Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU’s Baker Begins Process of Navigating Men’s Basketball Coaching Search
March 13, 2024 03:36 PM | Men's Basketball, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Wren Baker is going underground to find West Virginia University's next men's basketball coach. Earlier today, an announcement was made that a national search is already underway.
Before we get into that, let's take a step back for a moment.
We are where we are today because of what transpired last summer. Baker had no choice but to make Josh Eilert his emergency replacement to keep the roster intact with the clock ticking on the NCAA's 30-day transfer window for coaching changes. Teams near and far were poaching West Virginia's roster, and a quick decision had to be made to avoid fielding a squad full of walk-ons and volunteers.
Had Eilert not stepped in, this year's nine-win season could have easily been five wins or possibly even no wins; that's how dire things were last June when Baker was unable to conduct a comprehensive national search.
No person worthy of coaching Mountaineer basketball was going to leave his team that late in the year with summer workouts already underway and preseason practices right around the corner. Their only interest in West Virginia at that time of year was the players it had available.
"I spoke with knowledgeable basketball people around the country, including coaches, professional basketball executives and others of whom I trust to identify a strong group of candidates to speak with," Baker said at the time. "Ultimately, what I came to recognize was that conducting this search in late June was difficult for many of our candidates, and also it put our talented student-athletes at a real disadvantage."
It was impossible for Wren then, and impossible later for Josh, who possessed no head coaching experience heading into the season. Still, Eilert managed to hold things together, remained positive, didn't make excuses and for the most part, kept his team from quitting.
They did quit in last Saturday's embarrassing 36-point loss at Cincinnati, but Eilert rallied them yesterday afternoon against the same Bearcats, and they nearly pulled off an upset in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament before self-destructing late.
Three technical fouls during a five-minute stretch in the second half completely wiped out a 16-point lead, and then poor shot choices, combined with a habitual inability to get defensive stops, rebounds and 50-50 balls ultimately led to Cincinnati's 90-85 victory.
This year's team possessed some skilled basketball players capable of scoring, but winning basketball requires more than just having some skilled offensive players. In addition to scorers, a winning team requires rebounders, defenders, passers, screeners, ball handlers, thinkers and perhaps most importantly, mental and physical toughness.
Those types of things typically don't factor into the five-star ratings that everyone seem to covet.
Winning basketball teams must have guys who play for each other - not for themselves. Unfortunately, that cannot be acquired solely through the transfer portal and takes some time to develop.
And that will require some patience on everyone's part.
"Because of the portal, there is an opportunity to have some early success, but I always encourage coaches to build the program and not a team," Baker said today. "When you are onboarding a new coach, I think it's important that they get the culture right, they get their staff right and their systems right. You must have patience to allow them to grow into it.
"There are coaches around the country who have more immediate success because of the portal, but there are still some it takes time. The portal will open on March 18, so there could be a pretty significant roster overhaul, but there has been in other programs as well," he added. "Hopefully, the results will come sooner rather than later, but they will come."
This is where West Virginia is right now as Baker begins navigating the fog of the unknown. His afternoon visit with the media today will be his last one before his work is done.
Baker said he will rely on all data points, including alums whose life successes, expertise and wisdom he values, but as he mentioned today, if the hire doesn't work out, they won't be sitting next to him at the dais the next time around.
That means he will bear the brunt of the decision, and he understands the meaning of Mountaineer basketball to the people of the state.
"This is a great basketball job, I mean a really strong program," Baker pointed out. "We have tremendous tradition, and we've done it with multiple coaches over the years. We've got great facilities – certainly a top-10 or maybe a top-five basketball practice facility – and the Coliseum is an awesome venue.
"If you look on KenPom, and I know a lot of people out there might be unfamiliar with KenPom, but according to KenPom, we are No. 2 in the country in home-court advantage," he said. "How they measure that is how we play at home each possession, how we play on the road each possession and how our opponents play in the Coliseum each possession and how they play at home each possession. And fan passion feeds into that."
It's important to keep in mind that Baker was once a basketball coach and his background in the sport is extensive, from his time working on Hall of Fame coach Eddie Sutton's Oklahoma State staff to his recent tenure serving on the NIT selection committee.
He understands the current, relevant issues in the game today. He understands the complicated process of team building, and he's also had two years now to study and evaluate the Big 12, considered the nation's No. 1 basketball conference. That's nine months more knowledge and wisdom he has acquired since last June when he was forced into this position.
He knows what it's going to take to be successful in this conference.
"You have to be great defensively," Baker explained. "Over the last five years, every team that's finished in the top half is generally top 50 in the country defensively. Most generally, people who are that good defensively really value possessions and so they tend to play a little bit slower, and they tend to value offensive possessions – not a lot of turnovers and high offensive efficiency."
In the final analysis, it's going to be the players who can defend, rebound, pass, screen, value the basketball and think on their feet who are going to get West Virginia basketball back to its winning ways – not just those high-profile, high-visibility guys who become available in the transfer portal later this month.
Baker will be looking for a basketball coach who can marry all those things together to build a winning program, not just a winning team.
Stay tuned.
Before we get into that, let's take a step back for a moment.
We are where we are today because of what transpired last summer. Baker had no choice but to make Josh Eilert his emergency replacement to keep the roster intact with the clock ticking on the NCAA's 30-day transfer window for coaching changes. Teams near and far were poaching West Virginia's roster, and a quick decision had to be made to avoid fielding a squad full of walk-ons and volunteers.
Had Eilert not stepped in, this year's nine-win season could have easily been five wins or possibly even no wins; that's how dire things were last June when Baker was unable to conduct a comprehensive national search.
No person worthy of coaching Mountaineer basketball was going to leave his team that late in the year with summer workouts already underway and preseason practices right around the corner. Their only interest in West Virginia at that time of year was the players it had available.
"I spoke with knowledgeable basketball people around the country, including coaches, professional basketball executives and others of whom I trust to identify a strong group of candidates to speak with," Baker said at the time. "Ultimately, what I came to recognize was that conducting this search in late June was difficult for many of our candidates, and also it put our talented student-athletes at a real disadvantage."
It was impossible for Wren then, and impossible later for Josh, who possessed no head coaching experience heading into the season. Still, Eilert managed to hold things together, remained positive, didn't make excuses and for the most part, kept his team from quitting.
They did quit in last Saturday's embarrassing 36-point loss at Cincinnati, but Eilert rallied them yesterday afternoon against the same Bearcats, and they nearly pulled off an upset in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament before self-destructing late.
Three technical fouls during a five-minute stretch in the second half completely wiped out a 16-point lead, and then poor shot choices, combined with a habitual inability to get defensive stops, rebounds and 50-50 balls ultimately led to Cincinnati's 90-85 victory.
This year's team possessed some skilled basketball players capable of scoring, but winning basketball requires more than just having some skilled offensive players. In addition to scorers, a winning team requires rebounders, defenders, passers, screeners, ball handlers, thinkers and perhaps most importantly, mental and physical toughness.
Those types of things typically don't factor into the five-star ratings that everyone seem to covet.
Winning basketball teams must have guys who play for each other - not for themselves. Unfortunately, that cannot be acquired solely through the transfer portal and takes some time to develop.
And that will require some patience on everyone's part.
"Because of the portal, there is an opportunity to have some early success, but I always encourage coaches to build the program and not a team," Baker said today. "When you are onboarding a new coach, I think it's important that they get the culture right, they get their staff right and their systems right. You must have patience to allow them to grow into it.
"There are coaches around the country who have more immediate success because of the portal, but there are still some it takes time. The portal will open on March 18, so there could be a pretty significant roster overhaul, but there has been in other programs as well," he added. "Hopefully, the results will come sooner rather than later, but they will come."
This is where West Virginia is right now as Baker begins navigating the fog of the unknown. His afternoon visit with the media today will be his last one before his work is done.
Baker said he will rely on all data points, including alums whose life successes, expertise and wisdom he values, but as he mentioned today, if the hire doesn't work out, they won't be sitting next to him at the dais the next time around.
That means he will bear the brunt of the decision, and he understands the meaning of Mountaineer basketball to the people of the state.
"This is a great basketball job, I mean a really strong program," Baker pointed out. "We have tremendous tradition, and we've done it with multiple coaches over the years. We've got great facilities – certainly a top-10 or maybe a top-five basketball practice facility – and the Coliseum is an awesome venue.
"If you look on KenPom, and I know a lot of people out there might be unfamiliar with KenPom, but according to KenPom, we are No. 2 in the country in home-court advantage," he said. "How they measure that is how we play at home each possession, how we play on the road each possession and how our opponents play in the Coliseum each possession and how they play at home each possession. And fan passion feeds into that."
It's important to keep in mind that Baker was once a basketball coach and his background in the sport is extensive, from his time working on Hall of Fame coach Eddie Sutton's Oklahoma State staff to his recent tenure serving on the NIT selection committee.
He understands the current, relevant issues in the game today. He understands the complicated process of team building, and he's also had two years now to study and evaluate the Big 12, considered the nation's No. 1 basketball conference. That's nine months more knowledge and wisdom he has acquired since last June when he was forced into this position.
He knows what it's going to take to be successful in this conference.
"You have to be great defensively," Baker explained. "Over the last five years, every team that's finished in the top half is generally top 50 in the country defensively. Most generally, people who are that good defensively really value possessions and so they tend to play a little bit slower, and they tend to value offensive possessions – not a lot of turnovers and high offensive efficiency."
In the final analysis, it's going to be the players who can defend, rebound, pass, screen, value the basketball and think on their feet who are going to get West Virginia basketball back to its winning ways – not just those high-profile, high-visibility guys who become available in the transfer portal later this month.
Baker will be looking for a basketball coach who can marry all those things together to build a winning program, not just a winning team.
Stay tuned.
United Bank Playbook: Baylor Preview
Friday, January 30
K-State Game Recap
Thursday, January 29
WVU Medicine Playbook | Baylor Preview
Thursday, January 29
Jordan Harrison | Jan. 27
Thursday, January 29
