MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University president Gordon Gee handed Wren Baker a gift basket as the latter made his way to the podium Monday morning at the Milan Puskar Center after being introduced as the university’s new vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics.
“I was hoping for pepperoni rolls,” Baker joked.
Baker, who comes to West Virginia after serving as the athletics director at North Texas since 2016, was officially introduced in his new role Monday after his hiring was announced last Wednesday.
“I stand before you today honored and humbled to serve as your vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics. I spent 20 years in college athletics working, preparing for this moment, and I’m very eager to get started,” Baker said. “ … I love the passion that this entire state has for the Mountaineers. It is special and unique and something I’m excited to be a part of and I will not take for granted.”
The Valliant, Okla., native comes to Morgantown by way of Denton, Texas, where he served as the athletics director at North Texas since 2016. He is the WVU’s 13th director of athletics, and will start in his new role under a six-year agreement through Dec. 31, 2028.
The change in athletics directors comes after WVU parted ways with Shane Lyons, who had served as director of athletics since 2015, in a move announced Nov. 14. Rob Alsop, WVU’s vice president for strategic initiatives, has been serving as interim athletics director.
“When we interviewed Wren, I can tell you he fits every one of our criteria and, in addition to being an exceptionally — and I’m going to underline exceptionally — talented athletics director, he’s also a very positive person who easily connects and engages with everyone he meets,” Gee said. “He understands the vision, he knows where we want to go and I have no doubt that he’ll get us there.”
Prior to working at North Texas, Baker served as deputy director of athletics at Missouri in 2015 after working in a similar role at Memphis from 2013-15.
He’s been a strong fundraiser throughout his time in collegiate athletics – North Texas has had its four best fundraising years and secured 12 of the 20 largest gifts in department history during his tenure as AD there.
Shortly after taking over at North Texas, Missouri announced it had a record fundraising year, and during his time at Memphis, the Tigers received their largest gift in university history and had their best fundraising year, Baker set a school record for suite sales and multi-media rights revenue and grew the school’s scholarship fund.
Last fall, Baker led the Mean Green’s move from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference, where it will begin play next season. The North Texas football program on Friday played in the C-USA championship game and lost to UTSA. UNT announced on Sunday in a statement from North Texas president Neal Smatresk that head coach Seth Littrell had been fired.
The men’s basketball team at North Texas has also seen success under Grant McCasland — who Baker hired in 2017 — posting a 6-2 mark so far this season after going 25-7 in 2021-22 and 18-10 the season prior with a C-USA title and first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Purdue. Seven of the school’s athletic programs have won a combined 17 conference or division titles during his time at North Texas. He has led 18 head coaching searches and his hires have a combined winning percentage of nearly 70%.
From 2011-13, Baker worked in the Division II ranks as athletic director at Northwest Missouri State, where he secured the largest gift in the department’s history for improvement to the school’s football stadium. From 2006-11, he was the first athletic director at Rogers State.
Baker thanked several people in his introduction, including North Texas, his mentors — specifically Baylor athletics director Mack Rhoades, with a jab about the Mountaineers beating the Bears in football — Gee, the search committee, former WVU athletics directors Lyons and Oliver Luck, Alsop and his family, which were seated in the front row.
He says the success and well-being of WVU’s student-athletes will come first and that he will focus on attention to details with the changes in college athletics to position WVU for the future.
“We will win with people and will place a high priority on their growth and their success,” Baker said. “We will do our part to advance our mission of this great institution. Athletics is not the most important thing that happens on this campus, but we are a powerful tool to shine a bright spotlight on the life-changing work that is happening at West Virginia University every day.
“Our best days are ahead of us. Together as a university and community we will accomplish great things. We will build on the tradition and with the passion and supportive fans, we will develop elite programs that West Virginia deserves and can be proud of.”
WVU retained outside legal counsel and the search firm Turnkey ZRG to oversee the process, with the goal of having a new athletics director in place within three to four weeks of Lyons’ dismissal.
Gee said Turnkey presented multiple options, including candidates from Power Five schools and outside of athletics in general. “We hunted broadly,” he said. WVU then focused on seven or eight candidates, who then had Zoom interviews with Gee, Alsop and Luck, Gee said. Gee added he received input from many people he had worked with over the years, and a screening committee met in Atlanta for a decision he says was unanimous.
““You start with passion, you start with strong leadership, you start with someone who understands the new world,” Gee said. “I’m not a digital native — he is and others are and they really have found this pathway and been very successful with it.
“ …. We had great candidates, and it was just really apparent that the fit and the person and the structure and the place where he should be is right here.”
Now, he will oversee 18 varsity sports, a department budget of more than $90 million, roughly 250 employees and nearly 500 student-athletes.
Baker will begin with a yearly compensation of $1.1 million, plus incentives, and his total annualized base salary will increase by $50,000 each year starting Jan. 1, 2025.
The term sheet for his employment includes:
- Up to two courtesy vehicles.
- Up to 10 tickets for all ticketed home events and 10 passes for any conference or NCAA postseason contest in which WVU is scheduled to appear.
- Moving reimbursement and temporary housing for up to four months in the Morgantown area or a housing stipend of $20,000.
- A buyout of $250,000 from his contract at North Texas.
- A one-time retention incentive of $75,000 following his first two weeks of employment.
- A one-time retention incentive of $250,000 if he is employed as athletics director on March 1, 2026.
The contract also includes the following incentives:
- Seventy-five percent of the amount of incentive payments made to the various coaches of NCAA athletic teams at WVU based upon athletic and academic accomplishments, with a maximum amount of $125,000 in year one, and increasing by $25,000 each year through year six.
- An annual incentive of $25,000 if the Academic Performance Rating is at least 970 but less than 985.
- An annual incentive of $35,000 if the Academic Performance Rate is at least 985.
- A maximum of $100,000 per year for services rendered, as determined by the president, based upon meeting or exceeding performance targets set for in the annual performance evaluation.
- A maximum of $50,000 per year, for services rendered, as determined by the president, based upon exceptional performance relating to innovation in revenue generation; business, sponsorship and commercial advancement; and dedication to student-athlete success.
- $50,000 for every aggregate amount of $5 million in pledged donations occurring in any agreement year pursuant to one or more executed gift agreements, where the pledge is earmarked for the Department of Athletics to be paid in full in a period not exceeding five years from the date of the gift agreement, but not including gifts, contributions and donations required to obtain tickets for NCAA athletic team events, all as determined by the WVU foundation.
- An annual incentive of $50,000 if the average attendance at Milan Puskar Stadium for regular-season football games for the agreement year is at least 10% over the previous agreement year.
- An annual incentive of $25,000 if the average attendance at the WVU Coliseum for regular-season men’s basketball games for the agreement year increases at least 10% over the previous agreement year.
- An annual incentive of $25,000 if any WVU NCAA intercollegiate athletic program wins the national championship for that particular program.
If the university terminates Baker without cause, the university will pay liquidated damages of 75% of the remaining base salary. WVU’s payment obligation would be offset by any amounts Baker would earn from comparable athletic-related employment, including any incentive or bonus compensation, over the remaining term of employment had the agreement not been terminated.
If Baker terminates employment to pursue other employment of any kind before the end of the contract, he will owe $1 million in year one, and the amount would decrease by $200,000 each year to $0 in year six.
Baker had signed an extension with North Texas late last year that was set to run through Feb. 28, 2029, and included a base salary that started at $625,000 and increased by $25,000 each year of the contract, according to a Nov. 2, 2021, article by Brett Vito of the Denton Record-Chronicle. It also included an annual retention bonus due on March 1, 2022, that started at $100,000 and increased to $125,000 in 2023 and $150,000 in 2025. He also received a courtesy car, $7,200 annual automobile allowance and a membership at Denton Country Club, according to the article.
The terms of Baker’s agreement with WVU begin Dec. 17, and he is set to begin his duties Dec. 19, according to the release announcing his hiring.