Editors Note: The following article is part of an occasional series of feature stories.
“Without question, Beth Baker was the best coach I have faced in 25 years of college coaching,” notes longtime Millikin University women's basketball coach Lori Kerans. This strong praise of Baker, Wheaton's head women's basketball coach for 25 years, comes following Beth's announcement of her retirement in May. Kerans' praise also comes from an experienced coach who has coached Millikin to a NCAA Division III National Championship in 2005 and guided Millikin to several College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships. Kerans notes, “Beth's Wheaton teams were well-prepared, well-conditioned, believed in each other, represented their families and college well. They played with heart and pride, and competed every single time they stepped on the court."
Beth (McKinney) Baker ('77) is the winningest basketball coach in Wheaton history, with 434 career wins, six College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin titles and seven NCAA Tournament appearances. However, as she noted at the time of her retirement announcement, “It has been a privilege to serve as the head coach of the women's basketball program at Wheaton College for 25 years.” Beth continued at the time of her announcement, “I have had the opportunity to not only enjoy watching athletes compete on the court, but even more meaningful has been the delight of coming alongside young women in a critical stage in their faith journey, and serve as a pointer to deepening their relationship with Jesus Christ. What a joy it has been to not only be a part of the student-athletes' lives, but other coaches' lives as well. I am thankful for the life-long relationships that will continue in the years to come.”
One of those student-athletes is Sarah Harris ('03), who later would become a basketball coach a few years after her four-year playing career and graduation from Wheaton. Harris served as the head women's basketball at Grove City College from 2006 until 2010 and returned to Wheaton last season to serve as an assistant coach. Sarah recalls, “Coach Baker never shied away from making sure her players knew that she considered her job to mean so much more than developing basketball players and winning basketball games. She used the context of a basketball court to share her passion and love for Christ with us on a daily basis.” Sarah continues, “Every post-season meeting with players involved a discussion about the season, but included the question, 'What did the Lord teach you this year?'”
Sarah notes, “I can recall a locker room talk where she spoke passionately about arming ourselves for both competition and battles that go beyond the basketball court. I knew that she labored to prepare us for the offensive and defensive challenges that we would face for a 40-minute game, but also for the temptations, discouragements, and struggles we would face for the rest of our lives. It wasn't until I arrived at Wheaton that I discovered that representing God in athletics entailed displaying His excellence through basketball. She pushed us to make the most of our abilities because anything less than our best was a poor representation of God's generous gifts. This was a reality I learned from her.”
It wasn't just her players that were affected by Beth's actions. "Beth has been the Dean of CCIW Women's Basketball for 25 years,” notes Kerans. Lori continues, “She is the person we all turned to for personal and professional advice; she is the individual who accepted the torch from the Harriett Crannell's (Millikin) and Barb Cothren's (Illinois Wesleyan) in our conference and kept the passion for equity in athletics alive as the programs were being conceived and were developing. But perhaps most importantly, Beth had and continues to have an unwavering internal drive to 'do things right'.”
In the history of CCIW women's basketball, no coaches have more conference crowns than Kerans (11) and Baker (6). They were strong competitors on the court, as the span from 1992-2007 would indicate. In those 15 years, Wheaton or Millikin won at least a share of all but three of the conference's championships in women's basketball. Despite a rivalry in basketball on the court, Kerans says of Beth, “When I think of Beth I think of her class, integrity, the principles she holds close, her compassion, and her faith." Lori notes, "Beth has always understood that basketball is a game, an opportunity to showcase skill, ability, and teamwork. Once the game was over, Beth became a friend to the coaches, and a role-model to the athletes, both at Wheaton and every other university Wheaton faced. She and I talked many times about family, faith, our universities, our teams, our personal victories, and our more private trials. She is one of those people who makes it easy to be 'real', to be honest, and to feel as if you could tell her anything and she would listen and understand."
Nancy Fahey has served as the head women's basketball coach at Washington University in St. Louis for the past 25 seasons. She has guided the Bears to five NCAA National Championships in that time, with multiple national Coach of the Year honors. Her teams faced off against Baker's program several times through the years, including twice in NCAA Tournament play. She reflects on those Wheaton teams, “Her teams were always very competitive, well-coached and a very classy program. Those are the three things I think of when I think of Beth's teams.”
“When the game started, Beth was fiercely competitive and always put a competitive team on the court,” notes Fahey. She continues, “But, she knew how to separate herself from that when the game was over and today I don't think as many coaches do that. Once the game was over she would take some time to talk to you and I always appreciated that.” Fahey recalls, “We played a game at Wheaton in 1999 and it was my 300th career victory. After the game, Beth gave me the game ball. That was the first and last time an opposing coach has done that and it has always stuck with me how classy that was of her.”
Kent Madsen served alongside Beth as an assistant coach for more than a decade. In May, he was named the head coach of the program, succeeding his longtime mentor. Madsen says of taking over the reigns of the program that Baker helped build for 25 years, “Beth has set a high bar for this program. Not only with tremendous success on the court, but also in her walk with Christ and the example that she has set for her players. I appreciate the example that she has set and the numerous lives that she has impacted in pointing the players towards Christ.”
Harris says of Beth's impact on her own career choice, “As someone who chose to enter into the coaching profession, Coach Baker was a tremendous resource for me. Yes, I copied some of her drills, and even some of her phrases! However, it was her model of using sport to disciple and mentor young women that I found myself replicating. Even more, it was incredibly encouraging to have a model of a Christian woman who successfully and faithfully served as a head coach for 25 years.” Sarah says of Beth, “I found that Coach Baker was an avid supporter who celebrated my team's successes with almost more excitement than I had! None of this was a surprise. She was as ready and eager to invest in my life after I graduated as she was when I played for her. Her players did not simply exist in her program for their careers at Wheaton; she continues to love her players--not because of what we offer her but because she considers us sisters in Christ.”
