Baker, VanVleet named to Lute Olson All-Decade Team

WICHITA, Kan. (Wichita State Athletics) – Former Wichita State guards Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet were among the 25 players named Monday afternoon to the Lute Olson All-Decade Team.

The team – which highlights some of college basketball’s biggest stars from 2010-19 — was selected by a voting panel of 21 Division I head coaches, four athletic directors and six senior members of the College Insider staff.

The Lute Olson Award, named for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach, is given annually to the best player in Division I college basketball.

Baker and VanVleet, fittingly, made the team together. They shared the backcourt for four seasons (2012-16) and helped lead the Wichita State program to three conference titles and nine NCAA Tournament wins in four trips, including a 2013 Final Four appearance. A year later, the duo played a key role on a 2013-14 Shocker squad that logged the first 35-0 start in NCAA history and claimed the program’s first-ever No. 1 seed. Both were three-time first team All-Missouri Valley Conference picks and both went on to play in the NBA.

Baker – a 6-foot-4 guard from Scott City, Kan. – was a two-time Lute Olson All-American (2014 and 2015) and finished his career ranked among the school’s all-time top-10 in points (1,636), three-pointers (242), assists (345) and steals (163). He is currently playing professionally overseas after parts of three NBA seasons with the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards.

VanVleet – a 6-foot point guard from Rockford, Ill. – joined Baker on the Lute Olson All-American team in 2015. He was a two-time winner of the Larry Bird Trophy, awarded to the MVC’s player of the year, and he remains WSU’s career leader in assists (637), steals (225) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.08). The two-time Bob Cousy Award finalist (national point guard of the year) suited up for 120 Shocker wins (tied with Tekele Cotton for the most in program history). Last spring he helped lead to Toronto Raptors to an NBA Championship.

LUTE OLSON ALL-DECADE TEAM (2010-19):

Ron Baker, Wichita State

Harrison Barnes, North Carolina

Jalen Brunson, Villanova

Trey Burke, Michigan

Mike Daum, South Dakota State

Anthony Davis, Kentucky

Jimmer Fredette, BYU

Draymond Green, Michigan State

Josh Hart, Villanova

Buddy Hield, Oklahoma

Justin Jackson, North Carolina

Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin

Doug McDermott, Creighton

Ja Morant, Murray State

Frank Mason III, Kansas

Shabazz Napier, UConn

Jahlil Okafor, Duke

Otto Porter, Georgetown

Russ Smith, Louisville

Jared Sullinger, Ohio State

Denzel Valentine, Michigan State

Fred VanVleet, Wichita State

Kemba Walker, UConn

Zion Williamson, Duke

Trae Young, Oklahoma