When it comes to surprises, Thursday evening’s subterfuge was a slam dunk.
Faye Baker was curious when she saw the T-shirts many at the Bradwell Institute Gym were wearing — but she had no idea she was going to be celebrated before the start of the basketball senior night activities.
“No, I did not,” she said with a broad smile following the surprise. “I saw the T-shirts, but I still had no idea about this. I think I’m still in shock right now.”
The school hailed its longtime girls basketball coach, honoring her 33 years as a teacher and 31 years spent in coaching. Her Bradwell girls basketball team finished its regular season undefeated and is ranked as high as No. 2 in the state.
Under Baker, the Lady Tigers have made two Final Four appearances, in 2003 and last season. They have seven Elite Eight appearances and have made the state Sweet 16 eight times.
Her sister led a lineup of Baker’s current players holding up pictures and newspaper cutouts of her achievements through the years.
Baker’s players, and several others, had T-shirts emblazoned with photos from Baker’s playing career and with My Coach Is a Legend.
Baker was a standout girls athlete at Bradwell, playing basketball, softball and competing in track and field, where she took on the shot put, the discus and the high jump. He played basketball and softball — it was slowpitch back then — at Georgia Southern, and she played for several years in the Liberty County Recreation Department’s adult softball leagues.
Baker was hurt in an accident in October 2000, when she was a passenger in a church van that suffered a tire blowout. The van flipped over three times. Baker was paralyzed from the waist down.
She was the only one person hurt in the crash.
After a lengthy rehabilitation at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a clinic renowned for its work with patients suffering from spinal injuries, she returned to the sidelines and the classroom, in a wheelchair.
A video tribute, with many of her former players and students remarking on the impact she had upon them, was played.
“I’ve always tried to instill that in my girls. I tell them, it doesn’t matter to me if you ever dribble a ball at any point in life after high school — I just want you to go off and be a productive citizen,” she said. “A lot of our kids have displayed that. What was going to carry them is an education and being a productive citizen.”
The celebration had been planned for the Lady Tigers’ game January 31 but was postponed because of the cold weather to February 5 — meaning the participants had to keep the surprise a secret for nearly another week.
“My heart is full right now,” Baker said. “Just the outpouring of love and support from the community, it totally took me off guard. It really makes me feel proud to be a Liberty Countian.”
