Head Coach John Baron

Head Coach John Baron enters his sixth season at the helm of the men's basketball program. Over his five years, he has turned the Gwynedd-Mercy program into a perennial contender in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. During his tenure, he has guided his teams to the PAC Playoffs in every season.

This year, like all others, he intends to continue building a team of competitive and hard working student athletes.

The 2006-07 season saw the Griffins finish 12-6 in PAC play and reach the PAC semifinals for the second-straight year. Baron's teams have combined for a 58-26 record in PAC conference play and 88-49 overall.

The 2004-05 season was a special one, where Baron lead the Griffins to a 23-5 and 15-1 league mark en route to its second-straight PAC Championship. Gwynedd hosted an NCAA Tournament First-Round Game for the second-straight year.

During the 2003-04 season, Baron impacted the league and the nation after his team went 26-3, winning the PAC Championship, and advancing to its first ever "Sweet 16" appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The team also earned a final ranking of #15 by D3hoops.com. For his efforts, he was named coach of the year by the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) as well as the Philadelphia Small College Coaches Association.

Baron guided and mentored one of the greatest players in Gwynedd-Mercy College history, two-time All American and PAC Player of the Year, Badou Gaye. The 6-9 center went on to become the first student-athlete at Gwynedd-Mercy to be drafted professionally as the USBL's Westchester Wildfire selected him in the second round of its draft in April 2005. Gaye played professionally in Europe in the spring of 2006 and was recently drafted by the National Basketball Association Developmental League (NBDL) in October of 2006.

His no-nonsense approach to the game and education-first philosophy is right in line with the athletic philosophy at Gwynedd-Mercy.

After graduating from York College in 1995, Baron began his coaching career at Owen J. Roberts High School in Pottstown, Pa. In 1999, Baron entered the college circle and served as an assistant coach at Ursinus College and then Gwynedd-Mercy before being named the head coach of the Griffins in 2002. After receiving his BA in Elementary Education from York College in 1995, John attended Penn State for his Master's degree and has completed his course work.

Currently, Coach Baron resides in Limerick, PA with his wife Jane, daughter Jaylen, and son J.P

Year	W	L	Pct.	W	L	Pct.	Notes
2002-03	13	13	.500	8	8	.500	PAC Tournament
2003-04	26	3	.896	14	2	.875	PAC Champions/NCAA Sweet 16
2004-05	23	5	.821	15	1	.937	PAC Champions/NCAA Tournament
2005-06	12	15	.444	9	9	.500	PAC Tournament
2006-07	14	13	.518	12	6	.667	PAC Tournament/ECAC Tournament
Totals	88	49	.642	58	26	.690

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