Veteran and championship coach Cedric Baker has been named the new South Carolina State head women’s basketball coach during a press conference by Interim Athletics Director Oliver “Buddy” Pough announced Monday (May 6).
“At this pivotal moment in the future of our women’s basketball program, we believe Coach Baker is the right person to lead us forward,” Pough said. “His experience, vision and values align with our mission of developing student-athletes who excel on and off the court.”
Baker joins SC State after an extraordinary 22-year tenure at Savannah State, where he built a program defined by excellence, discipline, and historic achievement.
“I’m excited to join the South Carolina State family and eager to begin building something special with the student-athletes, staff, and supporters here in Orangeburg, “said Baker.
During his career, his legacy includes guiding three collegiate programs to a total of six national tournament appearances, nine regular season and conference tournament championships, several outstanding Coach of the Year awards, and the development of several elite student-athletes.
Coach Baker’s most recent record-breaking milestones:
- Producing Savannah State’s only WNBA player and women’s basketball Olympian, Ezinne Kalu
- Recording the most single-season wins (27-3), and a historic 14-0 season start
- Achieving two perfect Academic Performance Rating scores of 1000
- Achieved the program’s highest Division II national rankings in both the WBCA and the NCAA South Region polls
- Securing key wins over major programs including the University of Florida, Georgia Southern University, University of Central Florida, East Carolina, Troy University and University of Louisiana-Lafayette
- Most Division I wins in Savannah State’s program history
- MEAC Tournament Ring Recipients of 2015
- MEAC Tournament Outstanding Coach of 2015.
Beyond the numbers, Baker brings a proven commitment to academic integrity, player development, and championship-level performance. A leader who builds culture and winning teams, his confidence will have an immediate and lasting impact at South Carolina State.
A 1990 graduate of Voorhees College, he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and applied sciences. At Voorhees, he was a four-year basketball letterman and a member of the 1987 Voorhees Men’s Basketball EAIC Championship team. ABOUT SC STATE ATHLETICS South Carolina State University is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level intercollegiate athletic program. The university currently fields teams in 14 sports: women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, softball, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, women’s soccer and football with all teams competing in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), except for women’s soccer.
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