Sept. 14, 2002
This is the third in a six part series on Villanova Men's Basketball's Class of 2006
BY MIKE SHERIDAN
He is the West Coast kid in a class populated by products of big city Eastern basketball. Yet in his first few weeks as a student at Villanova, Baker Dunleavy has felt like anything but an outsider.
"Coming into summer school I was kind of nervous," says Dunleavy, a 6-5 freshman who spent most of his teenage years in Portland, Ore. "I was from the West Coast and the other five freshmen were all from the New York metropolitan area. I knew they were pretty tight and wondered how I would fit in.
"But they really welcomed me. The whole team kind of took us under their wing and the freshmen have kind of become inseparable after only a few weeks. They're a great bunch of kids."
Dunleavy enters Villanova in a unique situation. He was not a highly decorated recruit in the fashion of classmates Jason Fraser, Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Curtis Sumpter. In fact, he comes here without a scholarship but with a basketball pedigree that people will take notice of.
Such is life when your father is a former National Basketball Association head coach and your brother the No. 3 overall selection in the most recent NBA draft.
Yet if anyone can be described as unassuming, it is this young swingman who bares a striking facial resemblance to his older brother Michael Jr., late of Duke and now a Golden State Warrior.
"Baker has a great attitude and really wants to be the best basketball player he can be," says head coach Jay Wright.
For Baker Dunleavy, there are few vivid memories of his father's playing career. Mike Dunleavy Sr. was a terrific college guard under Frank McGuire at the University of South Carolina in the early 1970s. He went on to a long career in the NBA that was highlighted by a 1981 NBA Finals appearance with the Houston Rockets. If he wasn't a superstar, he was a valuable role player valued by every coach he ever played for.
Baker Dunleavy can't recall much of his father in short pants. He was only a toddler as his father's playing career wound to a close. However, the son was afforded a rare glimpse into his father's career in 1989 when an injury-wracked Milwaukee Bucks squad was forced to activate its assistant coach for a few late season games.
"I never really saw him play until that point and it was really cool," says Baker. "Even after a few years in retirement and in his late 30's, he was still really good. It was fun to watch him then because I was old enough at that point to understand what it meant."
The Dunleavy family - Baker is the middle of three children - bounced around a bit as Mike Dunleavy Sr. moved up the coaching ladder. The Dunleavys lived in Los Angeles in the early 1990s when Mike Sr. coached the Lakers (and steered them to a 1991 NBA Finals appearance). From there it was back to Milwaukee and finally, in the late 1990s, on to Portland.
Baker Dunleavy has no complaints about the lifestyle that saw him move from the West to the Midwest back to the west before he turned 18.
"My mom (Emily) did a great job keeping our family together everywhere we lived," says Baker Dunleavy. "My Dad was important too and they really stressed the importance of doing well in school. We were fortunate to be in good schools and have great teachers. I think the most important thing my parents did was teach us to be good kids, above and beyond what might happen in sports.
"The moving around really wasn't a big deal. When we were in Los Angeles we lived in a nice neighborhood around great people. I wasn't sure what it would be like when we moved to Milwaukee but that turned out to be a great environment. Our family knew people from when my Dad had played and coached there before so that made it easier. And we all just fell in love with Portland."
As the son of a notable father, Baker and his brothers no doubt heard some grumbling when the town's favorite NBA team hit a rough patch of road. Few of his peers didn't realize exactly who his father was. However, there are no discernible scars on the son from having gone to school in the same towns where Mike Sr. was the head coach.
"There's always negative stuff out there," notes Baker Dunleavy, "but I tried not to pay attention to it. The people who would say those things about your Dad aren't your friends anyway. So I didn't really let that stuff get to me."
While the Dunleavy sons tried most sports, they gravitated to basketball. The occupation of their father certainly played a role in that, but there was a more basic reason the sons focused their energy on the hardwood. "Being tall and thin," he notes with a chuckle, "we were all sort of suited for basketball."
Soon after the Dunleavys reached Portland in 1999, it became apparent that Mike Dunleavy Jr., the eldest son, would have a hoops future in college. At Jesuit High School, the 6-8 forward became a coveted national prospect, ultimately choosing Duke over a host of suitors. From his spot in their house in Portland, Baker watched as his brother, that same kid he played basketball with in the driveway, became a national champion in 2001 and All-American in 2002.
"I didn't even realize that my brother would be as good as he became," says Baker. "The one thing I did take from watching him, though, was his work ethic. Nobody outworks him on the floor. I could see myself in him if I really applied myself."
Baker Dunleavy's basketball cause was aided as he grew five inches between his freshman and sophomore years of high school. It did not lift him into the same circle in his high school days that it did his brother but it helped.
Unfortunately, Dunleavy suffered a herniated disc in his back as a senior at Portland Jesuit High School. It forced him out of the lineup for much of the 2000-01 season and did nothing to enhance his chances to play at a high level in college. So he elected to attend Lawrenceville Prep, just up the road from Villanova in New Jersey.
"It turned out great," he says. "It helped me as a basketball player and academically."
A strong campaign created scholarship opportunities for Baker among a few Division I schools. But through his father's connections at USA Basketball, the family had heard good things about Wright and Baker aspired to an elite conference, such as the Big East. A visit to Villanova was arranged last fall. One day during practice last October, Mike Sr. and Baker came to the Main Line. They liked what they saw.
"In my first meeting with Coach Wright you couldn't help but appreciate his enthusiasm," says Baker Dunleavy. "He talked about where he wants this program to go and that's where I want to go. You can see that he has long-term goals and I was convinced that he could help me become the best player I could be."
"It's a great compliment to Villanova and our coaching staff that the Dunleavys were interested in this program," says Wright. "Both Baker and his dad talked about wanting to come to a great academic school with a nationally prominent basketball program. One of the things they talked about was they wanted to be around a staff that was willing to work hard to help each of its players develop. That's something we pride ourselves on as a staff.
"We are really excited to have someone of Baker's caliber as part of our program. He brings knowledge of the game and a great instinct for what it takes to be a player at this level."
No one is quite sure of how Baker Dunleavy's career at Villanova will unfold. In the short term, he faces a logjam of gifted performers on the perimeter. Yet Dunleavy is a good shooter who continues to improve. His feel for the game and commitment to the little things figure to serve him well on the Main Line.
"Having watched my brother go through it, I know what a huge jump it is from high school to college basketball," Dunleavy says. "I just want for us to win as many games as possible and for me to work hard every day to improve my game."
If opposing fans choose to invoke the image of his brother or father, that's OK too. Baker Dunleavy is quite comfortable with himself and is only focused on reaching his full potential, in the classroom and on the court.
