Wren Baker
West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee has named Wren Baker as WVU’s next Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Baker comes to Morgantown from the University of North Texas, where he has been the Associate Vice President and Athletics Director since 2016. With previous stops at Missouri, Memphis, Northwest Missouri and Rogers State, Baker brings more than 20 years of experience to WVU as its 13th Director of Athletics.
Baker will have oversight of 18 varsity sports, a department budget of more than $90 million, approximately 250 employees and nearly 500 student-athletes.
At North Texas, seven Mean Green programs (men’s cross country, volleyball, women’s soccer, football, men’s basketball, women’s golf and softball) combined to win 17 conference or division championships during Baker’s tenure, and the overall athletic department’s winning percentage in the last year was the best in the modern era. In 2019, every Mean Green team achieved a winning season for the first time in school history.
UNT also reached new heights in the classroom under Baker’s leadership, posting its top APR scores and four consecutive department Graduation Success Rate (GSR) records. For the first time ever, every Mean Green team recorded a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher with the Spring 2022 department GPA hitting a 3.206 average.
Baker led record fundraising years at North Texas as the school registered its four best fundraising years in its history, and the overall top five largest gifts ever at UNT came under Baker’s leadership. He guided North Texas athletics to a school record for fundraising in a single year, nearly doubling the previous department record.
UNT ticket revenue increased by 125% under Baker, and football attendance grew by 71%, while men’s and women’s basketball crowds grew by more than 60%. Additional achievements at North Texas included a five-year strategic plan, new 20-year facilities master plan and lucrative contracts for multimedia rights, licensing, apparel and equipment.
As an athletic director, he led 16 head coaching searches, and his hires have a combined 70% winning percentage. Baker also led the charge to renovate eight different UNT athletic facilities, while spearheading the design and fundraising for three new facilities including a track and field/soccer stadium, golf practice facility and an indoor practice building.
One of the biggest moments in the history of North Texas Athletics came under his watch, when UNT was invited to join the American Athletic Conference beginning in July 2023.
Prior to North Texas, Baker was the deputy director of athletics at Missouri from 2015 to 2016, serving as the top advisor and chief of staff. He was responsible for assisting with all aspects of administration and led the external unit, helping Mizzou to a record fundraising year. He also served as the interim director of athletics at Missouri before moving on to North Texas.
Before Missouri, he spent time at Memphis from 2013-15 as deputy athletics director. He secured the largest gift in the university’s history as Memphis posted its best fundraising year ever. While setting a school record for fundraising, major gifts and multimedia rights revenue, Baker also grew Memphis’ scholarship fund, was the sport administrator for men’s basketball and worked closely with football during a two-year run that included the Tigers’ first conference championship in football in more than four decades.
From 2011 to 2013, Baker was athletic director at NCAA Division II power Northwest Missouri State, where he secured the largest gift in the athletic department’s history for improvements to the football stadium. Under Baker, Northwest Missouri saw its revenues increase by 60%, and he hired head football coach Adam Dorrel, who led the Bearcats to three consecutive national championships.
From 2006-11, Baker served as the first athletic director at Rogers State in Claremore, Oklahoma, where he was also the school’s first men’s basketball coach. His team went 20-11 in his only season at the helm, and RSU teams combined to post a nearly 70% winning percentage despite being a start-up athletic program. During his tenure, Baker developed a full-scale collegiate athletics program.
In 2005, he was the principal and athletic director for Valliant Public Schools and, at age 26, was the youngest principal in Oklahoma history.
Originally from Valliant, Oklahoma, Baker earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Southeastern Oklahoma State in 2001 where he was a member of the honors program. He went on to earn his master’s degree in education leadership from Oklahoma State in 2003.
While at Oklahoma State, Baker was a graduate assistant and basketball operations assistant for the Cowboys’ men’s basketball program under legendary head coach Eddie Sutton. During Baker’s time with OSU, the Cowboys posted a 102-30 record, reaching four NCAA tournaments, and advanced to the 2004 Final Four and the 2005 Sweet Sixteen.
Baker and his wife, Heather, a Bokchito, Oklahoma, native, have two daughters, Addisyn and Reagan.
