Former University of Wisconsin-Green Bay guard Steven Baker has been named the new boys basketball coach at Green Bay Preble.
He replaces longtime area coach Rick Rosinski, who was forced out after three seasons with the team.
Preble athletic director Tim Flood sent an email to players and parents to inform them of the hire and to invite them to meet Baker at the high school on Thursday, June 18.
“I’m still kind of taking it all in,” Baker said. “I feel like it’s a big responsibility, but I’m up for it. I’m excited. I know the program a bit, I know the kids a bit. There are a lot of things I am going to have to learn as I’ve never been a head coach [of a varsity program], but I know the game. I know the X’s and O’s. I know basketball, just being a player myself.
“Being chosen for the opportunity, I am grateful. I’m ready to get to work. I love coaching it just as much as playing it. For me, I just get to be around the game. As long as I can do that, I’m good to go.”
Baker was asked if while going through the hiring process he had any concerns about whether the school’s administration will have his back if an issue arises during his tenure.
Supporters who spoke in defense of Rosinski did not believe his bosses at Preble supported him, blaming his dismissal on an unhappy parent.
“You have asked me that question, but so have others,” Baker said. “I will be very transparent with you. My hope is that they would, of course, support me. But I have been dealing with parents in AAU, so for me, it’s just about being transparent with the parents. From what I’ve learned, everything comes down to why is my child not playing? At the end of the day, and I’ve had this conversation countless times, I bring the kid into it. Sometimes it’s good to ask the kid that question.
“Sometimes it’s not about me not giving you time, sometimes it’s about kids not earning the time. You don’t get better in practice, you get better outside of practice. Practice is for when you focus on team concepts. That’s a tough question to answer, but I’m hoping that the administration, after what they have gone through, they have welcomed me with open arms. I’m sure they will support me. If I have any questions or concerns, they have only been supportive so far. I’m sure they will be open for my questions and concerns when I bring them to them.”
Preble coach Steven Baker has been around basketball his entire life
Baker has been a fixture on the local basketball scene for more than a decade and has been operating his Next Level Grind AAU program the last several years.
He also has served as the director of basketball for the Wisconsin Blaze in Appleton.
Baker has familiarity with players coming up at Preble through his AAU work, having coached several who will be sophomores this season.
The list includes Nolan Schulz, Abrian Allen, Dax Becker, Graham Roup, Brendan Sullivan, Ian Gerczak, Luke Levanetz and Clayton Peterson.
Baker has helped develop several talented players in northeastern Wisconsin who were part of his AAU program.
Among them is Freedom standout Donovan Davis, who has committed to NCAA Division I Iowa State. On that same AAU team was Appleton Xavier’s Logan Ramczyk, a fellow 2027 prospect who has an offer from DI Northern Illinois.
“I do know quite a few kids,” Baker said. “Kids come to me in third grade and they stay with me. I’ve had a lot of those kids since they were little. It makes it easy knowing the kiddos, but NLG helps me in general because it keeps me coaching.”
Baker is a 2012 graduate of UWGB. He played two seasons for the Phoenix from 2010 to 2012, starting 34 of 62 games and playing on a team that featured future NBA player Keifer Sykes and NBA draft pick Alec Brown.
He averaged 7.3 points and shot 42.9% from 3 as a senior, which helped him earn a contract overseas with Sampaense in Portugal.
The St. Paul, Minnesota, native had a big season with his professional team in 2012-13, averaging 15.5 points in 24 games. He scored 20 or more points seven times, including one game in which he had 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Baker is the second boys basketball coach in the 10-team FRCC to have played at UWGB after DeVante Blanks was hired at Ashwaubenon in 2024. Blanks spent four seasons with UWGB from 1998 to 2002.
Steven Baker ready to get started at Preble
Baker is joining Preble relatively late in the offseason after the school informed parents and players of Rosinski’s departure May 7.
He will take over a team that showed improvement under Rosinski the past two seasons after going 6-20 and finishing ninth in the FRCC his first year in 2023-24.
They have won 10 or more games in each of the last two seasons, going 10-15 in 2025-26 and finishing seventh in the league standings.
The Hornets beat a traditionally tough Sheboygan North team, twice held halftime leads against a De Pere squad that won the league championship and earned a trip to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament, and had a 13-point halftime lead against Bay Port in the first meeting.
Preble’s junior varsity team finished 11-11, while the JV2 team went 16-6.
Baker might mix up-tempo play and aggressiveness with some Dick Bennett-style basketball.
Whether Preble takes another jump this season under Baker remains to be seen. He’s not thinking about that quite yet.
“My goal is to build some relationships with my players,” he said. “Help them believe in me and trust me. I’ve watched them in the summer league a few times. There is a lot of talent.
“I think there is going to be a great level of success, but will I say we are going to win so many games? Give me a few weeks to get to see them. Let me see them in practice a little bit, and then I’ll give you an answer.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Former UWGB guard Steven Baker named Green Bay Preble basketball coach
Reporting by Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
