Speedy Search? Wren Baker Expects to Find Next WVU Basketball Coach Very Soon

It shouldn't take long for Wren Baker to have a decision made.

West Virginia University director of athletics Wren Baker / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Unfortunately, West Virginia director of athletics Wren Baker is right back in the same spot he's been the two previous offseasons - looking for a men's head basketball coach.

Two years ago, he ran an accelerated search after Bob Huggins stepped down before deciding to go the interim route with Josh Eilert. This time last year he made a home run hire, snatching Darian DeVries away from Drake but after one successful season in Morgantown, he took off to be the next leader at Indiana.

There are perks to having done this recently, though.

WVU Athletics Communication

Baker knows the pool of candidates that would be willing to make the move to Morgantown, meaning he doesn't have to spend nearly as much time doing his homework on their interest level, their background, and so forth. Many of the candidates that he is talking to or will talk to in the coming days are the same guys he had conversations with last year. There are a few new names that populate his list, including WVU associate head coach Chester Frazier.

Baker may need to do some more in-depth work into Frazier's vision for the program, but he already knows the type of person and coach he is, having been around him for the past twelve months. The fact that he's already in Morgantown also helps because they can easily set up times to meet and discuss the plan for the program.

During his press conference earlier this week, Baker said he was unsure if he would use a search firm to assist in the process. Given that he already has most of the information needed to make a decision, it's probably not worth the cost, although a firm can help out with some logistical things and keep you on track to make a hire as quickly as possible.

How much longer will it be? “I think this is a coaching search that we can execute pretty quickly," Baker said in his presser. “If I could get them all done in the next two or three days, I could probably have this thing wrapped up in record time. But a lot of those candidates are tied up, at least for the next two or three days. And some of them could go into the next weekend."

With some candidates set to play on Saturday, it could push the timeline back a couple of days. I wouldn't expect this thing to drag out beyond the middle of next week. It's also quite possible we hear a decision as soon as Monday.

Utah State's Jerrod Calhoun, West Virginia assistant Chester Frazier, and Drake's Ben McCollum are believed to be at/near the top of Baker's list, along with a few others.

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