Baker Lays Out Timeline for New Hire, Eilert's Future, Consideration of Huggins + More

WVU AD Wren Baker met with the media to discuss the national search for the next men's head basketball coach.

Considering Power Five, Group of Five, Division II, NBA coaches for the job

"I would say it's the most well-rounded candidate. I've hired candidates with different profiles. I think if all else is equal, I've always probably had a lean toward somebody who's been a head coach at some level. And that's why I think it will help Josh (Eilert), you really don't know what comes with that job until you sit in that chair and every head coach that I've ever talked to after that first year is surprised at how little coaching they actually do when they're leading a program. You kind of start out with a menu of boxes you're looking to check and nobody checks them all, so you're kind of seeing who has the best total resume and fits the profile the best. I would say the one thing that would be really...as close as I would come to hard and fast requirement is the demonstrated track record of success in Division I."

Whether or not Josh Eilert will remain at WVU through April 30th

"We'll honor the contract with really all of our coaches. As I told them last night, this isn't a deal where there's animosity or hard feelings. Everybody's been really classy and all the meetings that we had last night went as well as could be expected. He basically told me I'll do whatever you need me to do to provide stability to ensure a smooth transition. What you would expect of him is certainly what he's been. We'll honor his contract and continue to engage him in anything that's need from the program during this interim period."

Instant success versus building

"I think because of the portal there's an opportunity to have some early success. But I always encourage coaches to build a program and not a team. I think when you're onboarding a new coach it's important they get the culture right, their staff right, their systems right. And you have to have patience to allow them to grow into it. There are coaches around the country that have more immediate success because of the portal but there's still some that takes time."

Meeting with the players about the future

"I had the chance to visit with the young men in our program last night and it was like 2 a.m., so it was a short meeting. I just said I know it's been a hard year. I respect and admire they continued to play hard. I mean, to lose by 30 to a team and turn around a couple days later and had them down 16 and we should have won the game..we let it get away from us but those are the kinds of lessons that you take away and later on in life you reflect on that when you take a gut punch. I shared with them that they had my admiration and respect and that I would be here for them and that I'll run the search as expeditiously as we can but it's important to be thorough and get the right coach."

Timeline for a hire

"Basketball is a harder one to pin down because you have the way the postseason in structured. And once Selection Sunday comes out, they have to prepare for three opponents in a week probably that they haven't ever seen before. So getting somebody to unplug from that and to plug into your search is kind of difficult and I'm not sure that you would want them to do that. But my hope would be that we can go quickly. We've certainly had enough time to study profiles and all of that, so I think we're prepared to move pretty quickly but some of that is incumbent upon the schedule of the candidates. But certainly I would hope that we could get a search completed by the Final Four or not really close to there."

What makes this job so attractive

"This is a GREAT basketball job. I mean, a really, really strong program. Tremendous tradition. We've done it with multiple coaches over the years. Great facilities. Certainly a top ten, maybe a top five basketball practice facility. The Coliseum is an awesome venue. In KenPom, we're number two in the country in home court advantage and it was last year too. That's something that's really important. Fan passion feeds into that. This is a great job."

What it takes to be successful in the Big 12

"You have to be great defensively, period. 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. Most generally, people who are that good defensively really value possessions and they tend to play a little bit slower and they value offensive possessions - not a lot of turnovers, high offensive efficiency. There's no question that you have to be really good defensively."

How long it will take to be back in the tournament

"I don't think it'll take us long to be competitive nationally again and back in the tournament. I think when you look at everything we have, it will not take us very long to be highly competitive again."

If Bob Huggins will be considered/if he will seek advice from Huggins on other candidates

"I think in terms of candidates I'd probably rather not get into any individual names today. I understand why that question would come. I think here's where you can say that my mindset is - I have great respect and admiration and appreciation for what coach did here. I've said that multiple times. But I think you can be respectful of the past and still be focused on the future. And where my mindset is right now is I need to be focused on the future and that's where it is."

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