPrepBB) June 27, 2022

Staten spent the 2020-21 season as a graduate assistant under the tutelage of WVU head coach Bob Huggins and mentoring current New York Knicks guard Miles "Deuce" McBride.

The Dayton, Ohio native began his playing career at the collegiate level for his hometown Dayton Flyers before transferring to West Virginia following his freshman season. He became a key figure in the WVU basketball program's transition into the Big 12 Conference and became one of the great guards in Mountaineer basketball history.

As a junior, Staten averaged a career-best 18.4 points per game, including registering a career-high 35 points in a win over Kansas State and helped the Mountaineers get back into the postseason with an NIT birth, building momentum into the next season. He guided the Mountaineers to the NCAA tournament and into the Sweet 16 the following season, also notching the first win over Kansas during his senior campaign with some last-second heroics, driving the length of the floor, spinning at the block, and laying in the game-winner. 

Feb 27, 2021; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins and graduate assistant Juwan Staten walk off the floor after the West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Kansas State Wildcats at WVU Coliseum / Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Staten was named to the All-Big 12 Conference First Team in 2014 and 2015, finishing his career with 1,260 points and 432 assists (sixth all-time), and was named to the 2015 Lute Olson All-America Team. He is one of six players in school history to have 1,000 points, 400 assists, 100 steals and 350 rebounds in a career. He averaged 13.4 points (18.1 in 2013-14), 4.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game for his career.

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, Staten signed with the Sacramento Kings summer league team in 2015, making one appearance before being sidelined with knee soreness. He signed with the Golden State Warriors prior to the 2015 season, then played within the NBA developmental league (currently known as the G-League) for the Warriors and the Sixers. He then went overseas to Belgium, Finland, France, Estonia and Hungary.

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