The University of Dayton women’s basketball program and head coach Tamika Williams-Jeter have announced the hiring of Tari Cummings-Baker as the new Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
“I’d like to welcome Tari to our Flyer Family,” said Williams-Jeter. “In her almost 20 year tenure, she has worn every hat from assistant coach to associate head coach to head coach. Tari has been able to recruit some of the best players in the country and developed them into a pair of top 10 WNBA draft picks and numerous all-conference selections. She brings an elite mentality on and off the court, and plenty of NCAA tournament appearances. These are all things we want to continue to add to Dayton women’s basketball.”
Tari Cummings-Baker joined the Dayton Flyer staff as Chief of Staff in June 2025, following a four-year tenure as Associate Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the Baylor Bears. While at Baylor, she enjoyed four NCAA Tournament bids, including one Sweet 16 appearance. Coach Cumming-Baker was an integral part of their Big 12 championship in their first year and a runner-up championship year in the 2024-2025 season. Cummings-Baker arrived in Waco after a head-coaching post at Arkansas-Fort Smith and was previously a college assistant at Cincinnati, Houston, Arkansas, Tulsa and UAFS.
Cummings-Baker primarily worked with the forwards and served as Baylor’s recruiting coordinator. During the 2022-23 season, Cummings-Baker mentored a pair of Big 12 All-Freshman Team selections in Bella Fontleroy and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, as well as Caitlin Bickle, who earned an all-conference selection for the first time in her five-year career. Additionally, Littlepage-Buggs was voted the unanimous 2023 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, becoming just the fourth Bear in program history to earn the distinction.
In her first year at Baylor, Cummings-Baker worked with a pair of future top-10 WNBA Draft picks, NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo. The first recruiting class for Collen and her staff came in at No. 9 in the nation, according to ESPN’s HoopGurlz.
Prior to a three-year head-coaching stint at UAFS, Cummings-Baker was an assistant at Tulsa for the 2017-18 season, she spent six seasons at Arkansas from 2011-2017, two at Houston from 2009-11, two at Cincinnati from 2007-09 and four seasons at UAFS as an assistant from 2003-07.
Overall, Cummings-Baker has been in the coaching profession at the college level for 24 seasons. Her Arkansas teams reached the NCAA Tournament Second Round twice, and Houston reached the NCAA Tournament in 2011. At Arkansas and Houston, she served as the recruiting coordinator for the respective programs, and at Arkansas, Cummings-Baker signed four ESPNW Hoopgurlz Top 100 recruits.
Cummings-Baker played two seasons at UAFS when the program was a two-year school, finishing with 1,262 career points during that time. She was named an All American in 1999 by the NJCAA. She transferred to Oklahoma State, where she was an All-Big 12 performer during the 2001-02 season, averaging 13.1 points per game and leading the Cowgirls in rebounding with 6.9 per contest.
She earned an associate’s degree from UAFS in 1999 and graduated from Oklahoma State in 2003 with a degree in sociology. Cummings-Baker is married to Dr. J.C. Baker and has two daughters, Tiya Douglas and Joy Baker.
Cummings-Baker joins an experienced Dayton coaching staff entering its fourth season under the direction of Coach Williams-Jeter. The Flyers have won a postseason game and increased their win total by at least five games each of the past three years.
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