Wren Baker directly addresses Oklahoma rumors: 'There's no truth to any of that speculation'

A changing of the guard is in the works at Oklahoma as Joe Castiglione prepares to retire. That means the search is on to replace the longest-tenured power conference AD, and West Virginia’s Wren Baker came up as a name to watch shortly after the news broke.

Friday, Baker addressed the rumors. He said there’s “no truth” to the speculation and expressed his love for his situation at WVU.

On3’s Pete Nakos reported Baker as one of the early names tossed around to replace Castiglione, who is entering his 28th and final year at Oklahoma. However, he made it clear he’s happy at West Virginia and hasn’t interviewed for any other position since arriving in Morgantown in 2022.

“There’s no truth to any of the speculation or rumors at this point,” Baker told John Fredericks. “That’s just people drawing lines. And I think this is the fourth or fifth time since I’ve been here that people had me out door, and not one time have I taken an interview or even had a conversation with anybody about another job. We love living here. It’s a great place to live. I love the outdoors. The summers here are incredible. More importantly, I have a wife and two daughters, and they’re perfectly happy here.

“You never say never because you don’t know what the future holds. Trust me, I’m aware of what the average athletic director tenure is – it’s about six years. Sometimes you’re like a preacher and the congregation’s ready to hear the message from somebody else. But yeah, there’s no truth to any of that speculation. We love it here.”

Wren Baker: ‘I feel like it’s a privilege to be in this program’

Baker – an Oklahoma native – started out as a basketball operations assistant at Oklahoma State from 2001-05 before moving into an administrative role at the high school level from 2005-06. He then became the athletics director at Northwest Missouri State from 2010-13 before two years at Memphis as Deputy AD. Following a school year in the same role at Missouri, Baker became the athletics director at North Texas from 2016-22.

Castiglione is planning to retire in June 2026, and OU adviser Randall Stephenson is set to lead the search for his replacement. As things start up, Wren Baker said his focus is on the task at hand as the revenue-sharing era gets underway in college sports.

“I usually don’t address any specific institutions. It shouldn’t be my responsibility to put out fires that other people are starting,” Baker said. “Sometimes, when you start doing that, it’s just like when you comment on a coach’s status if you’re having a rough season. Well then, when you don’t, people read too much into it. So I just try to keep doing my job like I do it every day and let people who want to speculate, speculate.

“But I think what I can say here – I can look anybody in the face and say it – is, I love being here and I feel like it’s a privilege to be in this program, to represent this university and more importantly, represent our state. I’m an unapologetic champion for everything West Virginia – tourism, living here, it’s a great place. I think it’s important as a leader to be where your feet are and to stay focused on what’s important, and what’s important right now is leading us through this transition and to be a resource for our student-athletes and coaches.”