New Zealand Baldwin was born in
Jacksonville, Florida and played for the Bishop Kenny High School under the coaching of his father, who played basketball for Notre Dame in the 1930s. From
Jacksonville Beach, he went to New Zealand in 1988 to coach the
Otago Nuggets. He was promoted with them from the second division to the
NBL and then joined the
Auckland Stars in 1994. In eight seasons with Auckland, he won five NBL titles (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000), and was named NBL Coach of the Year four times (1995, 97, 99 and 2014). He remains the most victorious coach in the history of the
New Zealand NBL. Baldwin's involvement continued with the Stars as a co-owner for another eight years after he left as coach. In 2001, he took the reins of the New Zealand national team. By winning the
2001 FIBA Oceania championship, the
Tall Blacks — as New Zealand are known — qualified for the
2002 FIBA World Championship, and even reached the semi-finals; this is the best performance by an Oceania team in the history of the World Championships. Baldwin was appointed an Honorary
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the
2003 New Year Honours, for services to basketball. For his achievements as coach of the New Zealand team, Baldwin was awarded the coach of the year at the
Halberg awards — New Zealand's premier sports awards — for both 2001 and 2002. In 2023, Baldwin would be named into the New Zealand Basketball Hall of Fame.
Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan Baldwin has coached
Banvitspor in
Turkey,
PAOK Thessaloniki B.C. in
Greece and
U Mobitelco Cluj in
Romania. On 16 April 2010, he was appointed as
Lebanon national basketball team head coach., and on 15 August 2010 Lebanon won the
FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 2010 with Baldwin as head coach. In June 2011, Baldwin was hired to coach the
Jordanian national basketball team.
Philippines and Ateneo Blue Eagles On 2014, Baldwin was appointed as
Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters assistant coach and consultant. He was let go by the team in 2020. On 23 December 2014, the
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas formally announced the appointment of Baldwin as head coach of the Philippine men's national team (popularly known as
Gilas Pilipinas), replacing
Chot Reyes. Baldwin's two-year tenure as coach officially began on 1 January 2015. On 7 December 2015,
Ateneo de Manila University formally announced the hiring of Baldwin as the head coach of its
collegiate men's varsity basketball team. He will be coaching the Blue Eagles in between the 2016 Olympics men's basketball qualifying tournament and the qualifying rounds for the
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, concentrating on the national team during the UAAP offseason. A few days later, the Ateneo management reconsidered its decision to place Baldwin as the team's head coach following an objection by the Basketball Coaches of the Philippines, and instead was to be appointed as the collegiate team's consultant. In 2016, Baldwin was officially named as the head coach and no longer just as a team consultant. On 18 October 2016, SBP executive director Sonny Barrios declared that
Chot Reyes will return as head coach of Gilas while Baldwin will stay with the national team as the team's consultant, the same coaching setup the national team had during its historic 2013 FIBA Asia Championship and 2014 FIBA World Cup runs. On 3 December 2017, Baldwin led the
Ateneo Blue Eagles to their 9th
UAAP basketball championship against the
De La Salle Green Archers. In 2019, he coached the Blue Eagles to a 14–0 sweep of the elimination round of
UAAP Season 82 basketball tournaments, with an average winning margin of 17.4 points per game. On 20 November, Ateneo completed the season sweep and won their third consecutive title with Baldwin by defeating the
UST Growling Tigers, 86–79. In May of the same year, Baldwin was also appointed as programme director for the Philippine youth national team. Under Baldwin, the Blue Eagles have won four championships in the UAAP. In May 2023, he was recognised by the Collegiate Press Corps as the UAAP Men's Basketball Coach of the Year for the 2019–20 and 2022–23 seasons. In June 2021, Baldwin returned to take over as head coach of the Philippines, leading the Philippines to three wins out of three games in the final window of the
2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualification, completing a sweep for
Gilas. However, weeks before the first window of the
2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, Baldwin stepped down from his post as
Gilas coach, choosing to focus on Ateneo's campaign for the
UAAP Season 84. He was replaced by
Chot Reyes.
Summary • League Coaching Career: •
Auburn Montgomery –
NCAA Division II, 1983–1986 •
UCF –
NCAA Division I, 1986–1988 •
Otago Nuggets –
NBL, 1988–1990 •
Auckland Stars –
NBL, 1994–2001 •
Perak Red Eagles –
MNBL, 1996–1997 •
Banvitspor –
TBL, 2004–2006 •
PAOK Thessaloniki B.C. –
A1, 2007–2008 •
U-Mobitelco Cluj –
Divizia A, 2007–2009 •
Kepez Belediyesi S.K. –
TBL, 2009 •
Sagesse Beirut –
Lebanese Basketball League, 2010–2012 •
Fujian Xunxing (
China, 2012–2013) •
Hawke's Bay Hawks (New Zealand, 2013) • International Coaching Career: • Head coach of
New Zealand national basketball team (2001–2006) • Head coach of
Malaysia national basketball team (1996) • Head coach of
Lebanon national basketball team (2010–2011) • Head coach of
Jordanian national basketball team (2011–2012) • Head coach of
Philippines men's national basketball team (2015–2016, 2021) • Other Basketball Ventures: • Team Consultant of
Philippines men's national basketball team (2013–2014, 2016–present) • Team Consultant of
Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters –
PBA (2014–2016, 2018–2020) • Team Consultant of
Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles –
UAAP (2016) • Head coach of
Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles –
UAAP (2016–present) • Head of the Gilas Pilipinas Youth national basketball program ==Personal life==