Baker hired by UALR’s Walker

Charles Baker, former head coach of Southwest Christian Academy in Little Rock and the Arkansas Wings, has been hired as an assistant coach for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock men’s basketball team, Trojans Coach Darrell Walker announced Friday.

Baker has spent the previous three seasons coaching Southwest Christian, where the Lions won the National Association of Christian Athletes championship in 2017. He also coached the Wings, a member of the Elite Youth Basketball League, during those three seasons.

“I’ve known Charles for a long time and have seen what he’s been able to accomplish in his career,” Walker said in a statement. “He is a very good basketball coach with experience at a number of different levels and universities. He has a lot of experience recruiting and coaching at the Division I level, which was important to me, and is well respected.”

Baker has coached at six Division I programs. He was the associate head coach at Campbell from 2009-2013, spent two seasons as an assistant at Colorado from 2007-2009, one season as an assistant at Louisiana Tech in 2006-2007, and six seasons as an assistant at Kansas State from 2000-2006. Baker began his college coaching career as an assistant at Middle Tennessee State in 1990, and then spent the 1991-1992 season as an assistant at Coppin State.

Baker was the head coach for Shorter Junior College from 1992-1998, when the Bulldogs advanced to four consecutive Arkansas State Junior College championships.

He graduated from North Little Rock’s Ole Main High in 1984. He then attended Westark Junior College (now the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith) and Eastern Kentucky.