Charlie Baker blending in with Bellingham hoops team

Making the jump from high school sports to college athletics is a long shot at best.

Good thing, then, that Charles Baker of Swinomish is often at his best when taking long shots. Which is just what the 2021 La Conner High grad, who turned 19 over the Halloween weekend, is doing these days.

Baker, who was a top perimeter scorer on the Braves basketball team, is now a freshman at Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, where he has earned a spot on the men’s hoops roster.

Standing 5’-10” and possessing nearly unlimited shooting range, Baker joins an Eagles program that draws players from tribal communities across the nation and two years ago won the American Indian Higher Education Consortium men’s basketball tournament.

“The strongest part of my game is the same as it’s always been,” Baker told the Weekly News recently. “I’m still a perimeter scorer.”

Baker hopes to enjoy the same success at NWIC as he did at La Conner, where he flourished under former head coach Todd Hinderman, whose forte both here and previously at Anacortes High was player development.

Baker thus far is blending in nicely at NWIC given its embrace of an up-tempo style much like the one Hinderman, an award-winning La Conner High science teacher, employed while at the Braves helm.

“I’d like to thank coach Hinderman,” Baker said. “He was one of, if not the best, coach I’ve ever had. And I’d like to thank (assistant coach) Galen McKnight, too. He was my coach for every sport since seventh grade.

Hinderman’s and McKnight’s emphasis on pressure defense and scoring in transition prepared Baker for what to expect with the Eagles.

“NWIC is definitely a run-and-gun squad,” said Baker, who looks to model his game after prolific NBA three-point shooters Patrick Beverly and Klay Thompson, the latter among Washington State University’s all-time greats.

Transitioning to the next level hasn’t been without adjustments, Baker conceded.

“Something new that I actually anticipated is that college ball takes a lot more IQ than high school basketball,” Baker said. “In high school, you can just be an athlete and be good at basketball. In college, you either have to be really big or really smart.”

Baker, who has enrolled at NWIC as a direct transfer student – meaning he intends to earn an associate degree prior to moving on to a four-year campus – is not lacking for confidence despite his new surroundings.

That comes as no surprise.

“The sheer volume of trash talking that I produced both on and off the court was incredible,” he admits when looking back at his high school playing days. “Coach Hinderman only heard a little bit of it.

“That,” Baker quips,” is why I got to play so much.”

Hinderman, of course, heard more than he let on. That includes Baker’s good-natured ribbing that he never lost a one-on-one match with his Braves coaches.

“Let me start off by saying that I have never lost to Charles at one-on-one,” chuckled the 6’-6” Hinderman, who played collegiately at Skagit Valley and Pacific University. “I can’t speak to what McKnight did. But let Charles know he has an open one-on-one challenge anytime.”

Hinderman, more than most, knows Baker is not one to duck a challenge.

“He never backed down from a challenge,” Hinderman insisted. “You can’t teach that. That’s just who he is. Charles was also a fearless player.

“Specifically,” added Hinderman, “I remember him choosing to defend much bigger opponents in summer tournaments, where we often played much larger schools.

“To most people watching a game,” Hinderman pointed out, “you would notice Charles playing offense and taking shots. A lot of people didn’t notice how defense-oriented he is. He all-out sprinted a lot in our half-court defense. He loves to play. You could tell that when he would get a big stop or steal, or when he’d hit a big shot.”

Baker brings that infectious enthusiasm to NWIC, a public tribal land grant community college established by the Lummi Nation. It is the only accredited tribal college or university serving the reservation communities of Oregon, Idaho and Washington state. While the main campus is at Bellingham, NWIC also has six full-service extension sites, one of which is at Swinomish.

Eagles coaches and fans will be glad to have Baker take the floor for NWIC, said Hinderman.

“Charles,” he said, “is a fun player to coach. He’s always willing to do what is necessary to help the team.”