Kean University

Rich Bakker has devoted more than 11 years of his life to coaching and mentoring the student-athletes of the Cougar baseball program. Bakker served as the program's head baseball coach from 1970 to 1972 and again from 1976 to 1983. He still stands as the program's all-time leader in baseball coaching victories with 132, and had a .547 winning percentage in his 11 seasons.

In the spring of 1971, his club went 10-9 and recorded the program's first winning season. Then, in 1981, his squad captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship. His 1983 team finished with a record of 20-10, marking the first time that the school had a 20-win season, and won the ECAC Division III Championship. Bakker coached three All-Americans and numerous all-conference and regional all-stars during his tenure. He also served as NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional chair and NCAA National Baseball Committee member from 1982 to 1988.         

Bakker currently serves as a professor and chair of the Kean University Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Health, and is also the Executive Director of the New Jersey Youth Sports Alliance. He received his bachelor's degree from Montclair State College (now University) in 1967, his master's degree from Southern Illinois in 1968 and his doctorate from New York University in 1982.