Baker, Huggins will discuss season, future

West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker has yet to sit down with Bob Huggins to discuss the future.

But that meeting is expected to occur sometime before the end of the week.

The men’s basketball coach is under contract through the 2023-24 season and is the active leader in all-time wins at the division one level but has until May 1 every year until 2027 to extend that.

That means to coach during the 2024-25 season, Baker and Huggins would need to mutually agree to extend the contract by that date and that will continue each off-season until that 2027 campaign.

It goes without saying that the expectation is that Huggins will be returning but Baker still plans to sit down with the Hall of Fame Coach to review the past season. One that the Baker was excited about the way things finished with the program bouncing back to get into the NCAA Tournament field.

“Obviously we finished strong. I said this consistently throughout the year, I know the win total wasn’t where he would like for it to be or even the fans would like for it to be but I felt all year we were a top 30-ish team and the metrics proved that out,” Baker said. “Those metrics are not subjective, they’re objective. I was really happy the way it finished.”

The Mountaineers finished this past season at 19-15 overall with a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament to Maryland. It was a bounce back season after missing the field the year before and doing it by adapting to the new climate in college athletics by using the transfer portal to build the team.

West Virginia started Big 12 Conference play 0-5 before Huggins and his coaching staff were able to turn things and not only get the Mountaineers into the field but off the bubble entirely.

“It’s a different world coaching today with the portal and you’ve got a lot of kids coming in late and you’re trying to get them to gel as a team. They haven’t battled through adversity together and maybe it’s harder to get them to get to that place where they pull for the greater good instead of individually because they’re coming in not knowing any of their teammates,” Baker said.

Huggins has been atop the West Virginia basketball program for 16 seasons leading the Mountaineers to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances including a Final Four and five Sweet 16s. That total would have been 12 NCAA Tournament appearances but the 2019-20 edition was canceled due to COVID-19.

“Coach Huggins obviously has had such a rich tradition here and his career. He’s a Hall of Famer. He and I will sit down and talk about what it looks like but I certainly have enjoyed working with him,” Baker said.

Still, Baker is excited for the opportunity to sit down with Huggins and see what he is thinking and his assessment of the season. And while both men would have liked to see the Mountaineers advance further in the post-season that does not take away from the overall accomplishments of the team.

One that has been backed by the fan support as the Mountaineers were top five all-time in attendance this past season with every Big 12 home game reaching sell out status.

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