Alum In 3rd Decade As Maury Coach

By Brendan O’Hallarn

When he played varsity basketball and baseball at Old Dominion, Jack Baker ’73 knew the value of commitment.

Despite the challenge of juggling classes and two sports, he received his degree and went back to teach and coach basketball at his old high school, Norfolk’s Maury High. Thirty-three years later, he’s still there - and still loves going to work every day. “I guess I’ll stop doing it when it starts to feel like work,” laughs Baker.

His tenure at Maury is the continuation of five decades of incredible stability - and ODU connections. Former coach Ted Bacalis ’48, now 84, played for the Norfolk Division, ODU’s predecessor institution.

Baker thinks his time playing varsity sports at his hometown school definitely helped him get a leg up. More importantly, that experience instilled the discipline he’s needed to succeed. Baker currently ranks second among the state’s active high school boys basketball coaches, with 596 victories.

He has had some great players at Maury. The best known is Joe Smith, who went on to be the first pick of the 1995 NBA draft and currently plays for Cleveland. But just as special to Baker are the hundreds of kids who have gone on to earn their college degrees and be successful in their own walks of life.

“I have former players living all across the United States, working as lawyers, doctors, working in government,” he said. “I think that’s part of the discipline you have to have – to balance sports and school.”

Maury has never won the state championship in the 40 years Baker has been at the school as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Twice, the Commodores lost by a point in the title game. But Baker is no longer obsessed with climbing that mountain.

“That’s secondary,” he said. “Dealing with kids and working with them, trying to help them become better players and better people, that’s the fun part.”