Hoops player now a volleyball coach

Nathan Baker was a standout NAIA basketball player in his days at Martin Methodist College. So the natural thing for Baker to do would be to take up coaching when his playing days were over.

And, he did just that - just not in the sport most would think he would. Upon exhausting his eligibility in collegiate basketball, Baker, a native of Alabama, started working with the women's volleyball team at Martin Methodist, and now he's one of two finalists for the vacant head volleyball job at Montana State University-Northern.

"I wanted to be a coach," Baker said while in Havre Monday. "And I thought it would be basketball. But our volleyball team when I was in college was really exciting, super-dynamic and a lot of fun to watch. So when I was done playing, I started working for then head coach Rose Majors, who was on the 1984 Olympic team. I was basically a student assistant, or student manager, and I went from there to where I am today."

Where Baker is today, is a highly-successful and well-traveled volleyball coach of the last 15 years. He has been an assistant at NCAA Division I VCU and Campbell University. He was also head coach at NAIA Peru State in Nebraska, as well as the head coach at NCAA Division II institutions Tusculum College and the University of West Alabama. In his first season at Tusculum, his team posted a 14-win improvement at 23-10 overall. In the following year, they surpassed their previous win mark with a 25-10 record. His 2007 squad ranked third in Division II in blocks per game at 3.06 and 14th in hitting percentage at .257. s the leader of West Alabama's program, he led them to a berth in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) Tournament at a record of 22-11 in 2009. Five of his players were named All-GSC, one was selected freshman of the year and one was tabbed American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region.

Baker was an assistant coach for three seasons at Division I Campbell University from 2003-06. In 2002, he landed his first head coaching position as the volleyball and softball coach at Colorado Northwestern College, a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association. He's spent the last two seasons working under head coach Rose Powell at Alabama A&M.

"I've had a couple of stops at the NCAA Division I level," Baker said. "I have seven years of experience as a DI assistant coach. And eight years of head coaching experience, including at Peru State, where we very successful.

"I grew up in a small community, I'm used to a small community and a small college atmosphere," he continued. That's why I wanted to get back to that level. I understand small communities and NAIA schools. I really appreciate it. That's something you can really sell to recruits. That interaction you get between the players and community. You just can't get that at the bigger schools."

Baker also said building relationships is a big part of his coaching style, and he likes to coach tall, physical and athletic teams.

"I like to coach by relationship, to be there for my players," he said. "I like to make players a part of my family. As for the style of player, I like tall, physical teams. I like to recruit a lot of height. You can't coach height. We want to be fast-paced, but also very physical, and use our athleticism."

That's a trait of the Frontier Conference, a league Baker says he's very familiar with and, he said on Monday, he believes Northern has what it takes to continue to be successful in the Frontier.

"I met with the players today," he said. "There are some very good players already here. And I understand what it takes to compete in this conference. The Frontier is a very tough league. I've coached against a lot of the schools in this league, and it's a very good league."

Baker said that coaching in the Frontier is definitely part of what drew him to apply for the Northern position. But, he said, the progress Northern continues to make as a university, as well as the community of Havre and what it has to offer were also big factors.

"I look at a couple of things when looking at coaching jobs," Baker said. "First, how good is the conference? And the Frontier is a top conference. Second, what is the administration like? Are they moving in the right direction. And I think that's definitely the case here. You look on campus, there's new buildings going up, they're taking about building a new football stadium. The other sports programs here are very successful. It just feels like Northern is moving in the right direction, and I think, if it's done right, the volleyball program can do the same kinds of things.

"And again, I'm from a very small community, and I've coached at small schools," he continued. "And that's the type of place I like to be. In my down time, nothing is better to me than being in a tree stand hunting, or out fishing with my kids. Those are things I really enjoy."

Most of all, though, Baker enjoys coaching volleyball. His volleyball coaching career may have come from unusual beginnings, but 16 years later, his resume certainly speaks for itself.

"I really fell in love with the sport," Baker said. "When I was done playing basketball, I tried playing volleyball and I was terrible at it. But I just wanted to learn the sport, learn to coach. I was so fortunate to be at a school with a great head coach. Our volleyball program at Martin Methodist was very good. So I started by basically getting the players water and shagging balls, just basically being a manager. And eventually, I started really learning the game, learning the drills and starting to develop my own coaching style, and things really just took off for me from there."