Ara Baten begins his fifth season as the Head Coach of the Wranglers women’s basketball program. In four previous seasons at Odessa College, Baten has led the Wranglers to a 69-50 overall record. This includes three consecutive trips to the Region V tournament. During his tenure at OC, Baten has coached sixteen all-conference performers, four all-region players and one all-American.
A native of Andrews, Texas, Baten attended New Mexico Junior College, where he had the opportunity to play for Hall of Fame coach Ron Black. During the 1991-92 basketball season, Coach Baten was a starter for New Mexico Junior College, a team which captured the Western Junior College Athletic Conference title. Upon graduation from NMJC, Baten transferred to Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico. A two year starter for ENMU, Baten once again experienced a conference title as the Greyhounds won the Lone Star Conference championship, and a berth in the NCAA Division II “Sweet Sixteen”.
During the 1995-96 season, Baten was a graduate assistant coach for the men’s basketball program at Eastern New Mexico University, where he worked for Earl Diddle, the current women’s coach at Howard College. In 1996, Ara Baten returned to New Mexico Junior Mexico as a member of the Lady Thunderbird basketball program, later spending six seasons as the Head Coach of the program. During the 2002-03 season, Ara Baten was named the Coach of the Year in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.
Coach Baten is married to Tracy Baten and they have two children, Allen (16) and Kelly (13). |
