Joe Baker,
Jr. has been selected as the interim head women's basketball coach
at Rutgers-Camden following the resignation of Jackie Trakimas.
Trakimas, who coached the Lady Raptors the past five seasons and led
them to a New Jersey Athletic Conference title in 2003, resigned
from her position to pursue other interests.
Prior to being named interim head coach, Baker served as an
assistant coach in the Camden program for three seasons. Prior to
his arrival at Rutgers-Camden, he served as an assistant for six
years with the Salem Community College men’s basketball program.
“It’s a very exciting opportunity,” Baker said. “I feel nine years
of coaching at the collegiate and junior college level have prepared
me for this situation. When Coach Trakimas hired me three years ago,
I saw it as a big step to be at a four-year institution. To have
this opportunity is above and beyond what I could have hoped for at
this time of my career.”
After inheriting a struggling program, Trakimas rebuilt the Raptors
into an annual NJAC contender, culminating in Camden's 2002-03
season in which the Raptors went 22-7, won the first NJAC title in
school history for any sport, and earned Rutgers-Camden’s first NCAA
tournament berth. They proceeded to post their first NCAA tourney
win at Gwynedd-Mercy before falling to Marymount, 83-80 in the NCAA
second round. In five years at Rutgers-Camden, Trakimas accumulated
a 74-59 overall record.
“We’re trying to maintain the program and be as successful as we
have been,” Baker said. “The team will adapt easily, being familiar
with me. Being involved with recruiting, I was a familiar face to
many of the players before they came on campus.”
Baker assisted in numerous areas with the Rutgers-Camden and
Salem
programs, from recruiting, to practice and game planning. His work
on defensive skills at Salem helped the Oaks rank among the national
leaders for team defense.
A graduate of
University High
School in Newark, Baker graduated from Duquesne University in 1986
with a B.A. in Management and Marketing. |
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