Illini Legends, Lists & Lore: Ryan Baker

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As he marks his 56th birthday on Saturday, former Illini men's basketball manager Ryan Baker fondly reflects upon his nearly 40-year relationship with the University of Illinois.

"The U of I changed my life, and my affiliation with Illini basketball exponentially changed my life," Baker said. "I have so many treasured relationships and I wouldn't be where I am today. I've been incredibly blessed and I'm extremely grateful."

Baker's love story with sports began as a boy growing up on Chicago's 155th Street.

"It was a different time," he recalled. "The Cubs were on TV 81 afternoons a year. My grandparents lived around the block, and I'd go hang out with my grandfather. He'd either be watching the Cubs on a TV in the living room or listening on the radio. WGN was a soundtrack of my youth -- Jack Brickhouse, Harry Caray, Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau -- and I developed kind of a cadence that went along with watching or listening to a baseball game. So some of the seeds of me becoming a sportscaster and a news anchor and reporter were planted back then."

As a kid, Baker loved to play basketball.

"I definitely did but I just didn't play it as well as others," he said. "My playing career ended in seventh grade when I got cut from the junior high team at Coolidge Junior High School, which was extremely talented and went on to win a couple of state championships. On the team were Sam Mack, who went on to play in the NBA. Another guy, Anthony White, was in sixth grade when I saw him dunk the ball. Another friend, Michael Clark, went on to play at UIC. At the time, I told our coach -- Frank Rago -- that I really wanted to be a part of the team. So I became the team manager. I kept the scorebook, I ran the scoreboard and I was the P.A. (public address) announcer for the games."

Baker then attended Thornridge High School -- home of boys' basketball teams that won back-to-back state championships in 1971 and 1972.

"Quinn Buckner was a neighbor, two or three houses down from us on 155th Street," he said of the former standout Thornridge guard who went on to play at Indiana. "Quinn's mother was my junior high principal. I remember when Quinn would bring some of his teammates -- Bobby Wilkerson and Scott May -- back to the neighborhood. I wish the iPhone had existed 50 years ago because I remember Quinn putting the Olympic gold medal around my neck."

Baker eventually became the head manager under Mike Flaherty, and it was in high school when Baker met Illini coach Lou Henson.

"They used to play the City Suburban high school all-star game up at the old Loyola gym," he remembered. "Well, Coach Henson was there. I just walked up to him, introduced myself, and said, 'I'm Ryan Baker, an incoming freshman at the University of Illinois. I'd like to be a basketball manager for you.' I recall moving into my dorm on a Sunday, and the next day I went to Coach's office, and the rest is history. I was a manager for four years, from 1987 to 1991. Jim Phillips had just finished as senior manager, but I was on the same crew as Nate Sudduth and Lynn Carroll, Mark Wessel, Andrew Haring and Gary Brunner. All guys who I'm still buddies with today."

That first Illini team practice was a memorable one for Baker.

"We had preseason workouts at Huff (Hall)," he said. "I remember a loose ball coming toward me and Nick Anderson was right behind. They called Nick 'Drawers' because he had a big booty. Well, I was constructed similarly, so he called me 'Big Drawers' and that nickname stuck with me to this day."

Baker knew right away that he was witnessing a special group.

"It was that first preseason practice when I saw that intensity," he said. "Recognizing the collection of talent that we already had, and then with Kenny (Battle) and Marcus (Liberty) coming in, I knew that this team was going to be really good. With their athleticism, their competitiveness, their camaraderie and their chemistry. ... Well, let's just say that you know it when you see it."

One Illini player stood out above the others for Baker.

"I've never, ever seen a more exciting and explosive player than Kenny," he said. "The intensity that he brought in practice -- just incredible will and desire. And then you had other guys like (Stephen) Bardo who were willing to sacrifice their game for the good of the team. After my freshman year when we lost to Villanova in the second round of the NCAA tournament, I could see that the guys had made up their mind to be special and that they were going to do whatever it took to do that. But more than the games, I most remember the practices and in the locker room and on the bus and in the apartments. Those are the incredible memories that I'll never forget."

Was there an Illini player who wasn't a star but who was integral to the team's success? For Baker, it was P.J. Bowman.

"P.J. has been one of my best friends through the years," Baker said. "In my junior year, Stephen, P.J. and I had an apartment together, right behind the Sig Ep house. P.J.'s story is incredible. He was a highly recruited basketball player out of Michigan who hurt his knee playing football. Then he wound up going to Parkland (Junior College) and becoming a JUCO All-American, then transferring to Illinois. He was truly an unsung hero for the Flyin' Illini, then became a starter for most of the 1989-90 season.

"P.J. was a pre-med guy who now is an extremely successful psychiatrist in Los Angeles. I call him the shrink to the stars. He worked behind the scenes, talking guys off the ledge. There are a lot of dynamics that go into a season and a lot of emotional highs and lows. P.J. could navigate seamlessly between those worlds of what an athlete goes through. Fans may not remember how important P.J. was in that game at Indiana when Nick hit the game-winner. We were down double-digits in the second half and Coach Henson inserted P.J. into the game, maybe out of desperation. Well, he hit a critical three-pointer to give us some momentum and then hit a second three. We absolutely don't win that game without P.J. Bowman."

Baker says that when he decided to be a manager, it wasn't just to hang around Illinois basketball or to be a part of the team.

"My biggest motivation was to align myself with people who do what I wanted to do," he said. "I knew that as a basketball manager, that would give me access to all the broadcasters who were covering the team. That gave me the chance to meet and talk with Dick Vitale and to James Brown. I recall having a conversation with James Brown outside Assembly Hall after a game and he was so gracious with his time, giving me advice and encouragement."

Baker says he also owes a lot to Champaign sportscasters Dan Roan and Dan Swaney. In June 1991, Baker got his first paying job in local television as a photographer at WICD. Within six months, he was on the air as a news reporter and producing the 6 p.m. news. After several months, Dave Shaul at Channel 3 called him. Baker said that "it felt like I had been called up to the Yankees."

In 1994, he got a job with San Diego's KFMB-TV. A year later he set his sights upon becoming a sports reporter and his agent lined him up for interviews in Charlotte, N.C., Seattle, Hartford, Conn., and Orlando, Fla.

"Well, my ears went up when I heard Orlando because that's where Nick was with the Magic, playing with Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) and Penny (Hardaway)," Baker said. "The Orlando station flew me in for an audition to be the weekend sports anchor and, afterwards, offered me the job. I was there from 1995 through 2003."

In July 2003, Baker got the opportunity to come home for a job in Chicago. He stayed five years at WMAQ-TV, then moved to WBBM-TV in 2008. He said "it's been a pretty good run."

"I was on the field in Houston after the Sox swept the Astros," he said of the 2005 World Series. "I was on the ice for all three of the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup championships. I was in Miami for week-long coverage when the Bears played in the 2007 Super Bowl. I was in New York when Derrick Rose, the South Side kid, was drafted No. 1 by the Bulls. And I was in Cleveland, getting doused with champagne in the locker room for the historic Cubs' World Series. All those things are unbelievable and indescribable. But the story that stands out the most for me, that was the most fulfilling, was Loyola's run to the Final Four. They were the small Cinderella school, coming out of nowhere, and then the Sister Jean element added a whole other layer to it. It enamored not only Chicago but the entire country.

"Those are the things I love, getting to know the individuals and telling their stories. Do you know what I root for most? The best story. I don't care who wins or loses because that's beyond my control."

Today, Baker's parents -- Ronald and Czrana -- are nearly 40-year residents of Urbana. At home in Glenview, Baker and his wife, Jessa, are raising daughters Grace (11) and Rose (9).

"I'm absolutely outnumbered by girls," Ryan said, "but I wouldn't have it any other way."

Illini Birthdays

➜ Saturday: Craig Virgin, cross country/track & field (70)

➜ Sunday: Bob Norman wrestling (94)

➜ Monday: Rachel Henderson Ngom volleyball

➜ Tuesday: Lee Ann Butcher Gilbert, softball

➜ Wednesday: Celena Mondie Milner track & field

➜ Thursday: Tommy Devito, football (27)

➜ Friday: Brandon Hansen, football (19)

By Mike Pearson, author of Illinois Legends, Lists & Lore (Third Edition available online). Get more Illini birthdays, trivia and historical tidbits daily on "X" at IlliniLegends, on Facebook at SportsLegendsListsLore, and on LinkedIn. His website is www.SportsLLL.com.