Baker signs with Bottineau
By Matthew Semisch, Bottineau Courant
The Dakota College at Bottineau’s men’s basketball team’s first member of its 2014 signing class is far from being a stranger to his new head coach.
Joe Baker, a senior guard from New Town listed at five feet and 10 inches, is set to graduate this spring from high school. Cory Fehringer, Baker’s soon-to-be new coach, is someone Baker’s already known for going on three years.
Before moving to Bottineau two years ago to lead the Lumberjacks, Fehringer was the top assistant coach at Dickinson State. It was there that he met Baker, who would make the almost two-hour trek south from New Town to volunteer with the DSU Blue Hawks.
Friendship and trust were thereby established between the pair. Since then, their relationship has developed into what happened Thursday at DCB’s Thatcher Hall when Baker signed to play basketball for the Lumberjacks.
"The difference between Joe and typical recruits is that we didn’t just watch Joe play and find out how good he is at the game of basketball," Fehringer said.
"We (at DSU) were putting him to work running clocks at games, helping to officiate, going to get food for the players and doing many different tasks. As a younger gentleman, he handled that really well and worked his tail off. "
Baker’s father, Enos, also played basketball at DCB.
