Every athlete dreams of seeing their name in the history books and being beloved by fans. However, only a select few achieve that level of success. Those who have been fortunate enough to reach such an elite status, when asked how they made it happen, will all attest their success to long hours of hard work and dedication.
Reed Baker is an athlete who has been on both ends of the spectrum. He has experienced tremendous success in his days as a basketball player and nowadays hes found a way to stay involved with the sport, training the next generation of talent and instilling the values necessary to be great.
FGCU has had many athletes don the green and blue over the schools short history and a few of them have cemented their legacies. Baker is one of those athletes. He landed at FGCU in 2007 after transferring from the University of Michigan.
During his three seasons with the Eagles, he averaged 27.4 minutes and 13.1 points per game, before graduating in 2011. Baker currently holds FGCUs individual career record for free-throw percentage, making 85.2 percent of his shots from the charity stripe.
After graduating from FGCU, Baker took his talents overseas, playing professionally in Turkey and Thailand. He also played three games professionally in Canada before returning to the United States in 2013.
After his short-lived pro career, Baker found himself relocating back to Southwest Florida. Hes no stranger to the area, and the area is no stranger to him. Not only did he play for FGCU, but also Bishop Verot High School, a private Catholic school here in Fort Myers.
While attempting to figure out his next step, Baker got the idea to turn the training he was already doing, into a full-fledged business. He could not have foreseen the success his new business would have. According to news-press.com, Baker had more than 1,500 training sessions as of July 2014. With his business still being fairly new, there is still so much futher it can grow.
In a world where big-name athletes are in every commercial and on the covers of major magazines, Baker may be a name that gets lost in the mix; however, Baker hasnt allowed his lack of fame to stop him from giving back to the community and helping the young athletes who aspire to be just like him and accomplish the same things that he has.