Following successful first year, WVU extends athletic director Wren Baker through 2030
May 22—MORGANTOWN — WVU athletic director Wren Baker has agreed to a two-year contract extension that takes his tenure with the university through 2030.
After being reported previously, Baker confirmed the extension during an interview with Tony Caridi posted to WVU's social media on Wednesday.
"I'm very happy to be here, " Baker told Caridi. "I've said this time and time again, the people have been incredible to me."
WVU hired Baker from North Texas in 2022 and less than two years later, has extended his contract through 2030.
Baker's first two years at WVU have already brought about some big changes, and also some big successes.
Baker most recently hired Darian DeVries as men's basketball coach. DeVries replaces Josh Eilert, who Baker named interim head coach for the 2023-24 season following Bob Huggins' arrest for DUI.
"We've had some turbulent times, but when you take these jobs you know there are going to be turbulent times, " Baker said. "The people here have been incredible, my family has loved it here and we're just excited to be here."
Baker also hired women's basketball coach Mark Kellogg following the departure of former coach Dawn Plitzuweit after one season. WVU went 25-8 in Kellogg's first year and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
West Virginia will also replace baseball coach Randy Mazey after this season. Mazey announced his retirement prior to the season and the university named assistant Steve Sabins as his replacement for 2025.
Baker has also hired volleyball coach Jen Greeny and will soon hire a new swimming and diving coach after the resignation of Vic Riggs last month.
Baker and WVU recently finished the 2024 Coaches Caravan, which made four stops throughout the state and two outside of W.Va., to meet with Mountaineer fans.
"The morale, the energy was tremendous, " Baker said. "As we went across all of the locations, at every one of them attendance was up. When you look at our ticket sales, pretty much every metric is trending up."
Baker thinks the excitement around WVU athletics is much higher than when he started the job a little over a year ago.
In addition to Kellogg's success with the women's basketball team, the WVU football team had a turnaround nine-win season, the men's soccer team made the College Cup final four, the golf team recently qualified for its first national tournament since 1947 and the baseball team looks to make its second-straight regional tournament later this month.
"That speaks to the resiliency and the depth of the passion of our fan base, " Baker said. "There were a lot of ups and downs over the course of the last 18 months, but Mountaineer Nation has remained strong, supported our teams, our student-athletes and our coaches, and I think we are positioned very well as we head into the new era of the Big 12."
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