Northwestern State University of Louisana

A three-year starter, "Zeke" Baptiste was a trailblazing Demon basketball star who remains among the top rebounders in NSU history. One of the first African-American basketball players at Northwestern, Baptiste earned undergraduate and master's degrees in education from NSU and has been a coach and principal for three decades. A Natchitoches native, Baptiste currently ranks 18th in school history with 567 career rebounds (8 per game) in 71 games, while also shooting 50.8 percent (283-557) from the floor in his career and averaging 10.6 points per game. He helped the 1970-71 Demons to the NAIA playoffs in his junior year, averaging 12.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. As a senior, he had a 32-point outburst against Nicholls, ranking as the eighth-best scoring total in Demon history at the time. Baptiste averaged 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds as a senior for coach Tynes Hildebrand.