The new academic year here at Dillard University has brought about many changes. Dillard’s athletic department has been one to benefit from those changes. With a new athletic director, women’s head coach, and now a new women’s assistant coach, the leadership of the Lady Blue Devils basketball team in on the highway to success.
Kiki Baker has been selected to serve as the new women’s assistant coach for the Lady Devils basketball team. With Baker along the side of head coach Robin Martin, the women’s team will work hard to win conference championships.
Baker has served as an assistant coach for five years and a head coach for two years. Receiving an associate’s degree in telecommunications from South Plains College, a bachelor’s degree in communications at the University of New Orleans, and a master’s degree in public relations at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Baker was prepared for anything.
She played on the women’s basketball team at UNO the entire duration of her college career. "I realized I wanted to become a basketball coach when I received a graduate assistant coaching job at ULL in 1997," Baker said.
Baker was the head coach at Southern University at Shreveport from 2000-2002. "It was a great experience and I learned a lot of management experience as well as more knowledge for the game," Baker said.
Before taking on the assistant coaching position here at Dillard, Baker coached at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas. She said that it has not been difficult to connect with the team or the staff. The team and staff were very receptive to me and I am a very easy person to interact with," Baker said.
Given the nickname "energizer bunny" by her peers, Baker plans to bring positive energy to the team. "I feel that I have a unique ability to bring people together for the common good," Baker said.
She said that it is very important to be knowledgeable of the game and understand how to follow the lead of the head coach. She also said that it is imperative that an assistant coach be a good listener, encouraging, and make themselves available for mentoring student athletes.
