The 2023 Basketball season is starting soon but things will be a little different for the Bulldogs as they welcome math teacher Matt Baker as the new head coach for Lakeview. Baker went to Poland High School and is a graduate of Youngstown State University. Baker is very familiar with sports, he was a great Basketball player and a great Baseball player averaging 15 points and 8 rebounds a game and helping his Baseball team reach state with his pitching skills.
Baker is no one new to the Bulldogs as he has been an assistant and the JV head coach for a couple of years now. Baker was named the New Head Coach for the Bulldogs when Mark Novotny was named the new athletic director for Lakeview.
Baker was asked what is so special to him about being the new Head Coach for the Bulldogs.
Baker states “This will be my first year as a varsity basketball coach so having the opportunity to have my first year here at Lakeview is very special. Having taught here the last four years and spending the last couple of years as the JV coach, really allowed me to establish a connection with the players and build relationships with the staff and the community. “
Baker was also asked what he was looking to do differently to get the program back on track for this season and the seasons to come.
Lastly, Baker states “We want to try to build off of the progress we made last season. We had a lot of guys make significant strides and establish a role and an identity on the team. We also bring a lot of our guys back from last year which is awesome because a lot of them have varsity experience already, so they won’t be fazed or intimidated.”
Coach Baker will be looking forward to building on what they built last year and turning the program around to create a winning culture here at Lakeview.
Returning players were asked what is so special about Coach Baker and how excited they are to be coached by him this upcoming season.
Player Kyle Senkowitz states ¨Coach Baker is a really special guy, he has been in the program for a couple of years now and just being the JV coach, he helps out so much in making players better every single day. Coach Baker wants to win and it shows at practice whether it’s him correcting you and showing you what to do or working 1 on 1 with him on certain things to get better at. I am really excited to be coached by him this season and in his new role as the Head Coach, he is going to do great things for this program and make us all better athletes and people in and outside of the gym all year long¨
Another player, Ryan Gee states, ¨Baker is a really good guy and he was a great athlete too. Baker has done nothing but help the program out and will do anything it takes to help us all become better athletes. I am really excited to see what Coach Baker has to bring to the table this season being the leader of our team now, he is going to do nothing but great things and make us all better athletes every day of the week¨
The Bulldogs have to play together and give it their all every practice this season and believe in the coaches that they will be put in the best position to win games and be better athletes overall.
The Bulldogs open their season up against the Liberty Leopards on December 5th at Liberty.
