CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Brenda Baker’s path to becoming the women’s basketball coach at Ohio Christian University (OCU) is the epitome of hard work and dedication – just the lesson she hopes to role model for her players in their search for team success in the 2021-2022 season.

“My first year, we only won three games. In my second year, we won a conference title, and for the first time in school history, we made an NAIA appearance. I also had a baby at the beginning of my second year – so it was a challenging but rewarding time in my coaching career,” explains Baker.

Baker came to play at Ohio Christian after playing for Columbus State in 2008. She would finish her junior and senior years there. Later she would consider her leap of faith to OCU a blessing.

“As soon as I graduated from OCU, I was hired on as an assistant coach. I was an assistant coach for eight years at OCU then was named interim head coach halfway through the 17-18 season. I was hired on as the head coach the following year,” says Baker.

Becoming the assistant coach was a position Baker knew she couldn’t refuse. Basketball had been her life since the 6th grade, and she wasn’t ready to leave it behind after her playing days, but being the head coach was something she never dreamed of doing.

“As far as being a head coach, I honestly never saw that in my future, [but] God had other plans,” Baker confesses.

Baker is not shy to discuss her faith and takes pride in recruiting future student-athletes to OCU based on her transformation.

“Basketball by the grace of God saved my life. He used basketball as a tool to get me to OCU and used basketball to allow people to minister to me. At the time, I didn’t see what was happening but looking back on my twelve years at OCU, I smile because it’s been a process.”

The university’s impact on her journey is the message she shares with current and potential players.

“I think it’s awesome to say that [OCU] has core values that will teach kids how to be successful in life after basketball. I look for kids who have open minds; who are willing to grow and be pushed both on the floor and off the floor. Being a college athlete is extremely tough, and it’s not for everyone,” Baker continues.

Although not for everyone, the Lady Trailblazers seem to have a group of young women up for the challenge.

This team, comprised of many different backgrounds and stories, comes together to be described by their coach as “amazing.”

“We stand together; we love each other like a family. The truth of it is, we see each other more than we see our own families, we go through situations which allow us to grow through situations, and I am extremely blessed to call this group family.”

So what to expect from them on the court?

Intensity. Baker’s coaching philosophy is to be a quick-paced team that loves to pressure the ball and run the floor.

The Trailblazers have a core group of girls coming back that understand the team’s culture and the coach’s expectations. Not only are they ready for normalcy following COVID-19, but they are also hungry for championships.

Along with returning players, coach Baker is excited about the hard work of Darcy Mitchell this offseason. She also added some incoming freshmen to the roster that Baker hopes will contribute right away in Emma Koons and Madi Winland.

Koons is a player with tremendous upside and potential to be a mainstay in the OCU box score for the next four years.

Winland is a lengthy player that has a touch from the outside. She can score buckets in many ways and should complement the returning players on the squad this upcoming season.

Players and coaches may make up the roster, but love is the glue that binds the team together.

“I think it is extremely important to have relationships with my players and let them know I care more about them as a person than I do a player.

It allows me to be tough on them because they know I really care and love them,” Baker emphasizes.

“I would describe my coach as someone who is just as passionate about the sport as each one of us players. It’s encouraging as a player to see that from someone who can only watch, and [I] hope we make her proud,” says graduate senior Helaina Limas.

The Trailblazers hope to have many successes this season, but winning is not the only goal.

Baker, a woman who ran through obstacles to be where she is today, a woman who gave birth to her daughter and lead OCU to their first NAIA Tournament appearance in school history in the same year, realizes that no matter what happens –life is more prominent than basketball.

“I want to bring girls in and have them leave my program with the ability to be a hard worker in the workforce, become amazing teachers, strong businesswomen, good wives, amazing mothers—whatever they choose to do in life, I want to equip them with the mindset to do so.”

But beyond teaching life lessons beyond basketball, as a coach, Baker focuses on relationships with players.

“Also, if they ever run into issues in life that they would feel comfortable calling me and asking for help. I want to build a community of strong women who will be friends after their career here at OCU.”

The future record of the OCU Trailblazers Women’s Basketball team is unknown. But what is known is that coach Brenda Baker will continue to mentor young women with the love and compassion of her beliefs, the morals of the university she represents, and the passion of the Word for which she lives her life.

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