Rogers State University Athletics

Wren Baker was named the first Director of Athletics and Men's Basketball Head Coach in 2006 and is one of the individuals who is largely responsible for creating the foundation that Hillcat Athletics is built on today. In his five years in the AD chair, Baker grew the athletic department from scratch to include 11 sports including baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, rodeo, men's and women's soccer, and softball. During his time on the Hill, Baker was responsible for hiring some of the most successful coaches in school history including fellow inductee Ron Bradley, men's basketball coach Lloyd Williams, who led the Hillcats to their first No. 1 ranking just two years into the program's existence in 2009, women's basketball coach Amy Williams, who is the winningest coach in team history with 97 wins, current soccer coach Derek Larkin, who earned the department's first conference championship in women's soccer in the team's first season in 2007 and won two conference championships in men's soccer, and current men's basketball coach Justin Barkley, who has become the winningest coach in team history with 243 wins. Baker also helped the fundraising efforts of the department reach new heights that led to several facility improvements over his time as well as funding multiple other projects. Under his watch, Rogers State formed a special task force to explore seeking application for NCAA membership in 2010, which eventually came to fruition in 2013 after his time on the Hill.
 
In his only season at the helm of Hillcat men's basketball, Baker (who was a member of the coaching staff at Oklahoma State before arriving in Claremore) led RSU to a 20-11 mark in the inaugural season of the program in 2007-08.
 
After leaving RSU, Baker saw great success at his other stops as he continued to climb the ladder in college athletics. In his three years as athletic director at Northwest Missouri, he secured the largest gift in the athletic department's history for improvements to the football stadium. Under Baker, the Bearcats saw their revenues increase by 60%, and he hired head football coach Adam Dorrel, who led NWMSU to three consecutive national championships.
 
In his next stop at Division I Memphis as deputy athletic director, Baker again 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.
 
Baker then served a short stint at SEC-member Missouri as deputy athletic director and continued to set new fundraising records before moving on to become the Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics at North Texas.
 
With the Mean Green, Baker led an athletic department that saw seven programs win a combined 17 conference or division championships in his six years in Denton. As has been the case at every stop, Baker led record fundraising years at North Texas as the school registered its four best fundraising years in its history. He was also responsible for hiring 16 head coaches who have a combined 70% winning percentage. One of his biggest achievements at UNT was helping the Mean Green earn an invitation to join the American Athletic Conference in July of 2023.

On December 5, 2022, Baker was named the 13th Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Big 12-member West Virginia.