Wren Baker addresses rumors surrounding John Beilein, West Virginia

West Virginia Athletic Director Wren Baker is confident in his choice of Josh Eilert to takeover as the Mountaineers interim head coach following the resignation of longtime coach Bob Huggins.

However, that doesn’t mean he didn’t place some calls to some big names once he realized his program had an opening at the top.

During a press conference where Baker and the Mountaineers introduced Eilert, the West Virginia AD addressed rumors surrounding the possibility that former Michigan Wolverines coach John Beilein was on his wishlist.

“I will say this, if there was a name that people come up with that obviously is a Hall of Fame caliber coach, and the question is, ‘I wonder if they called,’ yes. We called them all just about,” explained Baker. “So we tried to exhaust the list. I think we had a responsibility to do that, when you have a job open. People that think, ‘Oh, you’ve got to rush this.’ No. This is a Top 20 job. We’ve got to do our due diligence. Get through a process. That’s what we did.

“I did have a chance early on to talk to Coach Beilein. That’s another person who has unbelievable credentials. Who spent time here. Who knows college basketball, who knows the state. You know, beyond just picking his brain, the nature of conversations beyond that, I wouldn’t divulge. But I’ve got a lot of respect for him, as a coach and as a person, and people that I know and respect do as well.”

That’s a pretty logical answer from Baker, with Eilert sitting right next to him. While some may not be thrilled with the hire, Baker explained why the former Mountaineers assistant was the right choice to lead them into their post-Huggins era.

“He is the type of human being that you want leading young people and the type of person you can to work with,” Baker added. “He has incredible integrity. I was very impressed with him during this process.

“He is loyal. He hasn’t been a job-hopper. He stayed right here and worked his way up as a Mountaineer. He is thoughtful and strategic. He is honest. He also has a great basketball mind. As we talked to various people in and around the program, it had been clear he had been given a tremendous amount of responsibilities over his time at WVU. He knows every aspect of our program having served in basketball operations and as our video coordinator before being named assistant coach.”

West Virginia needs stability, and Wren Baker knows that, and he’s hoping Josh Eilert will be able to provide that moving forward.