The Number One Thing West Virginia Must Prioritize in Basketball Coaching Search

Wren Baker, it's your time to shine (again). West Virginia is searching for a new men's basketball coach after Darian DeVries decided to take the big money at Indiana.

There are a number of things that Baker needs to be sure of in his new coach, but some things hold more weight than others. Obviously, the most important thing is finding someone who wants to plant roots in Morgantown. You can't have a situation where you're back in the same spot in a year or two and have created great deals of instability. The program will never get off the ground if that's the case.

But removing the obvious, the number one thing the new coach has to have is an understanding of how to build a consistent winner in today's era of college athletics.

It's not a slow build where you get three or four years to get the depth needed after developing high school talent. You've got to not only be a great transfer portal recruiter but also know how to mix together several veterans who come from many different backgrounds and teachings. It's not as easy as just picking up the most talented players in the portal that you can afford. You have to have a plan for how to intertwine those players and be strategic with who you take.

Nelson Hernandez is the current GM for the Mountaineers, but it remains to be seen if he will stay on board. Regardless of who the GM is, assuming they choose to still have one, the coach has to have a good feel for the money side of things. What he can promise, what he can offer, what's too much, etc. Of course, the handling of the money isn't his job, but you can't build a roster for the present or the future if you struggle to grasp that aspect of it.

This is largely why you're seeing a lot of veteran coaches getting out of the game and more younger coaches getting a chance. The guys that have been around for a while only know one way to do it, and having to learn this stuff on the fly can be challenging.

The second part of this is the new header has to be personable and form relationships with some of West Virginia's biggest donors. Although he was only on the job for a year, DeVries didn't seem well-versed in this area. Perhaps that was because he spent so much time trying to milk the most out of a shorthanded roster, but still, moving forward, it's going to be crucial. WVU has to reach its max in rev share dollars, or close to it, consistently, to be able to compete.

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