Isaiah Baker, a standout player and perhaps a better student, learned from that experience.
"A lot of the abuse he went through stemmed from not being sure of where you stand, being unsure about yourself," Isaiah Baker said. "What I took away from that is that you have to know in all situations where you stand. Growing up, he would always say, 'If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.'
"If I'm in a situation that's kind of dicey, where do I stand on this? Or if I'm at a point of conflict, where is my position on this? Where am I going to draw the line and say, no, I'm not doing this, or I'll do this but not that?
"That's what he taught me - if you don't know where you're going to draw that line, that's when you end up doing something you'll regret. That's when you end up overdoing something. That's when you end up using something that you shouldn't be using."
Isaiah Baker, 18, who goes by "Zay," is a fifth-year senior who averages 9.8 points and 7.4 rebounds and has earned a scholarship to Holy Cross. At 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, he has a nice outside shooting touch and good ballhandling skills for a big man.
In that way, he's a lot like his dad.
Sterling resumé
Jimmie Baker played at Olney and went to UNLV. There, as a freshman, he started using various drugs and alcohol, and his abuse escalated to include cocaine the next year. A 6-8 forward, he played for the Rebels as a sophomore and junior from 1972 to '74 - freshmen could not join the varsity back then - and transferred for his senior season to Hawaii, where he said his drug use subsided.
Drafted by the 76ers, he signed with the ABA's Kentucky Colonels and played five games before tearing up his knee. He returned to Hawaii, seeing that as a safe haven and hoping to get back in shape, but he drifted back toward drugs and alcohol.
