he River Rouge boys basketball team has a reputation longer than I75. The team wins games, and sends players to college. Over the years, the Panthers have been fingertips away from a MHSAA finals championship. River Rouge has chosen Josh Baker to turn the possibilities into a reality.

Born in California, and raised in Connecticut. Baker is a long way from where he would consider home. This does not make him unfamiliar with River Rouge and it's history of basketball. During his playing career at Maranatha Baptist in Wisconsin, he created a close relationship with teammate Nate Oats. Baker had earned Oats's trust at Maranatha Baptist. Making it an easy decision to bring Baker along when he got the job to become the head coach of the Romulus boys basketball team.

Baker worked as Nate Oat's assistant coach for ten years, before he moved on to coach at Southfield Christan. Where he became the Eagle's head coach for the next seven years, and led them to a handful of championships. An opportunity of a lifetime was presented to Nate Oats, a head coaching job at the University Of Alabama. Oats did not forget the staff who supported him. He brought samples of his previous staff to Tuscaloosa, Baker included. For the next two years Baker assisted Oats in film, scouting reports, and player development.

Alabama welcomed Baker with open arms, but something was missing, and it became another job to fill in the void. Baker's wife and children were still in Michigan. Two years Baker spent as a member of the Crimson Tide. Two years spent between Michigan and Alabama so the family could be together the way Baker feels they need to.

As talented, and experienced Josh Baker is. He cannot be in two places at once. He decided the best place to be was in the state of Michigan, with the family he created. The biggest push in the choice that guided him to River Rouge. Now. Baker is a history teacher for River Rouge High School, and can spend as much time with his family as he wants. At the same time, Baker has built a new family. The staff, players, athletic department, and superintendent has accepted him with open arms. All the pieces are aligned for the family man. Only time will tell how Coach Josh Baker and the River Rouge boys basketball team will play when everyone settles into the new system.

Xavier Jones - How did you get into basketball?

Josh Baker - I played in high school, I was a baseball and basketball guy. Somewhere through the journey, I fell in love with basketball. It took over. I quit baseball my last two years of high school, and basketball became the focus. From there I played at Maranatha Baptist in Wisconsin.

Xavier Jones - How important is family to you?

Josh Baker - Everything. I have five children of my own, including two sets of twins. I coached for a long time without having kids of my own. Having my own kids allows me to look at my players through the lens of a parent. I talk to them how I would like my kids to be talked to, and coach them how I would like my kids to be coached.

Xavier Jones - What's the biggest difference between coaching at high schools, and such high collegiate levels.

Josh Baker - The resources offered at Alabama were significantly better. There's more people there for support. But in high school you still need to have the same winning spirit to become better students and athletes. The goal is to run River Rouge the same way. The hardest part is the time away from the kids. That's one of the norms of the job, college coaches have to fight to have time with their families. But college programs are very acceptable of families. They are allowed at practices and recruiting events.

Xavier Jones - Were the systems any different depending on the schools you coached at?

Josh Baker - No, I would say they all hold some similarities. From Romulus, to Southfield Christian, to Alabama, and what we're trying to do here at Rouge. It all shares the same values and principles. Hopefully we just keep getting better to weed out bad habits and build new principles.

Xavier Jones - How deep is the relationship you have with your past teammates?

Josh Baker - Those relationships still hold a lot of weight. Most of what I learned from coaching, I learned it working under Nate. There's still a lot of guys I talk to from that era. There's a group chat with about ten of us in it. Nate pops up after the games because he knows we're all watching him anyway. The family both of us had before we started our own is still standing strong.