WICHITA, Kan. — Ron Baker has ended his silence on the situation that ultimately led Gregg Marshall to resign as head coach of the Wichita State men's basketball team.
In a wide-ranging, hour-long interview on Doug Gottlieb's podcast released Wednesday, it was clear Baker still has gratitude toward Marshall but was disappointed by how his former coach handled the accusations of physical abuse.
Baker said he thought Marshall could have potentially saved his job if he owned up to hitting Shaquille Morris during an October 2015 practice and apologized. Marshall issued a statement to The Wichita Eagle last month that read "I simply state unequivocally that I have never physically struck a player or colleague. Allegations claiming otherwise are false."
Baker, during the interview with Gottlieb, never said he saw Marshall hit Morris, but did say he believed his teammate and that other teammates said they saw it happen. When Marshall denied it happened, Baker was motivated to then talk to the St. Louis-based law firm that WSU hired to investigate the allegations.
"I wasn't going to get involved. I was walking the fence line and trying to be supportive, then Coach comes out with that second statement," Baker told Gottlieb. "I was like, 'What is going on right now? This isn't even making any sense.'
"We had two rules when we were there. You got a sheet of paper the first day you walk onto campus and the two things on there say, 'Don't lie to me and don't steal from me.' That was it. I'm thinking, 'Man, my freshman year he said those things and now he's coming out with this.' It was disappointing and just rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't feel like it was right for him to turn the narrative on my teammate. That really, really hurt me. That was tough."
Baker is the first Shocker from the 2015-16 team to go into detail about the incident since Morris went on the record, with Stadium's Jeff Goodman in an Oct. 9 story, saying that Marshall hit him twice during the practice.
A former Shocker All-American, Baker said he felt compelled to share his side of the story after Marshall never issued an apology or admitted any wrongdoing in his resignation.
"I think to make things right, he should have bitten the bullet and said, 'Man, I really messed up. I let whatever it is get to (me). I love winning so much,' " Baker said. "It would have cleared the smog around this town.
"It's obvious why none of those players in the gym that day went public (to defend Marshall) because we don't want that feeling of, 'Man, those guys are not loyal to their coach.' "
For Baker in particular, he had to wrestle with those conflicting emotions more than most. On one hand, he believed Morris and his teammates that Marshall had done something wrong. On the other, Marshall was the coach who took a chance on him and helped propel him to an NBA career he never thought was possible before WSU.
"(Marshall) is a hard coach. Do I respect him? Absolutely," Baker said. "He's been great to me and my family. That's from my opinion. These other players that are coming out, I respect them for telling their stories. Were there days I thought Coach crossed the line? For sure.
"Talking to my parents after (the Stadium story), I was like, 'Dad, some of these things happened,' " Baker said. "My dad was like, 'But you're not Ron Baker as a pro without Gregg Marshall and his staff.' It put me in a situation like, 'Wow, how do I handle this?' If I went public whenever it came to light, what's it going to do? If I say some of these things happened, OK, now it looks like Ron Baker is not loyal to his coach, the guy who made him into what he is today. But at the same time, a teammate is a teammate."
Here is how Baker detailed the October 2015 incident involving Marshall and Morris:
"There's a bang-bang play at the rim and Shaq was late to it on like a help-side action and went up to the rim and Zach Brown falls down. Marshall flips a switch. Obviously really upset. This is a starter and he kind of goes in on Shaq. I'm sitting there like super uncomfortable. You could hear a needle drop in the gym. Just super uncomfortable. Like you don't even feel like playing basketball the rest of the day. So Marshall kicks him out of practice and follows him out onto the concourse. We're all like, 'Man.' We're just shook, like, 'What is going on?'
"After practice, we go down to the locker room and come to find out Shaq tells us he got hit. Shaq and Marshall's relationship was never tight-knit. They had some tension. Tension continues to grow and grow and grow and it just so happens to be that day where it got to a point where it was just bad. A couple of other players in the locker room said that they had seen it. It just felt wrong. I didn't know as a 21-year-old how to handle the situation. We're a good basketball team. We don't want the spotlight of prestigious Wichita State, Final Four, undefeated season, Sweet 16-resume to turn into, 'Man, Coach Marshall hit a player.' That's why I think Shaq waited all these years to now circle back on the situation."
Gottlieb then pressed Baker, because he didn't claim to see the punch, on if he thought there was a chance that Morris was lying.
"Personally, I don't think Shaq would make that stuff up in the locker room," Baker said. "What's in it for him? He's not going to make up something like that and a couple of other guys said they saw it happen. It's just sad and disappointing."
Baker said he doesn't want Morris, who lives in Wichita, to feel uncomfortable going out in public around Wichita following Marshall's resignation.
He also stood up for the former players who are being labeled from the "snowflake era" by fans, according to Baker.
"The big thing right now is we're the snowflake era. We can't handle being yelled at. We can't handle hard coaching," Baker said. "Everyone's different. Fred (VanVleet), me, Cle (Early), others can handle it. Some players can't. Simple as that. If you can't buy into what (Marshall) wants you to do, he's going to hang a cloud over you each day. He's trying to hammer this into you. So players are going to struggle, they're going to transfer out.
"It might not bother me or you, but my point is it might bother someone else. We're not in their heads."
Baker said he understands why fans are still supporting Marshall, the coach who has more wins than any other in WSU men's basketball history and led the Shockers to the 2013 Final Four and a record-breaking 35-1 season in 2014.
He mentioned talking with Flint Hills National Golf Club owner Tom Devlin and president Jeff Johnson, two wealthy donors to WSU who came out in support of Marshall.
"They're like, 'Ron, we really support this man. Think of what he's done these past 14 years, it's remarkable.' " Baker said. "I said, 'I totally agree with you, but guys, what he did that day, that's not right.' "
Baker, who said he has not spoken with Marshall since before the allegations, made a final plea to his former coach to help unify the fan base so Shocker fans can "move on together."
"So I hope this gives some clarity to the city. Those people that are supporting Marshall, they have every right to and I totally get where they're coming from. But I want those supporters to come together and understand why Shaq did what he did," Baker said. "Now hopefully we can turn the page. The committee made their decision, Coach resigned. I really think (Marshall) coming forward would bring all of us tight-knit like it used to be around these parts."
