Scott Drew is going into his 24th season as the coach of the Bears, and coming off a 17-17 mark that their first non-winning record since 2006-07. His current squad raised some eyebrows before even playing a regular-season game. With two returning starters and seven newcomers, they won both of their scheduled exhibition games, beating preseason national No. 1 Florida and then No. 3 Illinois over a six-day span. Baylor last season had a roster that was
completely changed from the previous season.
Isaac Williams IV is a 6-1 junior guard who as a starter last season averaged 10.7 points and 3.1 assists per game. In the exhibition games against top-three opponents, he had 15 and then 28 points. ... The Mingo brothers, Kayden and Dylan. Kayden Mingo is a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard who transferred from Penn State after averaging 13.7 points and 4.3 assists per game last season. Dylan Mingo is 6-4 freshman who was a five-star prospect. ... Brett Decker Jr is a transfer guard from Liberty who averaged 16.9 points last season.
Guard Cameron Carr (18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game) was the 24th overall pick by the New York Knicks in the draft, making it sixth year in a row for the Bears to have a first-round draft pick. ... Guard Tounde Yessoufou transferred to St. John's after averaging 17.9 points and 5.9 rebounds as a Baylor freshman. ... Elijah Williams is a 6-6 freshman forward from San Antonio. ... Other portal additions were junior forward Issac Celiscar (Yale) and senior forward Evan Chatman (UAB).
Baylor opens the season Nov. 2 at home against Northwestern State, and on Nov. 15 plays No. 7 Texas in San Antonio at the home arena of the NBA's Spurs. The Bears play No. 20 Alabama during a tournament Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas, when another potential opponent is No. 15 Gonzaga. ... Their Big 12 opener is Jan. 2 at home against Kansas State before back-to-back games at No. 19 Texas Tech and home against No. 10 Houston.
Jerome Tang has returned to Baylor as associate head coach after four seasons as head coach at Kansas State, where he led the Wildcats to the NCAA Elite Eight in his first season before being fired during the seson after the Wildcats lost 11 of their first 12 Big 12 games. Tang was part of Drew’s original staff, and there for 19 seasons before going to K-State. ... The Bears have back only 21% of their scoring from last season.
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