Former UCI Coach Baker Poised for Assistant Job at Cincinnati

Rod Baker, whose six seasons as UC Irvine men’s basketball coach ended in March, has signed a personal services contract with the University of Cincinnati.

The Bearcats have an opening for an assistant coach and Baker is considered the front-runner. The personal services contract enables him to recruit for the Bearcats, school officials said.

Baker, who last month was a finalist for an assistant coach’s job at Rhode Island, will join a program that was among the best in the nation. Cincinnati finished 26-8 and reached second round of the NCAA tournament.

Baker could not be reached for comment. A secretary in the Cincinnati basketball office said he was on a recruiting trip.

Irvine was 1-25 last season, the second-worst record in the nation. Drake finished 1-26. The disastrous season came on the heels of Baker’s only winning season at Irvine. The Anteaters were 15-12 and finished tied for second in the Big West Conference.

Last season, Baker’s freshman-dominated team lost its first 13 games before beating Nevada in overtime. Baker was fired less than 24 hours after the final game. Pat Douglass, who led Cal State Bakersfield to three NCAA Division II national titles, was hired in April.

Baker had a 52-116 record at Irvine. The high point was in 1994, when the Anteaters reached the conference tournament championship game. Baker was previously an assistant at Seton Hall and was the head coach at Tufts from 1983-88.