The Baker Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent

Baker University Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. Th ...

, located in

Baldwin City, Kansas Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States, about south of Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,826. The city is home to Baker University, the state's oldest four-year university. Histor ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA), primarily competing as a founding member of the

Heart of America Athletic Conference The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC or The Heart) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in ...

(HAAC) since its inception in the 1971–72 academic year. The Wildcats previously competed in the

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second-oldest in the United St ...

(KCAC) from 1902–03 to 1970–71.

Varsity teams

Baker competes in 23 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling; and co-ed sports includes cheerleading, dance and eSports.

Colors

They have only one official color: cadmium orange. The only other school in the country to have orange as their only official color is

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

Facilities

* Alvamar Golf Course: Golf * Cavaness Field: Softball * Collins Gymnasium: Basketball, volleyball, and wrestling * Laury Tennis Courts: Tennis * Liston Stadium: Football, track, and select soccer matches * Mabee Memorial Hall: Practice facilities (basketball), Cheer, Athletic offices * North Park: Baseball

Mascot

The official mascot of Baker University Athletic teams is WOWzer the Wildcat. WOWZer debuted, as the new mascot, on September 8, 2007, at the football home-opener in honor of the university's sesquicentennial. Reina Murphy, a freshman from the

Kansas City metropolitan area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, won the university's name the Wildcat contest.

Notable alumni

* Mike Gardner, American football head coach *

George LaFrance George Herbert LaFrance III (born September 24, 1965) is a former Arena Football League (AFL) offensive specialist. In a playing career lasting twelve years, he played for the Detroit Drive (1988 Arena Football League season, 1988-1993 Arena Foo ...

, American football player *

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American professional American football, football coach who most recently was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 2020 Dallas Cowboys season, 2020 t ...

, American football head coach * Vidal Nuño, baseball player * Tanner Purdum, American football player * Blake Treinen, baseball player

Notable coaches

Phog Allen Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach and physician. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach at Baker University, the

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. In 2024, enrollment was 13,734 students from 48 states and 52 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, incl ...

and the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

* Emil Liston

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach (1930–1945) and administrator, inductee to

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

, and creator of the NAIA college basketball tournament * Charlie Richard, inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

References

External links

* {{Kansas Sports Heart of America Athletic Conference schools