Tay Baker dies at 99, uniquely coached UC Bearcats, Xavier Musketeers

The man with the most unique college coaching record in Cincinnati has died.

Tay Baker, an Ohio Basketball Hall of Famer, died on Sept. 29. He recently celebrated his 99th birthday on Sept. 24.

The 1945 Hamilton High School graduate would eventually play basketball for the Cincinnati Bearcats, then serve as their head coach. Later, he moved over to Victory Parkway and the Xavier Musketeers, something hard to fathom in today’s world of college basketball.

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After an Army stint, Baker played for Coach John Wiethe’s UC Bearcats between 1947 and 1950. He then was head coach at Lebanon, Wyoming and Miamisburg High Schools before returning to UC as an assistant to George Smith.

Baker saw UC Bearcats in their prime

When UC head coach Ed Jucker left, Baker became head coach in 1965 and went 125-60 through 1972 with a winning percentage of .676, which is actually higher than Mick Cronin’s .668 (though Cronin coached more games).

Former UC basketball coach Tay Baker (left) is joined by former player Roland West (center) and Claude Rost at a weekly gathering of Bearcats May 17.

“We were all faculty,” Baker said of the college model at the time. “We had to teach 12 hours. I also the first year I was over there had the track and cross country team. I got rid of it after that first year as we were doing pretty good in basketball.”

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To Baker’s point, George Smith, who coached Oscar Robertson and later became athletic director, also served as a football assistant for a year. Jucker, before becoming a two-time national champion basketball coach, led the baseball team for six years. One of his notable players was a freshman basketball player who could throw a baseball quicker than most: Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.

Tay Baker (left) succeeded Ed Jucker (right) who succeeded George Smith after the 1959-60 UC basketball season. Jucker won back-to-back national championships the next two seasons and was national runner-up in 1963. Baker took over when Jucker departed in 1965.

Tay…

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Publish date : 2026-09-30 17:32:00

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