Recruiting Report: Zach Baker (2016)
Update from 9/21/15 by Alex Conover At 6-foot-4 and well built, Zach Baker has the frame of a college player already. This summer was about building skill and developing under pressure, and he did that well with Heat Northwest. Now,…
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Continue ReadingUpdate from 9/21/15 by Alex Conover
At 6-foot-4 and well built, Zach Baker has the frame of a college player already. This summer was about building skill and developing under pressure, and he did that well with Heat Northwest.
Now, Baker is making the rounds and courting the multiple college programs that want him on campus.
“I have recently visited Hamline, Morningside, Viterbo, and Concordia-Moorhead,” Baker told NHR. “Besides that, I've been hearing from MSOE, UW-River Falls, UW-La Crosse, and very recently Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.”
Despite having the size to play tight end or linebacker, Baker instead focuses his fall season on AP Calculus, AP Physics, lifting weights and fall ball. He is an excellent student who carries a 4.15 GPA; because of this, he has a full academic ride to Morningside along with an athletic scholarship offer from Viterbo.
NHR’s ryanjames recently previewed Blaine’s section, and the general thought is that the size there (Baker, Duluth-committed Ben Scherer and Tim Leo) should push the rest of the section around pretty effectively. He also mentioned Byron Bynum and Dakota Neppl as key pieces.
“We are going to have a really strong first six, and making it to state is a very attainable goal — especially considering our section,” Baker said.
Update from 6/23/15 by Alex Conover
Do you know about Blaine’s Zach Baker? Show up to a Heat Northwest game and listen to their coach yell “Baker, Baker, Baker!!” throughout the contest. That’s how I learned who Zach was.
All jokes aside (coach Duberry pushes everyone on Heat NW equally hard, by the way), Baker is a 6-foot-4, 200-pound forward with lots of potential. He’s already physically well-built, and from the eye test he could fit into a college lineup.
“It's been going really well so far, we have been getting to the elite eight every weekend and a few tournaments we have gotten past that,” Baker told NHR. “I think we've been playing really well as a team, and we obviously have people who can make great plays at every position.”
Baker picked up an NAIA offer from Viterbo recently along with other interest.
“So far I've had the most contact with Concordia-Moorhead, MSOE, University of Chicago, Macalester, Carleton, Viterbo, and UW-River Falls,” Baker said. “On top of that I've gotten letters of interest from quite a few other Midwest D3s.”
When you see U of Chicago, Mac, and Carleton on a prospect’s interest list, you have to wonder about their grades. Baker relayed to NHR that he carries a 31 ACT and a 4.15 GPA… prime-time high-academic territory. He visited MSOE recently and affirmed his interest in the engineering field. Stay tuned on Baker’s development as the grassroots season concludes and his senior season begins.