THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150498
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
They've saved him, is what they've done. Because Jack Baker was about as good as gone. Finished. Up to his stunning head of gray hair with coaching basketball at Maury High School.
His frustration was real, and it was too bad. But by being good kids first, then good players, they probably have kept Baker on the bench beyond this season.
It's where he belongs. Where it seems he's always been.
Even beyond their 21-0 record and Eastern District title, these Commodores can be proud of the way they have filled an emptiness within Baker and restored his faith, simply by playing as he has asked - hard and smart and mature.
``When we got beat last year in the region semifinals, I was so glad it was over,'' Baker admits. ``I was emotionally and mentally worn out. Every time I turned around somebody was complaining about something. Even when we won we'd have problems in the locker room.''
An 18-7 mark couldn't dull the pain those attitudinal brush fires created. But it took 19 seasons for Baker to feel it. Ultimately, that's why he returned for a 20th.
He needed to see if the game and the kids had slipped from his grasp. Or if it was all just a blip, best forgotten. Just in case, he applied to become Lake Taylor's athletic director. (He has withdrawn his name.)
``I didn't want to get out of coaching after 19 years because I had one bad year,'' says Baker, a boyish 44. ``But if this year was like last year, I would get out. There's no doubt in my mind.''
In 38 years, all winning seasons, two men have coached Maury. Ted Bacalis put in 18. Baker played for Bacalis, then went on to pitch and play basketball at Old Dominion.
After that, Baker was Bacalis' junior varsity coach for three years, then declined a head coaching offer from Bayside for a shot at replacing Bacalis. The gamble paid off, for Baker and for Maury.
In nearly 500 games under Baker, Maury is 380-106. In that time, Norfolk's four other high schools have had 16 coaches among them.
The Commodores have reached three state playoffs and one final, in the 1978-79 season. They lost to Mount Vernon 73-72.
``Early on, winning a state championship weighed on me,'' Baker says. ``I was almost obsessed with it. I still want to win it, but I realize it's not the most important thing. I've changed, I guess. I'm mellowing in a sense.''
You could question that if you catch him in his day job as Maury's dean of students, the school disciplinarian. Watch him on the sidelines, though, and you see less of the pacing, referee-baiting coach Baker used to be, more of the guy who stands and watches coolly, arms crossed, chewing his lip at critical moments on the court.
``I think he's the best,'' Maury's senior point guard Ike Richardson says. ``He's a workaholic. He's always trying to make us better.
``As long as he's happy, I'm happy. I want to get him a (state championship) ring before I leave.''
Attitudes like that would be bound to put less gray on Baker's head if he had any dark hair left.
``Runs in the family,'' Baker says. ``My mother was gray at 18.''
They are bound to keep him coaching, too. In high school.
Baker twice failed to become head coach or assistant at Old Dominion, the only college jobs he's actively sought, he says.
Had he moved on, of course, Baker would have been denied the thrill of tutoring NBA phenom Joe Smith. And knowing Smith, it probably wouldn't be beyond him to quietly slip Baker a little token of his appreciation at some point.
Baker recoiled at the thought.
``I worked with Joe like I work with anybody else who plays for me,'' Baker says. ``Joe is a special person in my life. But he doesn't owe me anything.''
Rather, Baker says, he owes the debt - to a winning team that validated his mission. by CNB