Baker ready to make a difference at IU

Before last February, Florida native Delroy Baker had never traveled beyond the state of Georgia. And he wouldn’t have had to in order to play college football at a high level. Baker received offers from Florida, Florida International, Florida State, Miami (FL), South Florida, and the University of Central Florida.

Baker said when he mentioned going to IU to Florida Coach Will Muschamp, Muschamp asked the offensive tackle why he didn’t want to stay in his home state.

“It’s like no, I want to get out and see the world,” Baker said emphatically at IU’s media availability to introduce the Hoosiers’ six mid-year enrollees. “I’d never gone anywhere else so it’s great to come out and see the world. Of course being in the Big Ten, I’ll get to see all of the Midwest eventually and I like the Midwest. It’s real good here, relaxed, beautiful, (and it has) all four seasons.”

Baker is one of three offensive linemen among IU football’s six mid-year enrollees but he is the only one of the three to come to Bloomington straight from high school.

He spent his first three years of high school at West Port High School in Ocala, Fla. before transferring to Admiral Farragut in St. Petersburg. IU Coach Kevin Wilson said Baker’s high school coach, “a great mentor for him,” switched schools and Baker transferred.
 
Wilson said the Florida High School Athletic Association ruled Baker ineligible for his senior season due to a “recruiting deal,” since he was a senior transferring to a private school.

In Wilson’s eyes, not playing in 2013 did not hurt Baker. He said the offensive tackle did a great job practicing with his coach last fall.

When describing Baker, Wilson made sure to mention that many schools recruited him heavily.

“Here’s a guy that has SEC and ACC offers,” he said. “Came up here to camp, fell in love with it. (He) has a chance to be a true tackle and that’s been the hardest thing to recruit, the long, athletic guys who can play tackle.”

Despite his 6-foot-6, 290-pound frame, Baker has work to do before next season rolls around.

He said football “will pretty much be my job now” and he’s treating it like one. He wants to add between 25 and 30 pounds in the offseason.

“I need to get in the weight room pronto,” he said. “Not only is the weightlifting part important to me but I also want to be able when I get bigger to move still very well. I want to be able to still move like I’m 290, 270 (pounds) so the running part is really important to me too.”

For Baker, the opportunity to have an entire semester of lifting and conditioning under his belt before the rest of the freshmen arrive in Bloomington in June made the decision to enroll in January a no-brainer.

“It was easy actually,” he said. “Like, I dropped everything.”

Despite people warning him that it was “premature” for him to enroll a semester early, Baker views it as a great opportunity. He described the transition for a senior in high school becoming a freshman in college as “you’re at the top of your game compared to everyone else” and “in June, that’s when you’re at the bottom.”

In just his second day of college, Baker is confident in his position on the team.

“Honestly I see myself at two-deep right now with Jason Spriggs in front,” he said. “I really want the intensity, I really need it to be honest. I wanna get in competition, get it rolling.”

Baker said he was the first of IU’s 2014 commits to say that 2013 was a building year. Wilson said he plans for a 25-player 2014 recruiting class (the maximum amount, by rule) and Baker believes that with IU’s newest additions, the Hoosiers will make a bowl game next season.

“It was a goal last year but this is a promise this year,” he said.

From there, Baker wants to help lead IU to a top 25 ranking and eventually a Big Ten Championship.

Baker, ranked the 33rd-best offensive tackle in the 2014 recruiting class by ESPN, could have chosen to never cross the Georgia state border to play college football.

He had offers from three schools that finished in the top 10 of the final AP Top 25 poll and he’s well aware of it.

“Instead of starting at Florida, starting at the top, I’d rather come here and make a difference on campus,” Baker said. “That’s part of the reason why I committed. I wanted to go somewhere where I could make a difference.”

The three-star recruit who was insulated in SEC and ACC territory for most of his life said he has begun to appreciate what’s it’s like to play in the Big Ten.

“Watching the Bucket Game, I see all the emotions, the intensity and it’s like ‘This is it,’” Baker said. “This is where it needs to be. Winning that Bucket—I wasn’t even there and I was enjoying it—you don’t understand, that got me going. I was ready to go play.”

Follow reporter Andy Wittry on Twitter @AndyWittry.