AD Baker trusts his process when it comes to filling WVU hoops opening
Stay up to date on the WVU basketball coaching search and so much more. Get 60 percent off with an annual subscription with this deal
Link: https://bit.ly/3Tql2c2
*************
Wren Baker understands the game of basketball.
A former head coach himself at Rogers State, Baker guided his team to a 20-11 record in his one season atop the program before moving onto administrative duties.
He also served as a graduate assistant and basketball operations assistant for Oklahoma State under legendary head coach Eddie Sutton.
So, Baker has been around the game in many different ways over the years including serving on the NIT committee and being selected as chairman.
You can say that filling the vacant head basketball coaching job at West Virginia is right in his wheelhouse as he undertakes his biggest hire to date in Morgantown. But he plans to conduct and operate the search at his own pace and won’t let other openings influence his process.
The Mountaineers are one of seven power four program jobs to come open this cycle along with Louisville, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Washington, Stanford and Vanderbilt. That’s where some of his connections and background in the game of basketball can help with navigating those waters and understanding the pool of candidates available.
“Having been on the NIT committee and chaired it a couple of years and having coached and having a pretty strong network there and athletic directors, I probably know two or three jobs that are going to open,” he said.
But, Baker is a strong believer that while there could be some overlap in candidates there is not one candidate that can do a job and there will be options to choose from in this search.
“If you have the support system in place and the infrastructure and NIL support you’re finding a profile but that profile is not one of one,” Baker said.
Baker addressed the current West Virginia team at 2 a.m. after their loss in the Big 12 Conference Tournament in order to ease some of their concerns. The message was that he will run the search as expeditiously as possible but it is critical to be thorough and get the right coach in place.
That’s even with the transfer portal now open as the Mountaineers will need to rebuild their roster.
And while he will be keeping an eye on some of those openings to know where they’re at he will not allow that to change the direction he wants to take things as well as a timeline for filling the role.
“I guess the best way I can put it is I’m not somebody that wants to get into multiple bidding on a house,” he said. “If I know it’s a multiple bid situation, I’ll bow out.”
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
