For five years, Geo Baker was a staple of Rutgers and Big Ten basketball in the late 2010s and early 2020s, burying the opposition with a lightning-quick first step off the dribble and armed with a stepback jumper that seemed automatic in the friendly confines of Jersey Mike's Arena.
The two-time All-Big Ten honoree helped pioneer the Scarlet Knights' turnaround into a consistent Big Ten program and has his name littered across Rutgers' record books, including the most career games and minutes played, second-most assists, fifth-most steals, and eighth-most points.
Now? Baker is continuing his basketball career, but in a new role: His own AAU program.
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Earlier in February, Baker announced the formation of the GB Blue Devils, a 501c3 nonprofit AAU organization in New Jersey. In addition to his GB Go Beyond training service, the Blue Devils will have 15U and 16U Boys teams, with a goal to eventually expand.
"I started GB Blue Devils for a couple of reasons," Baker told TheKnightReport. "I think AAU was the biggest reason that I got as far as I did in basketball and in life. I love making an impact on the kids so this felt like the necessary next step to help kids even more beyond the basketball training I’ve already been doing."
In his post on X, formerly known as Twitter, announcing the start of the program, Baker closed by stating "All of this was inspired by my player experience under [current Rutgers assistant coach TJ Thompson]." Prior to joining the Scarlet Knights' staff in 2019, Thompson was a co-founder, program director, and head coach of the D.C. Blue Devils (NH).
" TJ was everything to New Hampshire basketball during his time there," Baker said. "He did everything out of his own pocket. Never charged us for workouts, never charged us for AAU, and he never needed to do any of that. He helped all of us reach our goals on the basketball court, but he held us accountable in all aspects in life. My attitude became better, my grades got better, etc.".
Thompson's imprint on Baker's mindset and vision for his program is evident.
"There were days where we would butt heads but when you look back, if he wasn’t so hard on me, I wouldn’t have grown the way I did," he said. "While I can’t mimic his program the exact same way right now, I eventually want to be able to make everything free for all the kids and have the team be fully sponsored."
The Blue Devils will compete as part of the Hoop Group Showcase League, in a new branch called the Hoop Group Academic League. In order to qualify for the league, at least four players on a team must have a 3.6 GPA or better. Much of the league's focus is to attract colleges of higher academic prestige and to attract the players and schools together.
It looks to be a perfect fit for Baker and the Blue Devils, who see education not just as a footnote or aside from basketball, but a core pillar right up next to it.
"We’ll have player and parent contracts for every kid on the team," he explained. "Basically in the contract is that a 3.0 [GPA] is required to play. If you fall under a 3.0, then during practice, instead of practicing with the team, you’ll have study hall hours. The idea behind this is, there’s no reason for us to pushing so hard on the court if you aren’t handling business in the classroom."
Baker wants to make his program different from most, and avoid some of the pitfalls that hinder certain AAU leagues and programs.
"I think one thing that will stand out is the fact that we’ll be in the gym every day," he said. "A lot of AAU teams are criticized for not practicing enough. We’ll have team practices twice a week and then the rest of the days are opportunities to get in the gym for my training sessions. Most coaches only coach part time whereas with me, when I’m not coaching we are training. These guys will be around each other every single day."
The Blue Devils' 16U team has already attracted some exciting talent, particularly in the backcourt, including freshmen Jayce Rodriguez (Colonia) and Connor Junker (Gill St. Bernard's), along with sophomores Cam White (Morris Knolls) and Austin Kolakowski (Delbarton), all of whom Baker described as "high-academic kids who have a chance to be special players down the line."
The 15U team is holding tryouts on February 16th and 23rd at Manville High School.
While Baker's playing career came to an end three years ago, the New Hampshire native has continued to impact the younger generation of basketball players in New Jersey, and will continue to do so with the GB Blue Devils' program, inspired by Thompson's program of a similar name and approach that helped Baker achieve so much at college's highest level.
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