--The search process has already begun for head coach of the women's basketball program according to Wren Baker.
--Baker was surprised because it's a little rare to lose a coach after a year. He made sure to let her know he was excited about the future of the program. He talked to her about loving what she was doing here and she was the type of coach that he would let her daughters play for when they found out that Minnesota was showing interest. This was more of a family decision for her. She is excited about Minnesota but her decision wasn't a comparison of the two programs or resources but she wanted to get back closer to home. He is disappointed for the young women in the basketball program because it's hard to go through transition.
--He is fairly open and wants to cast a wide net. He has undergone close to 20 coaching searches. He's had success hiring coaches and they've come from different backgrounds but when it comes to this one he wants to run an efficient process. Right now this moment in time casting a broad net to look at all candidates profiles is important.
--There's a contractual amount on the buyout and it is being finalized. She or the school will be responsible to pay that.
--Baker said it would be early to speculate on potential candidates. Baker coached and came from division two so he has a lot of respect for any coach that wins at a high level. They are going to cast wide net and consider a variety of profiles. Some people will be stronger in some areas and others in other ones but anybody that expresses interest in the job they will consider. But it's too early to determine how that will shake out for any specific candidate.
--It's hard to speculate what the current players will do. Dawn met with the team at 11 a.m. Saturday and then he met with them. It's mostly centered and focused around student athletes here and they make the program go. He shared how proud he was of them and the unique opportunity to represent their entire state. He hopes that they'll stay but no matter what focus on their family and their education because that's the most important thing.
--You're less inclined to worry about national geographic high school recruiting footprint. It's still a factor but where it weighs relative to the past is not as high. You want somebody with experience with the portal and how it works. Having somebody who understands how they mine for data in the portal is good.
--Baker said that they are in the top half in about everything in women's basketball. They will take some time to bench mark that again but the goal is to get everybody in the top half and then when they reach that it's trying to get in the top four. Women's basketball is something they put the resources in to be competitive and they will do that when they onboard a new coaching staff. They will make sure they provide the resources for any coach to be competitive.
--Baker hasn't had a chance to meet or visit with Coach Carey. He has a ton of respect for what he has done. They will try to talk to him about the job and the landscape and his thoughts on the program. Probably not ready to talk about candidacy for the job. He's a big data point guy and will take any that somebody will give him.
--Baker hasn't been here long but this is home to him. The people here are the most incredible, genuine, kind, thoughtful, passionate people that he's been around. And when you look at facility, budget and travel standpoint and history any coach would be lucky to be here. He knows it hurts that when you lose a coach after a year but that doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with West Virginia. You can't help when somebody wants to be closer to family. But he never got the sense that the coaching staff felt this program was anything less than one that could compete at the highest level. The interest level is high and they will have a great candidate pool. They have not identified a search firm yet but he likely will. He will hire the coach and dictate the candidate pool. He went through 31 conferences looking at all of the coaches but the search firms help you cut the time down. They do background checks and help facilitate the process.
--Baker hasn't had their end of the year meeting with head coach Bob Huggins. The win total wasn't where anybody would like it to be but he felt all year they were a top 30ish team. The metrics proved that out. He was happy the way it finished getting into the tournament. He has certainly enjoyed working with him and he did a nice job getting his team to respond when it didn't look good.
--The committee is a diverse committee with a lot of historical knowledge and people that understand sports. There is a broad representation and he encourages them to challenge him.
--Looking at possible assistants in high leagues, looking at head coaches at mid-major and low-major.
--Time frame for this hire is that Baker doesn't want to throw a timeline out there but the quicker they can find a coach the sooner it can set the minds of the players at ease but he won't rush it. He hopes less than a month, but he isn't going to throw out any sort of date projection. They are going to move and he has canceled almost every meeting on his calendar. This has his sole focus.
--They're staying in contact with the players and they're trying to build some things into the profile. They want to know certain qualities they desire in a head coach but he tries to stay out of it with certain name recommendations because it's natural to want what you know.
--Officials are meeting with all the responsible parties in the program to know in real time that they are supportive.
--Baker wants somebody that is committed and he wants to know why they want to be at West Virginia. Once they hone in on the coach they can determine the contract structure. Commitment goes both ways.
--Baker doesn't have a lot of second guesses or regrets. He made every women's basketball game at home unless he was out of town. He got on a plane and was in Baltimore and drove over to stay at the team hotel and went to the game the next day. His conversation with basketball coaches are different. Had a lot of great conversations with Dawn. He made it very clear multiple times he was really excited about where the program was going and how he could keep the momentum going.
--Baker was surprised because it's a little rare to lose a coach after a year. He made sure to let her know he was excited about the future of the program. He talked to her about loving what she was doing here and she was the type of coach that he would let her daughters play for when they found out that Minnesota was showing interest. This was more of a family decision for her. She is excited about Minnesota but her decision wasn't a comparison of the two programs or resources but she wanted to get back closer to home. He is disappointed for the young women in the basketball program because it's hard to go through transition.
--He is fairly open and wants to cast a wide net. He has undergone close to 20 coaching searches. He's had success hiring coaches and they've come from different backgrounds but when it comes to this one he wants to run an efficient process. Right now this moment in time casting a broad net to look at all candidates profiles is important.
--There's a contractual amount on the buyout and it is being finalized. She or the school will be responsible to pay that.
--Baker said it would be early to speculate on potential candidates. Baker coached and came from division two so he has a lot of respect for any coach that wins at a high level. They are going to cast wide net and consider a variety of profiles. Some people will be stronger in some areas and others in other ones but anybody that expresses interest in the job they will consider. But it's too early to determine how that will shake out for any specific candidate.
--It's hard to speculate what the current players will do. Dawn met with the team at 11 a.m. Saturday and then he met with them. It's mostly centered and focused around student athletes here and they make the program go. He shared how proud he was of them and the unique opportunity to represent their entire state. He hopes that they'll stay but no matter what focus on their family and their education because that's the most important thing.
--You're less inclined to worry about national geographic high school recruiting footprint. It's still a factor but where it weighs relative to the past is not as high. You want somebody with experience with the portal and how it works. Having somebody who understands how they mine for data in the portal is good.
--Baker said that they are in the top half in about everything in women's basketball. They will take some time to bench mark that again but the goal is to get everybody in the top half and then when they reach that it's trying to get in the top four. Women's basketball is something they put the resources in to be competitive and they will do that when they onboard a new coaching staff. They will make sure they provide the resources for any coach to be competitive.
--Baker hasn't had a chance to meet or visit with Coach Carey. He has a ton of respect for what he has done. They will try to talk to him about the job and the landscape and his thoughts on the program. Probably not ready to talk about candidacy for the job. He's a big data point guy and will take any that somebody will give him.
--Baker hasn't been here long but this is home to him. The people here are the most incredible, genuine, kind, thoughtful, passionate people that he's been around. And when you look at facility, budget and travel standpoint and history any coach would be lucky to be here. He knows it hurts that when you lose a coach after a year but that doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with West Virginia. You can't help when somebody wants to be closer to family. But he never got the sense that the coaching staff felt this program was anything less than one that could compete at the highest level. The interest level is high and they will have a great candidate pool. They have not identified a search firm yet but he likely will. He will hire the coach and dictate the candidate pool. He went through 31 conferences looking at all of the coaches but the search firms help you cut the time down. They do background checks and help facilitate the process.
--Baker hasn't had their end of the year meeting with head coach Bob Huggins. The win total wasn't where anybody would like it to be but he felt all year they were a top 30ish team. The metrics proved that out. He was happy the way it finished getting into the tournament. He has certainly enjoyed working with him and he did a nice job getting his team to respond when it didn't look good.
--The committee is a diverse committee with a lot of historical knowledge and people that understand sports. There is a broad representation and he encourages them to challenge him.
--Looking at possible assistants in high leagues, looking at head coaches at mid-major and low-major.
--Time frame for this hire is that Baker doesn't want to throw a timeline out there but the quicker they can find a coach the sooner it can set the minds of the players at ease but he won't rush it. He hopes less than a month, but he isn't going to throw out any sort of date projection. They are going to move and he has canceled almost every meeting on his calendar. This has his sole focus.
--They're staying in contact with the players and they're trying to build some things into the profile. They want to know certain qualities they desire in a head coach but he tries to stay out of it with certain name recommendations because it's natural to want what you know.
--Officials are meeting with all the responsible parties in the program to know in real time that they are supportive.
--Baker wants somebody that is committed and he wants to know why they want to be at West Virginia. Once they hone in on the coach they can determine the contract structure. Commitment goes both ways.
--Baker doesn't have a lot of second guesses or regrets. He made every women's basketball game at home unless he was out of town. He got on a plane and was in Baltimore and drove over to stay at the team hotel and went to the game the next day. His conversation with basketball coaches are different. Had a lot of great conversations with Dawn. He made it very clear multiple times he was really excited about where the program was going and how he could keep the momentum going.
