Hall of Fame
Jim Baechtold was a four-year basketball letterman from 1948-52, and during those years earned recognition as Eastern’s Most Valuable Player, three listings on the All-Ohio Valley Conference squad, and All-American recognition his last two seasons. His 1,137 career points puts him 20th on EKU's all-time scoring list.
He was the first round draft choice of the National Basketball Association's Baltimore Bullets in 1952, selected as that year's second overall pick. Baechtold was traded to the New York Knicks for three players the following season and closed his professional basketball career with that club in 1957. He finished his five-year NBA career with 3,123 points, 1,009 rebounds and 685 assists.
Baechtold returned to his alma mater in 1957, serving for the next five seasons as an assistant coach to legendary EKU basketball coach Paul McBrayer. In 1962 he became Eastern’s head basketball coach, a position he held until 1967. In his five seasons, he coached two OVC runners-up clubs, the 1965 conference championship and NCAA representative team, and was the OVC Coach-of-the-Year in 1964-65 when Eastern compiled a very impressive 13-1 conference record.
