Head coach Pat Chambers announced today the addition of Karl “KJ” Baptiste, Jr., as an assistant coach for the FGCU men’s basketball program. Baptiste joins the Eagles after spending the past season as the Director of Recruiting and Video at Albany.
“KJ brings a passion and enthusiasm every day which helps naturally elevate everyone around him,” said Chambers. “He is a terrific recruiter and a talented young coach. His work with our players on a daily basis will be key to their career development.”
Baptiste joined Albany last spring after serving as a Graduate Assistant Manager with the Penn State men’s program from 2019-21. While at Penn State alongside Chambers, Baptiste covered player development, recruiting, scouting, and administrative scheduling/planning for the team, contributing to a historically high-achieving Penn State team in 2019-20 that finished with a 21-10 record.
Before Penn State, Baptiste served as an assistant coach for the Brimmer and May School varsity boys’ basketball program from 2016 to 2018. There, he spearheaded development at the school through various channels, working through recruiting and networking to build a consistently better team. He worked with players on skill development, maintaining accurate statistics to improve weight training and fitness program effectiveness, and developed numerous future college athletes.
Baptiste is also the CEO and founder of KJ’s Summer Runs, which he created in May of 2019. KJ’s Summer Runs coordinates summer basketball pick-up games for top-level collegiate and professional athletes, located in the greater Boston area. NBA players who have played in the Summer Runs include Marcus Smart, Lamar Stevens, the late Terrence Clark, Bruno Fernando, Duncan Robinson, Bruce Brown, and Carson Edwards. Additionally, he worked for three years with the Boston Elite Basketball program as the assistant director of operations.
He graduated from Brandeis University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He was a member of the basketball program from 2014-16, served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and organized numerous initiatives and fundraising events. He earned a MPS in Psychology of Leadership from Penn State in 2021 as well.
KJ Baptiste Joins FGCU Men’s Basketball Staff as Assistant Coach
