Tari Cummings-Baker joined the Baylor staff as an assistant coach in May of 2021 and served the Bears until May 2025. She was elevated to associate coach in July of 2023 in her third and fourth seasons on campus. Cummings-Baker arrived in Waco after a head-coaching post at Arkansas-Fort Smith and was previously a college assistant at Cincinnati, Houston, Arkansas, Tulsa and UAFS.
Cummings-Baker primarily works with the forwards and serves as Baylor's recruiting coordinator. During the 2022-23 season, Cummings-Baker mentored a pair of Big 12 All-Freshman Team selections in Bella Fontleroy and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, as well as Caitlin Bickle, who earned an all-conference selection for the first time in her five-year career. Additionally, Littlepage-Buggs was voted the unanimous 2023 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was just the fourth Bear in program history to earn the distinction.
In her first year at Baylor, Cummings-Baker worked with a pair of future top-10 WNBA Draft picks in NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo. The first recruiting class for Collen and her staff came in at No. 9 in the nation, according to ESPN's HoopGurlz.
Cummings-Baker and Baylor head coach Nicki Collen were reunited after coaching three seasons at Arkansas together from 2011-14.
Prior to a three-year head-coaching stint at UAFS, Cummings-Baker was an assistant at Tulsa for the 2017-18 season, she spent six seasons at Arkansas from 2011-2017, two at Houston from 2009-11, two at Cincinnati from 2007-09 and four seasons at UAFS as an assistant from 2003-07.
All in all, Cummings-Baker has been in the coaching profession at the college level for 16 seasons. Her Arkansas teams reached the NCAA Tournament Second Round twice and Houston reached the NCAA Tournament in 2011. At Arkansas and Houston, she was the recruiting coordinator for the respective programs, and four times at Arkansas Cummings-Baker signed espnW Hoopgurlz Top 100 recruits.
Cummings-Baker played two seasons at UAFS when the program was a two-year school, finishing with 1,262 career points in two seasons, and she was named an All-American in 1999 by the NJCAA. She transferred to Oklahoma State where she was an All-Big 12 performer for the 2001-02 season, averaging 13.1 points per game and led the Cowgirls in rebounding at 6.9 per contest.
She earned an associate's degree at UAFS in 1999 before graduating from Oklahoma State in 2003 with a degree in sociology. Cummings-Baker has a daughter, Tiya.
Tari Cummings-Baker File
Coaching Career
| Years |
Title |
Institution |
| 2021-2025 |
Assistant Coach |
Baylor |
| 2018-2021 |
Head Coach |
Arkansas-Fort Smith |
| 2017-2018 |
Assistant Coach |
Tulsa |
| 2011-2017 |
Assistant Coach – Recruiting Coordinator |
Arkansas |
| 2009-2011 |
Assistant Coach – Recruiting Coordinator |
Houston |
| 2007-2009 |
Assistant Coach - Recruiting Coordinator |
Cincinnati |
| 2003-2007 |
Assistant Coach - Recruiting Coordinator |
UAFS |
Playing Career
| Years |
Institution |
Notes |
| 1997-1999 |
Arkansas-Fort Smith |
NJCAA All-American |
| 2000-2002 |
Oklahoma State |
2002 All-Big 12 |
Education
| 2003 |
Bachelor's Degree – Oklahoma State |
| 1999 |
Associate's Degree – Arkansas-Fort Smith |