Seton Hall’s Baker Signs On at Irvine : Basketball: Anteaters’ fifth coach in 25 years brings along his East Coast style of play, emphasizing defense and discipline.

Rod Baker traded the Big East for the Big West on Wednesday, when UC Irvine introduced him as its men’s basketball coach.

“I just changed my watch to West Coast time,” said Baker, a Seton Hall assistant who developed a superstitious habit of keeping his watch on Eastern time because he had done that when the Pirates made it to the 1989 Final Four in Seattle. “I also changed to Anteater time.”

One thing Baker won’t change is his adherence to an East Coast style of basketball.

“If in fact there is such a thing as an East Coast way to play basketball, that is how we will play,” said Baker, a believer in defense and discipline who was head coach at Tufts for five seasons before joining P.J. Carlesimo’s staff in 1988. “We will be aggressive. We will be hungry. We’re going to play pressure basketball. I’m not telling you we’re going to run up and down and jack it up. Hopefully the opposition is going to walk off the court and not have had a very good time.”

Baker, 39, has been in Southern California since Monday. He flew out from New Jersey to formally accept after being offered the job, and agreed to a four-year contract Wednesday after more than two days of negotiations. He will earn a base salary of $84,000, plus add-ons and incentives.

Baker became the fifth coach in the program’s 25-year history, replacing Bill Mulligan, who retired after 11 years. Mulligan was preceded by Tim Tift, Dick Davis and Danny Rogers.

“I’m very, very happy for Rod,” Carlesimo told the Associated Press. “It’s a great opportunity and well-deserved. I’m disappointed he’s leaving. He’s made a great contribution in the three years he was here. We’re going to miss him.”

Athletic Director Tom Ford praised Baker for his experience and a coaching resume that includes such academic standouts as Tufts, Columbia and Brown.

Baker inherits a team that has lost its two leading scorers after an 11-19 season. Irvine has never been to the NCAA tournament and is just a season removed from a 5-23 record that was the worst in school history.

“Four years ago, Seton Hall had never been to the NCAA tournament either,” Baker said. “You’ve got to be lucky and work hard. Does it frighten me? To be honest, nobody was going to offer me a job where the team goes every time. I expect to be able to say in the near future that we’ll be able to go.”

His only knowledge of the Irvine team came from a brief meeting with the players before the news conference, and a videotape of one of Irvine’s best performances of the season.

“I saw the California game,” Baker said. “I’m looking forward to seeing a couple of the bad games.”

Irvine’s players came away from the meeting with the impression that Baker was ready to get started.

“He laid down the rules,” said David Hollaway, a junior. “He seems like a nice guy, a good guy. He just basically talked about what he expected of us off the court.”

Khari Johnson, a sophomore, said he expects “a lot of changes.”

“I’m sure there will be a lot more discipline,” he said.

As to what style of play the Anteaters will adopt, sophomore Craig Marshall figured Baker would need a closer look at the personnel.

“He has to watch us play and decide how we’re going to play from there,” Marshall said. “We got a weight program to start on. He’s getting down to business.”

Baker’s first order of business will be recruiting. By coincidence, Irvine’s announcement came on the first day that high school players are allowed to sign NCAA letters of intent.

“I’ve got games to see,” said Baker, who recruited on the West Coast while he was at Seton Hall. “This evening I’m going to be at Fremont High. I have appointments made with people the coaching staff here has been recruiting. I have people back East we should contact.”

No decisions have been made about assistant coaches, Baker said.

As a head coach, Baker compiled a record of 72-52, guiding Tufts to a .500 record in his first season and following it with four consecutive winning seasons before accepting the job at Seton Hall.

“If in fact my coaching education took place at Tufts, then going to Seton Hall was like going to graduate school,” Baker said.

But the desire to direct a team of his own never left him.

“You want a chance to take a team and mold it into a team that plays the way you think basketball should be played,” he said.

The ideal style is not always the pragmatic one, he said.

“I’d love to be able to run up and down and take a good shot every time,” he said. “I’d love to have a bunch of great big guys to rebound every time we miss.

“We’re going to take care of the basketball and try to get a shot every time. That doesn’t mean we’re going to pass it 40 or 50 times to get a shot. We’re going to try to guard people. Let me rephrase: We’re going to guard people.”

Baker was reluctant to describe himself as a strict disciplinarian, but he was direct about his vision of how a program should be run.

“I believe certain things need to be done in certain ways,” he said. “You have to create an aura about your program and carry yourself in a certain way. We will have rules, yes. It’s not bad to follow rules. It ends up making you happy as you get older if you learn to follow rules.”

To conclude the news conference, Ford turned to his new coach and presented him with assorted Anteater paraphernalia, including a hat, a sweater and a new pen.

“To sign players with?” Baker quipped.

He had the idea.

THE ROD BAKER FILE

AGE: 39.

COACHING EXPERIENCE: Assistant coach, Seton Hall, 1988-91. Head coach, Tufts, 1983-1988. Assistant coach, St. Joseph’s, 1982-83. Assistant coach, Columbia, 1979-82. Assistant coach, Brown, 1977-79. Graduate assistant coach, Holy Cross College, 1976-77.

RECORD AS HEAD COACH: 72-52 in five seasons at Tufts.

PLAYING EXPERIENCE: Holy Cross College (Worcester, Mass.) and Roman Catholic High School (Philadelphia).

EDUCATION: B.A. in English, 1974, Holy Cross. Graduated from Roman Catholic High.

FAMILY: Wife, Deborah. Son, Zachary, 3, and daughter, Rachel, 1.

QUOTE: “It’s kind of nice to be an Anteater. I’ll take a lot of heat, but it’s better than being a Jumbo. That was the nickname at Tufts, where P.T. Barnum had been a trustee.”