Wren Baker Addresses Bob Huggins as Possible Candidate for WVU

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – As expected, the second Darian DeVries accepted Indiana’s offer, WVU fans instantly started bringing up one name to be his replacement. That name is Bob Huggins. West Virginia director of athletics Wren Baker was even asked directly about Huggins during his press conference to discuss the coaching search on Wednesday.

Also as expected, Baker declined to fully elaborate on any particular candidate. As per his policy, he’s never going to confirm or deny if he would consider anyone for any job. But with that said, Baker did possibly tip his hand a bit.

Baker thanks Huggins for his contributions to the WVU, but he is focused on leading the Mountaineers into the future, not worrying about the past.

WVU AD Wren Baker won’t go into if Bob Huggins is a candidate but says he is focused on the future of the program, not the past. He did also say he appreciates Huggins’ contributions.

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) March 19, 2025

While some may speculate if a cooling period and losing a coach after only one year can make Huggins, who has been open about still wanting to coach, a viable option again, it’s reasonable to infer he will not be offered a second tenure at WVU, much the way Rich Rodriguez has with the football program. And a giant difference in the scenarios is Rodriguez’s 2007 exit did not happen under Baker’s watch.

Huggins made a pitch to athletic directors everywhere about why they should consider him for any coaching vacancy in February.

“I’m pretty good at what I do. I’ve been pretty good in every place that I’ve been. Every place that I’ve been people call me all the time, to this day. They call and talk, ‘When you coming back? When are we going to see you?’. I think I’ve done the right things. I’ve been good to people. I’ve been good to where I’ve been and I’ve been really good to our guys. Look at what our guys are doing. Look at the guys we put in the NBA. Look at our guys that are extremely successful in the workplace,” the Basketball Hall of Famer told the Enquirer’s Scott Springer.

Huggins was WVU’s head coach from 2007-23 and guided the Mountaineers to the 2010 Final Four and three Sweet 16 appearances after that. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022 and is one of only six Division I men’s basketball coaches to surpass 900 wins.

Huggins owns 935 career wins, which is third on the all-time wins list. He led both Cincinnati (1992) and WVU (2010) to an appearance in the Final Four. Huggins was named Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2015 and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.

Find more coverage of Bob Huggins at WV Sports Now.

For a related story, WV Sports Now has put together our list of possible candidates to be the next WVU basketball head coach.