Wren Baker’s Crossroads: Success, Scrutiny, and the Future of WVU Sports

Just a month ago, Wren Baker could do no wrong. WVU athletics was thriving across almost every sport. The baseball team remained undefeated after its best season ever. The rifle team secured its 20th national championship. Rich Rodriguez prepared for spring practice, preaching his ‘Hard Edge’ philosophy in press conferences. The women’s basketball team, led by coach Mark Kellogg and superstar guard J.J. Quinerly, was tournament-bound once again.

READ MORE: Wren Baker’s Crossroads: Success, Scrutiny, and the Future of WVU Sports.

It was a glorious time to be a WVU sports fan.

Until it wasn’t.

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The men’s basketball team was snubbed by the NCAA tournament committee, and coach Darian DeVries left for Indiana. The program’s remarkable one-year turnaround unraveled as he took his NBA-prospect son with him, and most of the players entered the transfer portal.

Now, Baker faced a familiar situation. He not only had to hire a new head coach but also find someone capable of rebuilding the roster from scratch. His hire of DeVries worked out thanks to immediate transfers like Tucker DeVries, an NBA prospect, and Javon Small, arguably the best player in the Big 12 last season.

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This time, the challenge was even greater. Many of the coaching candidates Baker had already interviewed and passed over last year were no longer options. That led him to Ross Hodge from North Texas, a coach he knew from his time as AD at the same university.

“Ross Hodge is a proven winner and leader who has demonstrated success at every stop of his career,” Baker said in a press release. “He has won more than 80% of his games as a head coach while establishing himself as one of the best defensive minds in college basketball. His teams play with toughness and grit, and Mountaineer Nation will love the passion his players have for the game.”

While Hodge was a rising star and bound for a bigger program than North Texas, many question whether his resume stacks up against other Power Four conference coaches. If his “friend” from the Lone Star State fails to deliver, the blame will land squarely on Baker. And the reaction from boosters and NIL contributors will soon reveal their opinion of the hire, especially when we see the funds allocated to the basketball program.

“I’ve had a chance to talk to the rest of the staff over there at Country Roads Trust. I see them as an asset and as a tool that we need to have a relationship with, said Baker after hiring Rodgriguez last fall. “I am supportive to the extent that I can be with the collective.”

One thing is certain: the boosters, led by Ken Kendrick, want to be part of the process. By the looks of things, they may have been left out—which could create problems down the line.

You have to feel for Baker, who has seemingly made all the right moves as most sports across the university thrive. But the reality is that men’s basketball and football generate the most revenue. And both programs could struggle under first-year head coaches. Rodriguez could ease some of the pressure with a fast start—especially in the crucial Week 3 matchup against Pitt.