Geordano "Geo" Baker-Occeus (born July 21, 1998) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Early life and high school career

Baker began playing basketball at age seven under the guidance of his mother, a former college player. In eighth grade, he played varsity basketball for

Buckingham Browne & Nichols School Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, often referred to as BB&N, is an independent co-educational day school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, educating students from pre-kindergarten (called Beginners) through twelfth grade. BB&N is regularly ranked am ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, standing and weighing 90 lbs (41 kg). At age 15, he grew about six inches to reach a height of . For his sophomore season, Baker moved to

Pinkerton Academy Pinkerton Academy is a secondary school in Derry, New Hampshire, United States. It serves roughly 3,269 students, making it by far the largest high school in New Hampshire, more than 1,300 students greater than the next largest high school. Pi ...

Derry, New Hampshire Derry is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 34,317 at the 2020 census. Although it is a town and not a city, Derry is the most populous community in Rockingham County and the fourth most populous in the ...

to be closer to home. He averaged 14.2 points and eight assists per game, leading his team to the New Hampshire Division 1 title game. After drawing

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

interest, Baker transferred to

Proctor Academy Proctor Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory boarding school for grades 9–12 located on in Andover, New Hampshire. There are about 370 students. History Origin Proctor Academy first began as Andover Academy, established in 18 ...

Andover, New Hampshire Andover is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,406 at the 2020 census. Andover includes the villages of Cilleyville, Potter Place, East Andover, and West Andover, in addition to the town center. The to ...

. As a junior, he averaged 18 points, six assists and five rebounds per game, earning

New England Preparatory School Athletic Council The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) is an organization that serves as the governing body for sports in preparatory schools and leagues in New England. The organization has 169 full member schools as well as 24 associate ...

(NEPSAC) All-Class AA honors. In his senior season, Baker was named to the First Team NEPSAC Class AA All-New England. He played

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

basketball for the DC Blue Devils, who did not compete at any major circuits. In high school, Baker also played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, which was the first sport he took interest in.

Recruiting

Baker was a consensus three-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and was considered the third-best player from New Hampshire in the 2017 class by the New England Recruiting Report. His only high major NCAA Division I offers came from

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

and

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. On July 27, 2016, following his junior season, Baker committed to play

for Rutgers.

College career

As a freshman, Baker was a regular starter for Rutgers, joining

Corey Sanders Corey Sanders (born March 7, 1975) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer. Known as "T-Rex", Sanders' most notable victory came in an upset knockout against future WBC world champion Oleg Maskaev in 2002, which temporarily ...

in the backcourt. On November 21, 2017, he scored a career-high 29 points, shooting 7–of–10 from three-point range, in an 83–54 win over

Bryant Bryant may refer to: Organizations * Bryant Bank, a bank in Alabama, United States * Bryant Electric Company, an American manufacturer of electrical components * Bryant Homes, a British house builder, part of Taylor Woodrow * Bryant University ...

. He recorded the most single-game points and three-pointers by a Rutgers freshman since Todd Billet in 2000. On December 9, Baker posted his first

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

with 19 points and 11 assists in a 92–54 victory over

Fairleigh Dickinson Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

. In his freshman season, he averaged 10.9 points, 2.6 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game and was named Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore, Baker averaged 12.2 points, 4.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, and ranked second in the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

with 1.6 steals per game. He was an All-Big Ten honorable mention and a Third Team All-Met selection. Baker missed three games in January 2020 with a thumb injury. On January 25, 2020, in his junior season, Baker made a game-winning three-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining to help defeat

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, 75–72. On February 9, he scored a season-high 25 points, 23 of which came after halftime, along with six rebounds and five assists in a 77–73 overtime victory over Northwestern. As a junior, Baker averaged 10.9 points, 3.5 assists and three rebounds per game, earning Third Team All-Big Ten honors from the league's coaches and First Team All-Met. In Baker's senior season debut on November 25, 2020, he sprained his ankle in a win over

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devo ...

and was ruled out for several games. Baker was named to the Third Team All-Big Ten by the coaches.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 29 , , 31.6 , , .380 , , .361 , , .785 , , 2.2 , , 2.6 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 30 , , 34.0 , , .354 , , .341 , , .741 , , 3.1 , , 4.1 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 19 , , 28.9 , , .399 , , .280 , , .772 , , 3.0 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 25 , , 22 , , 31.2 , , .409 , , .303 , , .750 , , 3.1 , , 3.2 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 10.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 117 , , 100 , , 31.5 , , .383 , , .325 , , .762 , , 2.8 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , 11.1

Personal life

Baker's mother, Irene, was the women's basketball team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in the 1990s. His father, who Baker does not have a close relationship with, played professional soccer.

References

External links

Rutgers Scarlet Knights bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Geo 1998 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Hampshire People from Derry, New Hampshire Pinkerton Academy alumni Point guards Shooting guards Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball players Sportspeople from Rockingham County, New Hampshire