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The “first” might not of happened till much later, as two key pieces of The College of Wooster men’s basketball’s first-ever NCAA Tournament team almost attended Kent State University. Fortunately for the Fighting Scots, the two ultimately decided to come to the College.
One of those pieces, Tom Dinger, still stands as the program’s all-time leading scorer and was a highly-decorated student-athlete, and the other, Tim Baab, did a lot of the “dirty work” for Dinger to succeed while playing an important role in Wooster’s team success.
“I came to Wooster because my dad wanted to watch me play,” noted Baab. “I had well over 50 full-scholarship offers from colleges, but my dad told me he would come up with the money to attend Wooster.”
“Bambi,” as he was affectionately nicknamed due to his awkwardness as a freshman, handled the load down low as a three-year starter at center for the Scots. He was a team captain of the 1970-71 team that went 23-3. That team topped Capital University in a game that one local sports journalist still refers to as “the most sought-after ticket in Wooster history,” 78-71 to win the Ohio Athletic Conference championship.
NCAA Div. III as we know it did not exist then, and the Scots drew defending college division national champion, the Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science, at the NCAA Mid-East Regionals. Wooster, or “the Little Red Riding Hood of the tournament,” as described by then-coach Al Van Wie, battled hard and extended the defending champions into overtime before falling 83-81.
Known for his rebounding, leadership, and pick-setting ability, Baab led the OAC with 13.4 rebounds per game as a junior, which rates as the sixth-highest single-season average in school history. His 25 rebounds versus Wilberforce University that year ranks as the fifth-most in a single-game. Interestingly enough, a Wooster player has not recorded 25 or more rebounds in a game since.
For his career, Baab averaged 10.1 rebounds, the seventh-most in program history.
Baab has remained involved in college athletics for much of his successful professional career, and his impact has been most visible at three Cleveland-area colleges.
Baab currently serves as an assistant basketball coach at Notre Dame College, and in 1998, he developed a business plan that Ursuline College successfully implemented into an intercollegiate athletic program for women, while his most significant tenure came at John Carroll University. There (1978-92), Baab was the head coach for basketball, golf, and soccer, ranking as each program’s all-time wins leader at the time of his departure.
More recently (2008-13), Baab played a key role in the NCAA’s signature event – the Div. I Men’s Basketball Championships. He served as a regional advisor to the NCAA and John Adams, the national coordinator of officiating, as he helped identify the top-100 officials for assignments in the tournament.
Additionally, Baab started Blue Streak Summer Camps, Inc., and has served as president since its inception in 1985. It offers co-educational, non-competitive summer day camps, spanning a variety of sports.
Baab, who graduated in 1971 and majored in health and physical education, is happily married to Susan, a 1973 alumna. The couple has two adult children – son Joe, a part-owner of Day Star Staffing, and daughter Emily, a key player for Wooster’s 2007 women’s lacrosse NCAA Tournament qualifier and the current head coach for women’s lacrosse at the University of Mount Union. Also of note, son-in-law Kenny Fisher is a 2008 Wooster alum.