Harrisburg graduate student’s research helps uncover early athletics history

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - A Penn State Harrisburg graduate student's research helped uncover the basketball history of 1976 alum Jim Baker, paving the way for his induction into the campus Athletics Hall of Fame.

Kendis Butler, a Harrisburg alum and a master's student in the American studies program, worked to reveal Baker's athletic accomplishments as part of a project to archive the early years of athletics at Penn State Harrisburg.

"Research and archiving are not easy," she said. "You hit a lot of roadblocks, but thankfully, in Jim Baker's situation, we were able to confirm what we believed was true and see what research and archiving can do, not just for athletics or the school, but also for somebody and his family. Seeing his hard work recognized was amazing and fulfilling."

Butler earned her undergraduate degree at Penn State Harrisburg in communications with a minor in American studies in spring of 2023. As an undergraduate, she worked as a student worker in the sports information department and continued working there part-time for two years after graduating.

Now working in the athletic communications department as a graduate assistant, Butler has been archiving athletics at Penn State Harrisburg from 1966 to 1992 - what she called the "first wave" of athletics at Penn State Harrisburg.

Butler said the project grew out of conversations about how her graduate assistantship could connect with her academic work. She said Rahsaan Carlton, director of athletics, suggested she try to archive what he described as "lost history."

During the summer, Butler - who played basketball herself as an undergraduate - spent much of her time in the Madlyn L. Hanes Library reviewing student newspapers, local newspapers, scorebooks from different seasons and media guides.

She also reached out to alumni and former coaches, some of whom shared documents they had kept for many years.

"The work can be challenging because information is not stored in one place," Butler said. She described the process as "a treasure hunt" and said she encountered conflicting information in sources such as student newspapers and yearbooks.

Her research on Baker - who played basketball for the college from 1974 to 1976 and was an assistant coach and head coach later - grew from that same effort to verify early athletic records. The athletics department was considering Baker for the Hall of Fame, but the challenge was finding documentation to confirm Baker's accomplishments.

"For the Hall of Fame, which is just two years old now, we want to verify the information is correct so their accomplishments are fully appreciated and recognized," she said.

Butler said one of the main goals of the summer was to find records that could confirm Baker's history. She found a scorebook from one of the years Baker played and reviewed it game by game, calculating the points and totaling them at the end of the season.

She also found a plaque in a back room of the Capital Union Building that listed a points total for Baker from a year for which they did not have a scorebook. When the totals were combined, they confirmed Baker scored 1,260 points in two years.

Butler also found scorebooks from the period when Baker coached, which allowed her to confirm his coaching record.

"We hear a lot of great things through word of mouth," she said. "One of the challenges is always going to be confirming these accounts with concrete statistical data. It was rewarding to be able to do that in Jim's case, resulting in him being inducted into the Hall of Fame."

Butler and Thomas Klemick, director of athletic communications, met with Baker to help fill in gaps in her research.

"I was able to give her all kinds of information about my athletic and coaching record, and she was instrumental in helping me to get into the Hall of Fame," Baker said.

Baker was inducted into the Hall of Fame in fall of 2025.

"It meant the world to me," Baker said. "It was a tremendous honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, especially in just its second year of existence. ... I had some great experiences that I was able to share in my speech. I feel very proud to be part of the college's history and the Hall of Fame. It rounded out and made my college basketball experience complete."

Looking ahead, Butler said she hopes to archive as much as possible for her thesis, organizing what she finds sport by sport.