'09 IN QB Edward Wright-Baker (Indiana Verbal)

[GoRU]

'09 IN QB Edward Wright-Baker



Dual-threat quarterback
Jeffersonville (IN) Jeffersonville

Ht: 6-foot-2
Wt: 205 lbs
Forty: 4.5 secs
GPA: 3.4
Class: 2009 (High School)

The News and Tribune - HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Baker getting offers from U of L, IU

Jeffersonville quarterback Edward Baker has been profiled this week on the Rivals.com recruiting network.

Baker, the reigning Evening News and Tribune Area Player of the year, was profiled by the University of Louisville’s Rivals Web site, Cardinalsports.com.

In the article, Jeffersonville coach Steve Cooley confirms that Baker has received scholarship offers to play at both Indiana and Louisville and is also drawing interest from Kentucky, Purdue and Michigan State.

“I know his mom is planning on taking him somewhere every weekend,” Cooley said. “I know he went down to Kentucky during spring break. He was down at Indiana over spring break. I’m going to take him over to Louisville this week and watch practice. We’re going to spend the next couple of months going to spring practices at places and really seeing what each college is all about.”

Baker is coming off a junior season in which he completed 121-of-225 passes (53.8 percent) for 1,582 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground, gaining 1,197 yards on 182 carries and 19 TDs.

No college has committed to making Baker a quarterback at the next level, but he does have interest in remaining at the position.

“I think he’s going to want to go to a place that is at least going to give him a chance to be a quarterback,” said Cooley. “He’s got a nice arm and some skills throwing the football. He’s not a great passer, but he’s willing to work at it and put the time in. For an offense that uses an athletic quarterback and will move the pocket, he can stand there and throw the quick game as well as anybody.”

[wadc45]

Rivals $

4/9

From the Louisville site...his coach talks about the interest Edward is receiving. Will be making frequent weekend visits with his mom to a variety of schools.

[GoRU]

Scout $

4/24

Kentucky has offered.

[wadc45]

Rivals $

5/9

From the Indiana site...Kentucky has offered...his coach says many schools are still trying to decide what position to recruit him as. Purdue also seems very interested and coaches from Michigan, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana and Purdue are due at his school soon.

[GoRU]

The News and Tribune - Jeff's Baker will play for Indiana

Edward Baker just couldn’t shake the feeling.

No matter how many offers poured in for the Jeffersonville High School senior quarterback, one school continued to stand out for the Red Devil standout.

“I just gave a verbal commitment to Indiana,” said Baker. “That’s where I’ve been thinking I was going to go — it was just time to make it official.”

Baker told Hoosier Head Coach Bill Lynch and the rest of the IU staff of his decision on Friday after making a visit to Bloomington with Jeffersonville coach Steve Cooley.

“I’ve been pretty close to making the announcement for about a week now,” said Baker. “They were one of the first schools to offer and I’ve enjoyed getting to know the program. I had dinner with my family and coach Cooley and told them this is what I was probably going to do and they were all very happy for me.”

Baker finished the 2007 season by completing 121-of-225 passes (53.8 percent) for 1,582 yards and 21 touchdown. He also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground, gaining 1,197 yards on 182 carries and 19 TD’s while helping Jeff win the Class 5A Sectional title for the first time this decade.

His name began to grow throughout recruiting circles this offseason, as he garnered scholarship offers from Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State and most recently Purdue — a school that he visited on Thursday.

Baker has been clocked running a 40-yard dash of 4.5 seconds and many of the big-name program that had made offers viewed him as a blue-chip athlete.

Several programs though felt he would likely have to shift to defense to play at the Division I level. Indiana told him he would be given a chance to compete for a spot at quarterback.

“They were the first school who would give me that shot at quarterback,” Baker said. “There were a few others that made that offer after they did, but IU was the first one who said I’d have that chance to play there.”

Cooley said he helped put together a sales pitch to find a school willing to look at Baker as a signal caller.

“We went through and looked for schools who we knew ran the same type of spread option offense that we run,” Cooley said. “It’s a system that has grown at a lot of colleges run now and we put together tapes of Edward for them and I called most of them to try to get him a look.

“Once we found schools that were interested in Edward and schools that Edward was interested in, we started lining up visits. I know he liked IU very early on and they like him — I’m very excited for him.”

[HotMic]

Scout $

8/11

By A Trieu. Breakdown of Baker and his skills.