NIU's Baker set to receive ICBA honors Saturday

DEKALB - Bill Baker, the radio play-by-play voice of the Northern Illinois Huskies for the past 29 years, will be inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Baker, a native of Montgomery, Ill., has been a reporter and radio personality on the Chicagoland sports scene for the past 36 years. He has covered NIU's postseason success in football, men's and women's basketball, softball and volleyball.

Baker was given the Distinguished Service Award for Broadcasting from the Illinois High School Association in 1989. Mark Lindo, who has served as both a basketball and baseball coach at Aurora Central Catholic and Naperville North High School, nominated Baker for the honor.

"Bill (Baker) is an absolute consummate professional, and he is incredibly deserving of being inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame," said Lindo. "Along with all of his individual talent, he broke numerous people into the profession, and has called nearly every sport imaginable; even the ones he didn't have prior experience calling. It has been a pleasure sitting beside Bill in the football booth for the past 25 years."

Baker has also been a staple in the Illinois high school broadcasting community, estimating that he has called at least 1,000 boys and/or girls high school games since beginning his broadcasting career in the 1970s.

Many of those regular-season and postseason games in the IHSA Tournament occurred in the Aurora region, during his time at both WKKD 1580-AM in Aurora, and WBIG 1280-AM Aurora.

For the past 25 years on NIU football broadcasts, Baker has teamed with Lindo, a fellow IBCA Hall of Famer, who serves as the color analyst.

Currently, Baker doubles as the marketing director of the Kane County Cougars, the Midwest League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.