Baumann Gears Up For Senior Year On The Hardwood
by Zach Smart
John Baumann arrived at the New York City campus of Columbia University with his name circled in hyperbolic lure. Anytime a player who averaged 30 points in high school inks with an Ivy League program, hype, hearsay, and high expectations tend to brew around campus faster than a beerfest on spring weekend.
But in Baumann’s three seasons with the Lions, the Staples High (Westport, Conn.) product has certainly burgeoned into the highly-touted recruit that Columbia was sold on back in 2004, when they invested four years in him.
Baumann, a returning captain and the Lion’s leading scorer with 13 points per game last season, returns for his senior season this winter. He’ll help mold what’s anticipated to be a formidable front court with 7-foot center Zack Crimmins and 6-foot-9 behemoth Ben Nwachukwu, the latter a Nigeria native who emerged as Columbia’s third-leading scorer last season.
Last season, Baumann averaged 13 points and 6.5 boards, developing into one of Ivy’s more versatile forwards. He led the conference in two-point and three-point field goal percentage, and head coach Joe Jones will count on him to lead a team that finished 16-12 last season, going 7-7 in Ivy league play.
Jones hopes a ressurected recruiting class that features the aforementioned Crimmins and Asenso Ampim, a 6-foot-6 power forward who starred at the prestigious Groton School (Ampim averaged 22 points and 13 rebounds per game after bouncing back from an injury), will help propel the Lions to the top.
Penn (22-9, 13-1 Ivy League) has ruled the Ivy League with an iron fist these past few years, but Yale and Cornell are both front-loaded with talent and looking to make a run at the league title this season.
Baumann hopes to form a razor-sharp inside-outside tandem with Ridgefield native Brett Loscalzo, a pass-first point guard who handed out a team-high 67 assists last season. Loscalzo, who’s limited offensively, must step up and look to score more. Jones has already pegged Loscalzo as a co-captain for the 2007-08 campaign.
All eyes, however, will be on Baumann, who has evolved into the face of the program. The Lions should be a top-five pick in the pre-season poll, as they bring back all five starters from last season.
Baumann is a two-sport athlete at Columbia, as he’s also a top hurler on the Lions’ baseball squad. The 6-foot-8 forward garnered second team All-Ivy on the hill for the Lions this past spring.
During his senior year at Staples, Baumann ripped opponents to the tune of 30 points, 11 boards, and two blocks per contest. A first-team All-State and All-FCIAC selection, Baumann was named the New Haven Register and Hartford Courant Player of the Year for 2004.
His high school statistics, records, and resume sit alongside card-shop names like Scott Burrell, Vin Baker, and Ryan Gomes, signifying his place as one of the Constitution State’s best players at the high school tier. Few players from Connecticut, with the exception of the aforementioned trio and a few others, have matched up to their price tag after being sucked into hype machines in high school.
Baumann hopes to make his presence felt and represent his state while leading what could be a sleeper team this year. Baumann emerged as leader time and time again on the hardwood his senior year at Staples, where he’s one of the finest athletes in recent memory. It’s his turn to leave the same mark at Columbia this season.
The latest chapter is now entering its final pages. Columbia kick-starts the ’07-08 campaign in the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off at Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 12-13. The Lions are slated for a first-round matchup against Delaware State. A win could send them to a second-round game with 2007 national runner-up Ohio State.
