--Wren Baker thanks everybody for coming. He said thanks to the fans and what makes the program special and successful is them. They are poised to continue momentum and growth. He thanks president Gordon Gee and the board as they worked through the past week.
--This is the 20th time he has led a head coaching search and this was the most complicated. They didn't have resolution until last Saturday night. On Monday they were able to partner with a search firm to see the candidates. Some were interested, others were not because of the timing. They really started two parallel tracks with a permanent and an interim head coach. One consistent thing they heard is that they knew this was a great job because of the passion of the fans, the resources and the league. The zoom interviews were conducted Thursday and Friday and they made the decision to go with an interim head coach. They met with coach Eilert for two hours Saturday and he met with president Gee. They then made the decision and he will serve as the 2023-24 season. He tried to be as communicative as he could while running two different searches at the same time. Coach Eilert is the type of human being you want leading young people and he has incredible integrity. He is loyal and hasn't been a job hopper. He has a great basketball mind and is thoughtful and honest. He was given a tremendous about of responsibilities and knows every aspect of the program. He is a tremendous hard-worker. He is a devoted husband and father. He has his full support. He views him as the head coach for an interim period of time. He will have Baker's full support to make decisions and in the best interest of the program for this season.
--Josh Eilert thanked Baker for how forthright he was in the process. He put him in charge to try to keep everything together in a very hard, unfortunate circumstance. It was a stressful time period and trying to manage things. It was 17-years ago, coach Huggins hired Eilert to be his graduate assistant. He gave him a chance and a year later they're heading to West Virginia for an opportunity. He lets Huggins know how much he loves and appreciates him. He has worked up the totem pole and the people adopted them and it's been a special time for him and his family. It's paid off with patience and don't always jump ship because things can work out in your favor if you're loyal.
--On the roster: It's 18-23 year old players so there is a lot of uncertainty and options. They care about them and want them to know and reassure them it's a great place for them. He doesn't want to hinder them if they have a better opportunity and if they want to take a look that's fine but they have something special here. Eilert thinks they can do something really neat here and turn things around and get it rolling.
--Not there yet on the rest of the staff. They are going to take a look at everybody in the program to see how they can do things better. He wants to evaluate everybody on the staff and figure out how they can fit in and go from there. They have really good people in place and he wants to retain them.
--It's always been his goal to be a head coach. The synergy of the matter is if you show loyalty and patience it will work out for you. In this business it's hard to find somebody that's in one place for 16 years but it's a lesson to stay true to the people that are true to you.
--If you're true to your values it's a lot easier to have faith that things will work out and if you do right by people it's easier to have faith it will work out. There were times with anxiety and trying to figure out life.
--Baker feels like this is a top 25 job so they really got to a place where an interim situation suited best. This initial agreement is for one season but he gets a chance to show what he is about and what this program is about. It's important to have stability and as the week went on it was important to find that.
--Coach Huggins philosophy will be ingrained in him. He is a defensive minded coach and he will take things but he admits he wants to change some things offensively. Every step of the way he has been coach Huggins voice and he has even given him some guidance.
--That probably got overplayed a little bit with public perception on keeping the roster together. Once the coaching search opened there were always going to be people test the portal so they had to consider everything. You can't make a hire that satisfies one group for one season but you have to listen and can't tell you every candidate we're talking to but i can tell you where we're at and what the timeline will be like. There's an unreasonable expectation that he can keep everybody from entering the portal but that already happened a week ago. It was a factor but the bigger factor was letting the young men have a voice within the program and weighing all the other stakeholders.
--Huggins and Baker had a conversation Sunday morning and they got to express love and appreciation. He asked him for characters and qualities he should be looking at and particular names. He said they have faith in Baker and they haven't talked since then.
--Baker said he doesn't think it hurt the perception. It's a great job with almost unrivaled fan loyalty, the facilities are great. Baker said that there are times there are turmoil and those inside the industry don't weigh that as much. What's happened the last couple months has been a time of turmoil for the men's basketball program but it's time to rally around them.
--Baker said he is ready for some smoother waters to sail in but the people here have been tremendous and he is fortunate to be here.
--Eilert has full faith in Baker and his leadership. He is very bright and keeps his head on straight.
--Baker said the time he spent with coach Huggins they never had a cross word, he has immense respect for him. He has had a chance to work with two hall of famers and learned a lot from both of them. He has done a lot for the university, the basketball program and cancer relationship. He is an important part of the history and they will honor that in an appropriate way moving forward. Time has a way of healing all wounds and as time goes on there will be more focus on the positive things that happened here.
--Eilert had a conversation with Huggins Sunday morning and he just sounded at peace. He was able to carry the torch and he talked about the day before and how many small mouth bass he caught. He has an extreme amount of remorse but it is time to move on.
--The money will still be donated to the LBGTQ organizations.
--When you're leading an athletic program you can't lead out of fear you have to be aggressive and put it all out there. They wouldn't let finances be a hindrance. They command the population of this state and he can't envision financial constraints being a block.
--Baker said they tried to exhaust the list on Hall of Fame candidates. This is a top 20 job you have to do your due diligence and go through a process.
--Eilert said they're going to take it day by day and solidify their roster. Now that they're building a new foundation some of that should calm down. They're about a month away going to Italy.
--Baker said it was important to let the intentions known. They know the plan and they can work that plan with the interim tag. You inherit a job this time of the year it's going to be difficult.
he wants to see how he will manage the program and treat people. They've made it clear what their intentions are and they deserve stability to focus on this season then they will focus what's going to happen after that then.
--Eilert said that he is ready to get started and there is still uncertainty when it comes to the roster. They have individual goals and once they get those aligned they can figure stuff out. Interim doesn't concern him they are going to build a great game plan and try to win. He understands this isn't going to be handed to him and he needs to earn it.
--Eilert is up for any challenge. He is excited for this challenge and is pumped. The people here are great and they always have been. It's a special place and they want to make it special.
--Anybody that had to take this role was going to feel a lot of pressure. Eilert is excited to show what he can do and what his guys can do and how he can get them bought in.
--Several guys have reached out to Eilert such as Darris Nichols. Brad Underwood, Frank Martin and all have a special part of his development. Mike Boynton in the league reached out. He's going to pour his heart into his job.
--Eilert said trust and accountability will be important in his program. Work your ass off and something special can come out of this.
--This is the 20th time he has led a head coaching search and this was the most complicated. They didn't have resolution until last Saturday night. On Monday they were able to partner with a search firm to see the candidates. Some were interested, others were not because of the timing. They really started two parallel tracks with a permanent and an interim head coach. One consistent thing they heard is that they knew this was a great job because of the passion of the fans, the resources and the league. The zoom interviews were conducted Thursday and Friday and they made the decision to go with an interim head coach. They met with coach Eilert for two hours Saturday and he met with president Gee. They then made the decision and he will serve as the 2023-24 season. He tried to be as communicative as he could while running two different searches at the same time. Coach Eilert is the type of human being you want leading young people and he has incredible integrity. He is loyal and hasn't been a job hopper. He has a great basketball mind and is thoughtful and honest. He was given a tremendous about of responsibilities and knows every aspect of the program. He is a tremendous hard-worker. He is a devoted husband and father. He has his full support. He views him as the head coach for an interim period of time. He will have Baker's full support to make decisions and in the best interest of the program for this season.
--Josh Eilert thanked Baker for how forthright he was in the process. He put him in charge to try to keep everything together in a very hard, unfortunate circumstance. It was a stressful time period and trying to manage things. It was 17-years ago, coach Huggins hired Eilert to be his graduate assistant. He gave him a chance and a year later they're heading to West Virginia for an opportunity. He lets Huggins know how much he loves and appreciates him. He has worked up the totem pole and the people adopted them and it's been a special time for him and his family. It's paid off with patience and don't always jump ship because things can work out in your favor if you're loyal.
--On the roster: It's 18-23 year old players so there is a lot of uncertainty and options. They care about them and want them to know and reassure them it's a great place for them. He doesn't want to hinder them if they have a better opportunity and if they want to take a look that's fine but they have something special here. Eilert thinks they can do something really neat here and turn things around and get it rolling.
--Not there yet on the rest of the staff. They are going to take a look at everybody in the program to see how they can do things better. He wants to evaluate everybody on the staff and figure out how they can fit in and go from there. They have really good people in place and he wants to retain them.
--It's always been his goal to be a head coach. The synergy of the matter is if you show loyalty and patience it will work out for you. In this business it's hard to find somebody that's in one place for 16 years but it's a lesson to stay true to the people that are true to you.
--If you're true to your values it's a lot easier to have faith that things will work out and if you do right by people it's easier to have faith it will work out. There were times with anxiety and trying to figure out life.
--Baker feels like this is a top 25 job so they really got to a place where an interim situation suited best. This initial agreement is for one season but he gets a chance to show what he is about and what this program is about. It's important to have stability and as the week went on it was important to find that.
--Coach Huggins philosophy will be ingrained in him. He is a defensive minded coach and he will take things but he admits he wants to change some things offensively. Every step of the way he has been coach Huggins voice and he has even given him some guidance.
--That probably got overplayed a little bit with public perception on keeping the roster together. Once the coaching search opened there were always going to be people test the portal so they had to consider everything. You can't make a hire that satisfies one group for one season but you have to listen and can't tell you every candidate we're talking to but i can tell you where we're at and what the timeline will be like. There's an unreasonable expectation that he can keep everybody from entering the portal but that already happened a week ago. It was a factor but the bigger factor was letting the young men have a voice within the program and weighing all the other stakeholders.
--Huggins and Baker had a conversation Sunday morning and they got to express love and appreciation. He asked him for characters and qualities he should be looking at and particular names. He said they have faith in Baker and they haven't talked since then.
--Baker said he doesn't think it hurt the perception. It's a great job with almost unrivaled fan loyalty, the facilities are great. Baker said that there are times there are turmoil and those inside the industry don't weigh that as much. What's happened the last couple months has been a time of turmoil for the men's basketball program but it's time to rally around them.
--Baker said he is ready for some smoother waters to sail in but the people here have been tremendous and he is fortunate to be here.
--Eilert has full faith in Baker and his leadership. He is very bright and keeps his head on straight.
--Baker said the time he spent with coach Huggins they never had a cross word, he has immense respect for him. He has had a chance to work with two hall of famers and learned a lot from both of them. He has done a lot for the university, the basketball program and cancer relationship. He is an important part of the history and they will honor that in an appropriate way moving forward. Time has a way of healing all wounds and as time goes on there will be more focus on the positive things that happened here.
--Eilert had a conversation with Huggins Sunday morning and he just sounded at peace. He was able to carry the torch and he talked about the day before and how many small mouth bass he caught. He has an extreme amount of remorse but it is time to move on.
--The money will still be donated to the LBGTQ organizations.
--When you're leading an athletic program you can't lead out of fear you have to be aggressive and put it all out there. They wouldn't let finances be a hindrance. They command the population of this state and he can't envision financial constraints being a block.
--Baker said they tried to exhaust the list on Hall of Fame candidates. This is a top 20 job you have to do your due diligence and go through a process.
--Eilert said they're going to take it day by day and solidify their roster. Now that they're building a new foundation some of that should calm down. They're about a month away going to Italy.
--Baker said it was important to let the intentions known. They know the plan and they can work that plan with the interim tag. You inherit a job this time of the year it's going to be difficult.
he wants to see how he will manage the program and treat people. They've made it clear what their intentions are and they deserve stability to focus on this season then they will focus what's going to happen after that then.
--Eilert said that he is ready to get started and there is still uncertainty when it comes to the roster. They have individual goals and once they get those aligned they can figure stuff out. Interim doesn't concern him they are going to build a great game plan and try to win. He understands this isn't going to be handed to him and he needs to earn it.
--Eilert is up for any challenge. He is excited for this challenge and is pumped. The people here are great and they always have been. It's a special place and they want to make it special.
--Anybody that had to take this role was going to feel a lot of pressure. Eilert is excited to show what he can do and what his guys can do and how he can get them bought in.
--Several guys have reached out to Eilert such as Darris Nichols. Brad Underwood, Frank Martin and all have a special part of his development. Mike Boynton in the league reached out. He's going to pour his heart into his job.
--Eilert said trust and accountability will be important in his program. Work your ass off and something special can come out of this.
