WALNUT CREEK – The coaches of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) voted Jon Baird the conference’s Newcomer of the Year and to thee Second Team All-Conference team at the conclusion of the 2006-07 men’s basketball regular season. He was a junior then, right out of Shasta College. A hot-shot shooter with outstanding numbers, even more so than this season’s in fact. But his team was not winning (the Wildcats finished that season 7-20) and he now admits that he didn’t display the type of leadership the program needed from its leading scorer.
TThree years later Baird has returned to wrap up his collegiate career with his senior season. He’s a bit older, a lot wiser (the beard is a dead giveaway) and a leader on and off the floor for a team that’s defied expectations to finish the regular season 15-12 heading into tonight’s opening-round CCAA Championship Tournament game at Cal State Dominguez Hills. In fact, his teammates look to him for guidance and refer to him as “Pops.” They can also refer to him as a First Team All-CCAA selection now.
Baird was one of 10 players selected to the All-CCAA First Team by the conference’s coaches, it was announced Tuesday afternoon. He’s now one of only five Chico State players who have received that honor in the program’s 12 years in the CCAA and joins Scott Land and Andy Bocian as the only players who have earned All-CCAA recognition more than once in their careers.
Baird has averaged 14.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game this season. He leads the CCAA and ranks 28th in the nation in made 3-pointers per game at 2.9, and he ranks second in the conference and 41st in the nation in free throw percentage at 85.6 percent.
Baird’s value to the Wildcats has reached much deeper than those numbers, however. As the team’s only senior starter, he has taken on a larger on-court leadership role. And as the team’s elder statesman, he has helped steer the team’s six impressionable freshmen away from the pitfalls he encountered.
“Jon us someone that everyone in our program respects and looks up to, not only for what he does on the court, but in the locker room as well,” said Wildcats Head Coach Greg Clink. “He’s done a real good job of being a great role model for our younger guys and a great leader for our team. I can’t tell you how happy I am that he came back to play this season. It’s meant the world to this program.”
Baird pictured here in 2006 before his junior season in which he earned CCAA Newcomer of the Year honors
Though his legacy will be that of one of the cornerstones Clink chose to help build his program upon, Baird’s name will also be in the Chico State record book for many years to come. He’s scored 20 or more points 13 times, or exactly one-quarter of his career games. He enters tonight’s action third on Chico State’s career made 3-pointers list with 161, which is first among two-year players. He’s tied for fourth among the career 3-point percentage leaders at .429. And he’s the school’s career leader in free throw percentage at 84.6.
Baird’s 3-point percentage of 46.6 during his junior season ranks fifth on Chico State’s career list, but first among those with 65 or more makes. His 82 threes that season are tied for the sixth most in Chico State single-season history, and his 79 this season are the ninth most. And his free throw percentage of 85.6 is the fourth highest in Chico State single-season history.
Baird is joined on the first team by Conference Most Valuable Player Zac Tiedeman and Brian Morris of Humboldt State, CCAA Newcomer of the Year Marquel Hoskins from San Francisco State, Mike Cox of Cal State Dominguez Hills, Chris Fields of Cal State L.A., conference leading scorer Jordan Lawley of UC San Diego, Bryan LeDuc of Cal State San Bernardino, Steven Pratt of Sonoma State, and Austin Swift of Cal Poly Pomona.
Tiedeman, who becomes the third Humboldt State player in the last four years to be named Most Valuable Player, concluded the regular season averaging 12.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.9 steals a contest. During CCAA play, the Lumberjacks’ floor leader contributed 12.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists.
A transfer from Reedley College, Hoskins is averaging a team-best 14.2 points a game, while also contributing 5.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.6 assists and 1.8 steals for San Francisco State. His CCAA numbers included 14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals a game.
Cal Poly Pomona Head Coach Greg Kamansky was named the Coach of the Year for the second straight time. In his 10th season at Cal Poly Pomona, Kamansky guided the Broncos to a 20-5 overall record, including an 18-4 mark in CCAA play.
Conference Freshman of the Year Davion Berry of Cal State Monterey Bay was a Second Team selection, along with Cal Poly Pomona’s Donnelle Booker, Dwayne Fells and Dahir Nasser, Cal State San Bernardino’s Corey Caston and Aaron Hill, Humboldt State’s Kevin Atkins, Dwayne Jones of Cal State L.A., and Tim McGrath and Marquintice Davis of Cal State Dominguez Hills.
In his rookie season for Cal State Monterey Bay, Berry led the Otters with 12.9 points a contest, while averaging 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals. He averaged 13.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in CCAA play.
Click here for the release from the CCAA office