When people think of painful sports football, lacrosse and mixed martial arts often top the list. But don’t tell that to Ben Baker, the Huskies men’s basketball third-year winger.

The six-foot-three Baker already has scars from the court, and the season hasn’t even started. In a pre-season tournament in Calgary Oct. 11-13, Baker cut his lip in a scrum for the ball. He was forced to leave the court and required stitches to patch the wound.

Then in two straight games at the Huskies’ own Graham Shootout tournament Oct. 18-20, the Saskatoon product caught a finger in the eye, scratching up his face and affecting his vision by knocking his contacts out of place.

“It’s been a rough couple weeks for my face,” joked Baker. “Besides that, we seem to be winning.”

The hardcourt warrior believes that the wins, even in pre-season, are worth the pain. Baker helped lead the Dogs to win both exhibition tournaments and attain a 6-1 pre-season record thus far.

In his third year in the College of Kinesiology at the U of S, Baker plans to finish his degree and then apply to the College of Education.

Baker is a true student of Basketball. He often watches his favourite NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, to learn more about basketball from the players he admires most.

He also likes NBA-based video games, and like all basketball players Baker admits that he creates himself as a virtual player in the games and puts himself on the Raptors roster.

“You have to create yourself. And of course you embellish the truth a little bit: adding a couple inches, a couple pounds and load up on the skill points.”

The Huskies winger even has the same superstitions as Andrea Bargnani, one of the Toronto Raptors’ all-star players.

Both Baker and Bargnani eat the same pre-game meal.

“Lately I’ve been eating spaghetti before every game. It’s what he [Bargnani] does, so it’s what I like to do.”

One thing that sets Baker’s pre-game rituals apart is his choice of music. Most athletes choose music to pump themselves up before a game. Baker says he needs to calm himself down instead.

“I used to listen to high tempo music and I would get too excited,” Baker said. “I like softer rap music like Drake. He’s good to listen to during pre-game because he calms me down.”

Despite his habits now, Baker says his love for the game of basketball started long before he ever had rituals or NBA team dedications.

“My parents put a basketball court in our backyard when I was really young. That’s where it all started, and since then I knew I’d always play.”

Your next chance to see Baker play is Nov. 3 in the Huskies home-opening regular season match versus the Regina Cougars in the PAC at 8 p.m. 

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Photo: Calvin So