Bearcats Basketball Great Tay Baker Dies At 99

The Cincinnati Bearcats basketball community lost a legend this week in former player and head coach Tay Baker. The 99-year-old celebrated his birthday last week and was the oldest living college basketball coach in America.

The Enquirer's Scott Springer confirmed the story on X Wednesday afternoon.

Baker was a legend at Cincinnati, becoming the first head coach in team history (and one of only two) to win the conference regular-season title in their opening campaign. Before coaching his alma mater, Baker was the sixth man on the 1948-49-50 Bearcats basketball teams. They posted 60-18 record over that span and won three Mid-American Conference titles. He coached at UC as an assistant basketball coach starting in 1959 after starting his coaching career at the high school level.

The UC Athletic's Hall of Famer took over as UC head coach after the 1966 season following his time as an assistant, where UC won back-to-back national titles in 1961 and 1962.

He's actually been on both sides of the Crosstown Shootout, coaching Xavier from 1974 through 1979 immediately after his time at UC ended. He was a longtime Cincinnati native and will be missed.

"I'd be driving down (Interstate) 75 in a blue station wagon with Xavier on it, and a guy would go by and give me the finger," Baker said to Springer in a story from last year. "You expect that with UC and Xavier. There's nothing wrong with that, really. They don't like each other, and they want to beat each other, and that's the way it should be."

UC athletics director John Cunningham commented on the passing.

“Tay Baker represented the very best of Cincinnati Athletics and leaves behind an incredible legacy as both a Bearcats player and coach,” Cunningham said. “He was part of one of the greatest eras in our history, first as a student-athlete and later helping lead Cincinnati to national championships and tremendous success as a coach. I was fortunate to get to know Tay and spend time with many of the Bearcats he coached, and his pride in this university and the relationships he built here never faded. Our entire Bearcats family mourns his passing, and our thoughts are with his family, friends, former players and teammates.”

Baker was 99 years old.

Cincinnati basketball mourns the passing of former player, assistant and head coach Tay Baker.

Our hearts go out to Tay's family and friends as well as his former players and teammates.

📝: https://t.co/h47HsWbjqq pic.twitter.com/KirhXLraES
— Cincinnati Men’s Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) September 30, 2026

Happy 99th birthday to one of our all-time greats, former player and coach Tay Baker! pic.twitter.com/WDq7m1Ikct
— Cincinnati Men’s Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) September 24, 2026

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