On The Road Again

BAKER ON THE MOVE ONE MORE TIME, LANDS AT FERNDALE FOR FINAL YEAR ON THE HARDWOOD

Tom Staton, Ferndale's head boys basketball coach, recently got some very good news to kick-off his summer vacation with. It appears that Staton's Eagles will be welcoming Joe "The Show" Baker, into the program for the 2010-2011 hoops season as Baker, one of the Oakland County's most prolific and well-traveled players has apparently transferred to Ferndale for his senior year.

Coming off almost a decade of futility in the once storied Eagles program, Staton, a 1975 graduate of the school and former prep all-stater himself, came to Ferndale last season and ushered in a landmark-resurgence. In just a year's time, the Eagles went from also-rans in 2009 to OAA conference champions with an undefeated league record in 2010. It was an exceptional accomplishment that can all be traced back to the fatherly love, discipline and stability coach Staton immediately instilled in the team from the minute he took the job last summer.

Up until this recent announcement, however, it looked like some rocky roads laid ahead for the second year head coach who is losing a bulk of his playing rotation to graduation, including all-conference studs Shawn Amiker and Jody Hill. Now, with Joe the Show in the fold at Ferndale, NOT SO MUCH!

A little simple math: Joe the Show playing for the Eagles in '11 = CONTENDERS ONCE AGAIN.

Baker's skills on the hardwood are unquestionable. In parts of two seasons at the varsity level with Clawson (not including his freshman year spent getting minutes off the bench at Southfield-Lathrup), he has averaged over 25 ppg and shot a very high field goal percentage for a perimeter player. This kid has bonafide D1 talent at the 2-spot and is a tough-as-nails competitor on the court at all times. Throw him into the mix with an already solid returning backcourt in Anthony Rice (definition of a human sparkplug in spelling Amiker and Hill last season) and Donovan Reynolds (ineligible 2010, but trust Burney when he tells you that he will be a star this upcoming season) and the Eagles' Nest is going to be rocking and rolling as loud as ever next winter.

The Show comes with some baggage though – moving on to Ferndale will be his third school switch in four years – and this can't be ignored when analyzing his situation. That said, I think Joe is a good kid, with good intentions and I wish nothing but the best for him. Burney sincerely hopes that being under the guidance of a top notch hoops guru and tough love disciplinarian like Staton serves him and the Eagles program as a whole exceptionally well.