6 things you need to know about Baylor Men's Basketball
October 1, 2015
Baylor returns three starters--Al Freeman, Lester Medford and Johnathan Motley--as well as senior Taurean Prince, an All-Big 12 selection last season who was named conference and national Sixth Man of the Year and USBWA All-District VII.
Bears head coach Scott Drew is one of 13 coaches with three Sweet 16 appearances in the past six seasons. He is the youngest of that group, which includes Kentucky's John Calipari, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Louisville's Rick Pitino, North Carolina's Roy Williams and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski.
Baylor joins Kansas as the only Big 12 programs ranked during each of the past eight seasons. The Bears finished four of the past six seasons ranked nationally, more than any Big 12 school other than Kansas (six).
The Bears own a 17-5 postseason record over the past seven seasons, the fourth-best winning percentage (.773) in that time. Only Connecticut (17-4), Kentucky (24-6) and Duke (19-5) have a better winning percentage, while only Kentucky, Michigan State (20), North Carolina (20), Duke and Louisville (18) have more postseason wins.
Baylor is 33-5 against Texas opponents since the start of the 2011- 2012 season, and the Bears have advanced further than any of the state’s 21 Division I teams in each of the last four seasons. The Bears are 47-9 against Texas opponents over the past six seasons.
Five Bears have heard their names called in the NBA Draft over the past four seasons. That total ranks eighth nationally, trailing only Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, Arizona, North Carolina and UCLA; Louisville and Michigan also have produced five NBA draft picks. Baylor's five draftees were Perry Jones III (2012), Quincy Acy (2012), Quincy Miller (2012), Pierre Jackson (2013) and Cory Jefferson(2014).
