Baldwin Commits To Vanderbilt

St. Joe’s Standout To Join Teammate Towns in SEC

By Anthony Colucci, St. Joseph’s Beat Writer

Wade Baldwin likes the color gold. His dyed golden hair, Twitter name of Golden Child, and now his college basketball uniform, as he will wear the black and gold for the next four years.
 
In little more subtle fashion than teammate Karl Towns, rising St. Joe’s senior guard Wade Baldwin announced in a player blog on Adam Zagoria’s Zags Blog of SNY.tv, that he has committed to Vanderbilt, following his official visit this past week.
 
Not just an athlete, Baldwin says he chose Vanderbilt, a top tier school, for not only basketball but also academics as well as the dedicated student body after attending Vanderbilt’s season opening 39-35 loss to Mississippi, when he wrote, “I witnessed first hand the incredible and devoted school spirit during my visit- including an amazing SEC football game.”
 
Baldwin is the second member of St. Joe’s to commit after Towns declared his intent to play at Kentucky while still a sophomore on MSG Varsity last December. Next season, Baldwin and Towns will play alongside each other in the SEC and likely face off.
 
Last month, Baldwin had narrowed his list of schools down to five: Vandy, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, and Minnesota. After an offer from Florida State, the Seminoles replaced Rutgers on his list. The 6-3 Montgomery native had visits to FSU, Virginia Tech, and Minnesota scheduled in September.
 
Tech and Minnesota were the speculated favorites for Baldwin. Baldwin is originally from Virginia and Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino, son of Louisville’s Rick Pitino, was perceived to have been recruiting Baldwin the hardest. Pitino’s Golden Gophers are coming off a Sweet 16 appearance and thought to be a school on the rise in college basketball. Also, Gopher students and fans had been tweeting to Baldwin for weeks trying to sway him to Minneapolis.
 
In his first season playing under Coach Dave Turco at St. Joe’s after transferring from Immaculata, Baldwin helped the Falcons to their second straight Tournament of Champions appearance where they fell to Roselle Catholic in the final, 65-49. Baldwin averaged 17.2 points, 7.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game as a junior.
 
Baldwin is listed as a 4 star recruit on ESPN and is rated as the 29th best point guard in the nation. The addition of Baldwin provides much needed athleticism, experience, and defensive proficiency to Vanderbilt who is coming off a 16-17 season where they finished tenth in the SEC.