What is Wren Baker Looking For in Coaching Candidates?

WVU director of athletics Wren Baker met with the media on Wednesday afternoon regarding the open men’s basketball head coaching job. Baker discusses what he wants to see when narrowing down a list of candidates.

“I think it’s important that we have somebody that does not necessarily have ties to West Virginia but will come in and understand West Virginia and West Virginians. Our values, determination, grit, resilience that makes us Mountaineers. That’s something you really can’t get a feel for until you sit with people and you talk about it,” Baker said. “We want somebody who’s committed to building a championship program on the court but also committed to building leaders off the court. That’s really important that we’re helping young people grow, develop and get prepared for life.”

“Lastly, you have to have somebody who not only understands West Virginia but can embrace being a face of not just WVU but the state. You don’t get to come to WVU and just be a basketball coach, football coach or an AD, you’re an ambassador for the state. If you can’t embrace that, then this is probably not a job for you,” Baker added.

Watch: WVU AD Wren Baker Adresses Media About MBB Job Opening

The way Baker answered questions, it seemed like a state connection, what level the coach is from, etc. is important to him but isn’t going to determine who gets the job. It’ll be whoever he and his committee think is the absolute best fit for the program and the University moving forward. Baker talked about his spreadsheet and the process of how he studies different candidates. Baker and his committee will look at what the rest of the Big 12 teams have been good at in recent memory while filtering a list down to the best fits. While it may not be the be-all, end-all, Baker did praise the defensive side of the ball.

“You have to be great defensively, period. I mean you look in this league over five years and every team that’s finished in the top half is generally top 50 in the country defensively,” Baker explained. “Most generally, people who are that good defensively, value possessions. So they tend to play a little bit slower and they tend to value offensive possessions, not a lot of turnovers, high offensive efficiency.”

West Virginia has not finished top-50 in adjusted defense via KenPom since the 2019-20 season, where the team finished 21-10 and was tied for third in the Big 12.

Baker will now dive deep into a list of candidates. Here’s our guess at what that could look like coming up this month.