Tay Baker, an Ohio Basketball Hall of Famer, died on Sept. 29. He recently celebrated his 99th birthday on Sept. 24.
The 1945 Hamilton High School graduate would eventually play basketball for the Cincinnati Bearcats, then serve as their head coach. Later, he moved over to Victory Parkway and the Xavier Musketeers, something hard to fathom in today's world of college basketball.
After an Army stint, Baker played for Coach John Wiethe's UC Bearcats between 1947 and 1950. He then was head coach at Lebanon, Wyoming and Miamisburg High Schools before returning to UC as an assistant to George Smith.
Baker saw UC Bearcats in their prime
When UC head coach Ed Jucker left, Baker became head coach in 1965 and went 125-60 through 1972 with a winning percentage of .676, which is actually higher than Mick Cronin's .668 (though Cronin coached more games).
"We were all faculty," Baker said of the college model at the time. "We had to teach 12 hours. I also the first year I was over there had the track and cross country team. I got rid of it after that first year as we were doing pretty good in basketball."
To Baker's point, George Smith, who coached Oscar Robertson and later became athletic director, also served as a football assistant for a year. Jucker, before becoming a two-time national champion basketball coach, led the baseball team for six years. One of his notable players was a freshman basketball player who could throw a baseball quicker than most: Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.
Tay Baker's top years
Baker twice won 21 games with the Bearcats, going 21-7 in 1965-66 as Missouri Valley Champions and 21-6 in 1969-70. His team made the NCAA Mideast Regional in 1966 but lost to Texas-El Paso in overtime and to Southern Methodist in a consolation game.
In 1959-60, he was part of Oscar Robertson's last Final Four, then part of back-to-back national championships under Ed Jucker in 1961 and 1962.
In March 1970, Baker's Bearcats lost in the NIT to a young Army coach named Bob Knight.
Baker never had a losing record at UC, but Gale Catlett was hired in 1972.
Baker's back in Muskie blue
After a year off from coaching post-UC, Baker returned to the bench, but amazingly, it was at Xavier. Through 1979, he was 70-89 and in all likelihood, will remain the only head coach to lead both teams in the (Skyline Chili) Crosstown Shootout series.
"They called and they were really struggling at that time, still playing in the old (Schmidt) Fieldhouse," Baker said.
He rarely missed UC home games later in life and still appeared at Xavier games.
"I feel welcome at both places," Baker said in a 2023 interview. "Even when they play each other, I just want to see a real good basketball game."
Into his 90s, Baker was still playing golf as much as four times per week. He also took part in periodic breakfast reunions of some of his players at the McDonald's on Mitchell Avenue in St. Bernard or lunches at the Indian Mound Cafe in Norwood.
That gave him time to talk about his distaste for recent developments in college basketball.
"There isn't such a thing as college basketball," Baker said at the time. "Those guys are all professionals. They're making money. It's a different game now because of the three-point shot. Some parts are much better. No doubt they're better athletes and better shooters. If they can't shoot threes, they won't play!"
The Enquirer will publish information on services for Coach Baker as details are provided.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Tay Baker dies at 99, uniquely coached UC Bearcats, Xavier Musketeers