Hoops Preview

With seven NCAA Tournament appearances in the last eight years, including the 2005 national championship, the Lady Bear women's basketball program has placed Baylor's name among the nation's best year in and year out alongside such storied programs as UConn, Maryland and Tennessee. Now evidence is mounting that the Baylor men are approaching a similar level of recognition for their achievements on the court. 
The Lady Bears were ranked 17th in this fall's ESPN/USA Today preseason coaches poll and 19th in the Associated Press poll, the fifth straight year that the Baylor women have appeared in the preseason top 25. The men's team was not far behind, receiving votes in both major preseason polls for the first time in program history; the Bears were three spots out of the top 25 in the AP poll and four spots back in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

Lady Bears return veteran squad

Head coach Kim Mulkey's Lady Bears feature a balanced attack from a core of returning veterans and a much deeper bench than last year's squad, which finished 25-7 a year ago, placed second in the Big 12 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 
Four of five starters return from a year ago, led by a trio of seniors in Rachel Allison, Jhasmin Player and Jessica Morrow. Allison, a starter at forward each of the past two years, earned honorable mention all-America honors last season after averaging 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds a game. 
Player started the Lady Bears' first 21 games last year at guard, averaging 12.2 points and 6.0 rebounds a game, before missing the final third of the season with a torn ACL. She is expected to be ready to go for the season opener. Morrow, a forward/guard, averaged 11.7 points and 4.1 rebounds last season as both she and Player earned honorable mention all-Big 12 honors from the league's coaches.
Junior post Danielle Wilson (10.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) is the fourth returning starter. At 6-foot-3, Wilson is the tallest player on the Baylor roster, and the one most known for her defense. While just a sophomore, she became Baylor's all-time leading shot blocker last year; she holds the top two spots on the Lady Bears' list of most blocks in a season.
At point guard, a pair of sophomores will look to fill the big shoes left by Angela Tisdale, a 2007-08 honorable mention all-American who wrapped up her Baylor career last year as the Lady Bears' all-time leader in career assists before being selected in the WNBA draft. Her replacements, Melissa Jones and Kelli Griffin, did get significant experience a year ago; each played in every game last season as true freshmen. 
Behind the starting five, Mulkey will have far more options off the bench this year, thanks to a deeper squad that includes two transfers from Division I schools as well as four freshmen. 
Sophomore forward Whitney Zachariason originally signed with Arkansas but left the team after playing in two exhibition games last fall. She transferred to Baylor last winter and will be eligible near the end of the non-conference schedule. The 2007 Arkansas Gatorade Girls' Basketball Player of the Year, Zachariason is expected to be a 3-point threat who can play inside or outside.
Junior forward Morghan Medlock, a former McDonald's All-American, appeared in all but three games during her two years at USC, averaging 6.5 points and 4.8 rebounds a game before transferring to Baylor. She will be eligible to start the season and at 6-foot-1 gives the Lady Bears some size off the bench.
Three of the four freshmen are guards, and all three come from outside Texas: Alabama 5A player of the year Terran Condrey, first-team all-Oklahoma Lindsay Palmer, and California native Cherrish Wallace. The fourth freshman, 6-foot-2 Ashley Field, is a two-time all-state selection from Burnet, Texas.
The 12 players on Baylor's roster will be led by a coaching staff that includes two Women's Basketball Hall of Famers in Mulkey and new assistant coach Leon Barmore. Barmore retired in 2002 after compiling a 576-87 career record in 20 years at Louisiana Tech, where he coached Mulkey as a player from 1980-84. Barmore led the Lady Techsters to the NCAAs in each of those 20 seasons, a stretch that included nine Final Four appearances and the 1988 national title.
Like Barmore, Mulkey has led her squad to the postseason in each of her first eight seasons at the helm. The Lady Bears were picked to finish among the top four in the Big 12 by the league's coaches for the fifth straight season; if they can follow up or exceed that prediction, they'll be a shoo-in to extend that streak of excellence once again.

Men look to postseason

Like the Lady Bears, head coach Scott Drew's men's squad returns virtually intact from a year ago--a fact that prompted Big 12 Conference coaches to rank the Bears third in the league in their preseason poll, easily the program's best-ever placement.
While Baylor received votes in the two most recognized polls, five other preseason prognosticators ranked the Bears among the best in the nation. Of note, ESPN.com college basketball expert Andy Katz ranked the Bears 25th in his final preseason top 25, while Hall of Fame analyst Dick Vitale put Baylor at No. 30 in his preseason top 40.
Four starters are back this season from last spring's squad that went 21-11 and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years, giving Baylor one of the most experienced line-ups in the Big 12.
First-team all-Big 12 guard Curtis Jerrells leads the way. Jerrells, who begins his senior season 12th all-time at Baylor in career points, averaged a career-best 15.3 points per game last year to pace the team; he is just the fifth Bear ever to lead the team in scoring three straight seasons.
Senior guard Henry Dugat, another returning starter, averaged 12.2 points and 4.1 rebounds a game last season. Whether starting or coming off the bench, junior Tweety Carter (9.6 points, 2.8 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game) and 2008 freshman all-American LaceDarius Dunn (13.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game), now a sophomore, will also see significant playing time in the backcourt. 
Up front, senior Kevin Rogers, a member of the 2008 Big 12 All-Underrated team who recorded 12.3 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds a game last season, will start at forward. He's joined by the fourth returning senior, 7-foot center Josh Lomers, who shot 61 percent from the floor last year.
Popular center Mamadou Diene, the 2008 Big 12 Male Sportsperson of the Year, begins his senior campaign second in school history in career blocks behind current Los Angeles Clipper Brian Skinner. Another senior, Delbert Simpson, adds depth at power forward.
Four highly regarded freshmen round out the roster. Kendall Wright's name will be familiar to fans of Baylor football; the Bears' top receiver this fall will join the basketball squad once football is finished. The three-sport all-state honoree will factor into Baylor's guard rotation.
The other three freshmen--Quincy Acy, Fred Ellis and Anthony Jones--are all forwards. Rivals.com ranked Acy the No. 22 high school power forward in the country a year ago, and the 6-7 true freshman is expected to make an immediate impact on the court.
Ellis, considered a "sleeper recruit" out of high school, redshirted last season and will provide the Bears with options on the perimeter or in the key this year. Jones, among the highest-ranked signees in Baylor history, was named a top 50 national prospect by eight national recruiting services; the 6-foot-10 forward is known for his ability to hit 3-pointers from the outside and block shots inside.
Like the Lady Bears, the men's support staff also boasts a recognizable new face in student manager David Wesley. The 14-year NBA veteran is back at Baylor to finish his degree and is serving as a student manager for the team.
Baylor fans across the country will get plenty of chances to catch the Bears on television this season, as the men will play 11 games on ESPN's family of networks, including a pair of Big Monday match-ups (Feb. 2 vs. Kansas and March 2 at Texas).