The University of Maryland Eastern Shore head men’s basketball coach Jason Crafton has added two new assistants to his coaching staff, Dominic Parker and Calvin Baker.
“I am excited to bring two young, hungry and passionate coaches to our staff as we embark on the journey of building Maryland Eastern Shore basketball,” Crafton said. “Each guy brings strong qualities and assets that will bring value to the program.”
Parker comes to Maryland Eastern Shore after two seasons as an assistant at Christopher Newport University. CNU went a combined 51-11 during his tenure. The team won the Capital Athletic Conference regular season title in each season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each season including a trip to the Final Four this past March.
The Raleigh, North Carolina native is a 2012 graduate of Virginia State University with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a minor in health science. Parker’s first coaching position was as graduate assistant at Virginia State following graduation.
Following that, he accepted an assistant coaching position at Richard Bland College in 2013 and received his master’s from Virginia State that year. Parker was a part of the Richard Bland coaching staff that won the Region X conference championship and NJCAA Division II National Championship in 2015. He also coached at Shenandoah College from 2015-17 and was named to the 2017-18 Under Armour 30 under 30 team.
“Dominic is very experienced in terms of helping programs at the beginning stages and getting them get to the next level,”Crafton said. “He is very detail-oriented and a great evaluator of talent.”
Baker arrives at The Shore after three years of being an assistant coach at Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, Virginia. His main responsibilities included scouting, recruiting and player development. Last season, the team went 27-9 with Baker on the staff. In 2018, he spent his first summer coaching as an assistant with DC based Nike Team Takeover 16U. Baker also served as the director of recruiting for Virginia’s Under Armour Association grassroots program. His coaching career began at C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Virginia.
A native of Newport News, Virginia, Baker played his college basketball at William & Mary in 2005-06 before transferring to Virginia for his final three years of eligibility. He served as a team captain during his junior and senior seasons with the Cavaliers before graduating with a degree in sociology.
“Calvin’s elite playing experience gives him great perspective and an ability to evaluate talent,” Crafton said.”His AAU and high school coaching experience were both with elite programs, so with the talent he’s been around you could arguably say he has coached at the college level.”
The Hawks will begin their regular season schedule in November.
