Derry’s Geo Baker shining in senior season with Rutgers
DERRY, N.H. (BVM) — Derry native Geo Baker has been a massive part of building up the Rutgers basketball program into what it is today. After not being recruited as a top guard in his class, the overshadowed mindset was a perfect fit for what the Scarlet Knights’ program was building to at the time.
“I think Rutgers has had a negative perception for a really long time and I think with Coach Pikiell as the coach, he really wants to create something positive,” Baker told the Big Ten Network back in 2018. “My whole life I’ve kind of been underrated and I think that Rutgers is underrated right now. I love to prove people wrong and I think that’s what we are going to do here.”
For Baker, growing up in Derry didn’t always bring the most recognition. As a 5-foot-7 15-year-old, Baker had some growing to do not only on the court. A growth spurt to 6-foot-3 would later progress his game to the next level.
After starting at Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Massachusetts his freshman season, Baker would leave for a chance to play at Pinkerton Academy in his hometown. He would help lead the school to an NHIAA state championship game before transferring to Proctor Academy the following year. In his junior season at Proctor, the rising guard averaged 18 points, six assists and five rebounds per game.
After a stellar senior season, Baker would go on to take on his next challenge at Rutgers. Since starting for the Scarlet Knights his freshman year, Baker has seen the program go from two straight losing seasons to two straight winning seasons. After missing out on an NCAA Tournament appearance last season because of the pandemic, Baker’s 10.1 points and 3.2 assists per game have the Scarlet Knights in the thick of the action.
As the team gets ready for an NCAA Tournament bid, the Scarlet Knights senior and his coach can look back at just how far the program has come.
“We were really the doormat of the Big Ten and we knew that,” Baker told the Big Ten Network. “But we all had one mindset to change the culture and I think we’ve done that.”
“He’s seen the whole process here,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said of Baker. “He’s seen the ‘RAC’ (Rutgers Athletic Center) be half-empty and now he’s seen where you can’t get a ticket for our game.”
With an early victory against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament, the Derry native will be looking to continue the Scarlet Knights’ run through March Madness.
