Ron Baker NBA Prospect

[Bluzrover]

Great article this morning on Mr. Baker, his roots in small town Kansas, growth, discovery by the Shocker coaching staff and national exposure.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2238917-the-ultimate-shocker-how-ron-baker-went-from-walk-on-to-nba-prospect

[TheDover1018]

Fantastic read.

[_kai_]

Crazy stat, Baker scored 1.046 points per possession shooting off a ball screen. Damian Lillard scored 1.039 ppp off ball screen his Sr yr.

Also, I'm definitely using "he's pulling out the colt .45's" from now on.

[Dan]

Baker's gonna have a huge year.

[RoyalShock]

That's one of the best player features I've read on any of our players. Well researched and written. Good job, C.J. Moore and BR!

[Brian]

Rooting hard for this kid. Every Shocker and small town kid can rally behind him!

[Bluzrover]

Who knew he was a die hard KU fan and wanted to play for them? Maybe some of you did but that was news to me. And it makes it even sweeter to know that he cancelled his trip to attend the KU scrimmage but was talked in to visiting Wichita State instead. And, as the story goes, the rest is history!

[WSUwatcher]

Really good stuff -- we've seen Bleacher Report writing that was definitely second class, off-brand work, but this was as well done as you'll find. It's as good an article as Baker is a player, and also entertaining to see that he grew up a Chickenhawk fan. Thanks for that timely visit, South Dakota State.

Edit: It also makes me wonder a little bit -- how many other Ron Bakers are out there who never get discovered? Not a huge number, I'm guessing; it's a lot harder to stay undiscovered nowadays than it used to be. But there are no doubt some, especially among the all-around athletes in small towns. (Over on the women's side, which is admittedly a different game because of the level of athleticism compared to the guys, one could maybe make the case that Jackie Stiles was an earlier version.)

This is probably also an example of why coaches subscribe to recruiting services, because all it takes is one find like Ron to make the service worthwhile for a lot of years.

[lemuel777]

Who knew he was a die hard KU fan and wanted to play for them? Maybe some of you did but that was news to me. And it makes it even sweeter to know that he cancelled his trip to attend the KU scrimmage but was talked in to visiting Wichita State instead. And, as the story goes, the rest is history!

I don't get it. He didn't want to embarrass himself at a KU scrimmage but didn't mind embarrassing himself at Wichita State. Hmmm?

[RoyalShock]

I don't get it. He didn't want to embarrass himself at a KU scrimmage but didn't mind embarrassing himself at Wichita State. Hmmm?

As the article states, WSU coaches had already seen him play during their elite camp the prior summer, as well as the state tournament that winter. It sounds like his visit to WSU was more like a typical academic visit, not to display his basketball talents.

[jocoshock]

Who knew he was a die hard KU fan and wanted to play for them? Maybe some of you did but that was news to me. And it makes it even sweeter to know that he cancelled his trip to attend the KU scrimmage but was talked in to visiting Wichita State instead. And, as the story goes, the rest is history!

So what happens if Ron does not go pro at the end of the seaon, but instead uses his final (5th) year to play for KU. And Evan uses hus 5th year to play FB for the Hawks?

I guess that wkukd give us 2 scholarships....

Frankamp for Baker?

[wu_shizzle]

So what happens if Ron does not go pro at the end of the seaon, but instead uses his final (5th) year to play for KU. And Evan uses hus 5th year to play FB for the Hawks?

I guess that wkukd give us 2 scholarships....

Frankamp for Baker?

[shockmonster]

So what happens if Ron does not go pro at the end of the seaon, but instead uses his final (5th) year to play for KU. And Evan uses hus 5th year to play FB for the Hawks?

I guess that wkukd give us 2 scholarships....

Frankamp for Baker?

I'm more in the "it's not funny" camp.

[Shock Therapy]

So what happens if Ron does not go pro at the end of the seaon, but instead uses his final (5th) year to play for KU. And Evan uses hus 5th year to play FB for the Hawks?

I guess that wkukd give us 2 scholarships....

Frankamp for Baker?

Ban Please!

[HockeyShock]

So what happens if Ron does not go pro at the end of the seaon, but instead uses his final (5th) year to play for KU. And Evan uses hus 5th year to play FB for the Hawks?

I guess that wkukd give us 2 scholarships....

Frankamp for Baker?

*slow clap*

So does that imply that transferring to KU is going to a lower-division school so they could play right away and avoid the transfer year? :3