Baylor Bears men's basketball
Encyclopedia
The Baylor Bears basketball team represents Baylor University
in Waco, Texas
, in NCAA
Division I men's basketball
competition. The Bears
compete in the Big 12 Conference
. The team plays its home games in Ferrell Center
and is currently coached by Scott Drew
.
it approached railroad tracks on the south side of the business district on a drizzly, cloudy day. As the bus crossed the tracks the occupants failed to hear the sound of the train whistle and ringing bell. The driver caught sight of the train at the last moment and tried to steer away, but the Sunshine Special crashed into the bus at near 60 mph tearing off the roof and one side. Ten Baylor students and basketball players were killed by the impact. One player, James Clyde "Abe" Kelly, pushed his friend Weir Washam out the window of the bus just moments before impact—saving the life of Washam but costing Kelly his life. "Abe" Kelly's and Robert Hailey's bodies were found horrifically stretched across the cowcatcher on the front of the train with arms locked around each other but Kelly's missing a leg. Ivy Foster Sr. of Taylor, Texas had heard of the accident and rushed to the train station in Taylor to meet the train and assist where needed only to find his son among the dead. The remainder of the 1927 season was cancelled. The tragedy had reverberations over the entire state and nation, and led to the construction of the first railway overpass in Texas where the event occurred at Round Rock. Busses were later required to come to a full stop and open the door at all rail crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten story has been commemorated each year since 1927 at first in Chapel services then later at the Freshman Mass Meeting during Homecoming Week. The event was also memorialized in bronze on the Baylor campus in Traditions Plaza in 2007.
for the NCAA championship, but fell 58–42 to Adolph Rupp's first national championship team. The team again advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1950 under Henderson losing to the Bradley Braves
68-66. Bill Menefee (1962–1973) would lead the Bears to a national ranking in 1969 but failed to make the postseason that year. Menefee was the only coach over the next 50 years to have a career record of over .500, and would later serve as Baylor's athletic director in the 1980s. Gene Iba's 1988 NCAA tournament team would be the first NCAA tournament appearance for the program in 38 years.
, a player for the team, was murdered by a former player teammate; then-coach Dave Bliss
was forced to resign amidst allegations that he had made improper financial payments to players and planned to cover his actions by characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer. The school placed itself on probation, limited itself to 7 scholarships for two years and imposed a post-season ban for one year. Additionally, the NCAA
further punished the team by initiating a non-conference ban for the 2005-2006 season and extending the probationary period during which the school would have limited recruiting privileges.
was able to put together a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop.
The basketball program experienced a resurgence under coach Scott Drew with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years with a 9-7 conference record and the team's first national ranking in 39 years. The Jan. 23rd 2008 116-110 5OT win over Texas A&M at College Station officially became the longest game in Big 12 history. The 2008-09 team again was ranked early in the season but stumbled to a 5-11 conference finish before heating up in the Big 12 Tournament defeating both Kansas and Texas in route to the championship game versus Missouri, and lost by a score of 73-60. The 2008-2009 team won the program's first postseason victory since 1950 in its first round NIT
victory over the Georgetown Hoyas
in Waco.
The 2008-09 team went on to advance to the NIT Final where they fell to Penn State. The 2009-10 squad was again ranked in both polls and pulled off the biggest road win in school history over the then #6 Texas Longhorns in Austin 80-77 on Jan. 30th. The Bears closed out the season with a Big 12 era best 11-5 record and #3 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
The 2009-10 team was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 in the Big 12 Coaches Poll due to the graduation of several key players from the previous year. However, the team finished the regular season 23-6 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12 standings. Following a 2-1 record at the Big 12 tournament, the Bears were rewarded with a #3 seed in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. The Bears defeated #14 seed Sam Houston State 68-59 in First Round action and then defeated #11 seed Old Dominion
76-68 in Second Round play to advance to the Sweet 16 hosted at Reliant Stadium
in Houston, Texas
. The Bear's Sweet 16 match-up was #10 seed St. Mary's, which had defeated #2 seed Villanova the previous week to advance to the Sweet 16. The Bears won handily over the Gaels, 72-49, after leading 47-19 at the half. The Elite Eight was also hosted at Reliant Stadium
and the Bear's opponent was the #1 seed Duke Blue Devils
, the last #1 seed standing in the NCAA tournament after the other three #1 seeds (Kansas, Syracuse, and Kentucky) were all defeated by lower seeded teams. In front of a very pro-Baylor crowd of over 47,000, the Bears were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils, 78-71, to end the magical run to the Elite Eight. It was the best season in the Scott Drew era as defined by conference standing, overall ranking, wins, and NCAA tournament wins. The Bears finished the season ranked #10 in the final ESPN/Coaches Poll—the highest ranking in program history at that time.
The 2010-11 team started the season ranked 14th (according to the AP Preseason poll). The Bears began 7-0, and rose to 9th in the polls before falling to Gonzaga at a neutral court in Dallas. The team finished 18-13 overall and 7-9 in league play. The highlight of the season was Lacedarius Dunn becoming the Big XII's all time leading scorer, and a sweep of the series versus ranked Texas A&M. Freshman star Perry Jones III was controversially suspended by the NCAA before the first game of the Big 12 Tournament versus Oklahoma for an offense that took place before he was enrolled at Baylor. With the suspension the Bears lost the game and were shut out of postseason play for the first time since 2007.
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I men's basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
competition. The Bears
Baylor Bears
Baylor Bears refers to the sports teams of Baylor University. Baylor's men's sports teams are nicknamed the Bears, and some women's teams are nicknamed the Lady Bears. Student athletes participate in the NCAA's Division I, and Baylor is the only private school in the Big 12 Conference...
compete in the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
. The team plays its home games in Ferrell Center
Ferrell Center
The Ferrell Center is an arena in Waco, Texas. It was built in 1988 and is located adjacent to the Brazos River. It is home to the Baylor University Bears basketball and volleyball teams. It is named for Charles R. Ferrell, a Baylor student and legacy who died in 1967, and whose family's estate...
and is currently coached by Scott Drew
Scott Drew
-References:...
.
Early years
Luther Burleson coached the first basketball team at Baylor in 1907 also doubling as the football coach. In Baylor's second season of basketball then cross-town rival TCU began their program which the Bears defeated twice during the 1908-09 season. Ralph Glaze's (1911–1914) .788 winning percentage ranks at the best all time in school history. Ralph Wolf (1927–1941) lead Baylor to its first SWC Championship in 1932 after surviving and overcoming one of the first great tragedies in college athletics in his first season as coach.Immortal Ten
On January 22, 1927 Coach Ralph Wolf's Baylor Basketball team was travelling by bus to play the University of Texas. As the bus passed through Round Rock, TexasRound Rock, Texas
Round Rock is a city in Travis and Williamson counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the metropolitan area. The 2010 census places the population at 99,887....
it approached railroad tracks on the south side of the business district on a drizzly, cloudy day. As the bus crossed the tracks the occupants failed to hear the sound of the train whistle and ringing bell. The driver caught sight of the train at the last moment and tried to steer away, but the Sunshine Special crashed into the bus at near 60 mph tearing off the roof and one side. Ten Baylor students and basketball players were killed by the impact. One player, James Clyde "Abe" Kelly, pushed his friend Weir Washam out the window of the bus just moments before impact—saving the life of Washam but costing Kelly his life. "Abe" Kelly's and Robert Hailey's bodies were found horrifically stretched across the cowcatcher on the front of the train with arms locked around each other but Kelly's missing a leg. Ivy Foster Sr. of Taylor, Texas had heard of the accident and rushed to the train station in Taylor to meet the train and assist where needed only to find his son among the dead. The remainder of the 1927 season was cancelled. The tragedy had reverberations over the entire state and nation, and led to the construction of the first railway overpass in Texas where the event occurred at Round Rock. Busses were later required to come to a full stop and open the door at all rail crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten story has been commemorated each year since 1927 at first in Chapel services then later at the Freshman Mass Meeting during Homecoming Week. The event was also memorialized in bronze on the Baylor campus in Traditions Plaza in 2007.
Post World War II success
Baylor men's teams won five conference championships in the former Southwest Conference (1932, 1946, 1948, 1949*, 1950*; * denotes shared title). The Bears reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 1946, and reached the Final Four in 1948 and 1950. Bill Henderson's 1948 team advanced to play the Kentucky WildcatsKentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky , a founding member of the Southeastern Conference...
for the NCAA championship, but fell 58–42 to Adolph Rupp's first national championship team. The team again advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1950 under Henderson losing to the Bradley Braves
Bradley Braves
The Bradley Braves are the intercollegiate athletics teams of Bradley University, located in Peoria, Illinois.Bradley is best known for its college basketball success. Bradley has been to eight NCAA tournaments, including two national championship games, three Elite 8's, and four Sweet 16's...
68-66. Bill Menefee (1962–1973) would lead the Bears to a national ranking in 1969 but failed to make the postseason that year. Menefee was the only coach over the next 50 years to have a career record of over .500, and would later serve as Baylor's athletic director in the 1980s. Gene Iba's 1988 NCAA tournament team would be the first NCAA tournament appearance for the program in 38 years.
2003 scandal
The men's basketball program was plagued by scandal in 2003. Patrick DennehyPatrick Dennehy
Patrick James Dennehy was an American college basketball player. He was born in Santa Clara, California. He was fatally shot by a teammate in 2003....
, a player for the team, was murdered by a former player teammate; then-coach Dave Bliss
Dave Bliss
Dave Bliss is a former American college basketball coach. He coached at University of Oklahoma, Southern Methodist University, University of New Mexico and Baylor University...
was forced to resign amidst allegations that he had made improper financial payments to players and planned to cover his actions by characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer. The school placed itself on probation, limited itself to 7 scholarships for two years and imposed a post-season ban for one year. Additionally, the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
further punished the team by initiating a non-conference ban for the 2005-2006 season and extending the probationary period during which the school would have limited recruiting privileges.
Recent resurgence
The 2005 Bears were hindered by only having 7 scholarship players and recorded only one win in conference play. In spite of these challenges, head coach Scott DrewScott Drew
-References:...
was able to put together a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop.
The basketball program experienced a resurgence under coach Scott Drew with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years with a 9-7 conference record and the team's first national ranking in 39 years. The Jan. 23rd 2008 116-110 5OT win over Texas A&M at College Station officially became the longest game in Big 12 history. The 2008-09 team again was ranked early in the season but stumbled to a 5-11 conference finish before heating up in the Big 12 Tournament defeating both Kansas and Texas in route to the championship game versus Missouri, and lost by a score of 73-60. The 2008-2009 team won the program's first postseason victory since 1950 in its first round NIT
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...
victory over the Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown's nickname is The Hoyas, but its mascot is "Jack the Bulldog." Various breeds of dogs have been used by the sports teams as mascots since the early 1900s. Several notable bull terriers like Sergeant Stubby and "Hoya" were used at football games in the 1920s, as was a Great Dane in the...
in Waco.
The 2008-09 team went on to advance to the NIT Final where they fell to Penn State. The 2009-10 squad was again ranked in both polls and pulled off the biggest road win in school history over the then #6 Texas Longhorns in Austin 80-77 on Jan. 30th. The Bears closed out the season with a Big 12 era best 11-5 record and #3 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
The 2009-10 team was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 in the Big 12 Coaches Poll due to the graduation of several key players from the previous year. However, the team finished the regular season 23-6 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12 standings. Following a 2-1 record at the Big 12 tournament, the Bears were rewarded with a #3 seed in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. The Bears defeated #14 seed Sam Houston State 68-59 in First Round action and then defeated #11 seed Old Dominion
Old Dominion
Old Dominion may refer to:*Old Dominion, nickname for the U.S. State of Virginia*The Old Dominion, a reference to the Colony of Virginia, which became the "Dominion of Virginia"*Old Dominion , former Amtrak passenger train...
76-68 in Second Round play to advance to the Sweet 16 hosted at Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....
in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. The Bear's Sweet 16 match-up was #10 seed St. Mary's, which had defeated #2 seed Villanova the previous week to advance to the Sweet 16. The Bears won handily over the Gaels, 72-49, after leading 47-19 at the half. The Elite Eight was also hosted at Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....
and the Bear's opponent was the #1 seed Duke Blue Devils
Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team is the college basketball program representing Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I...
, the last #1 seed standing in the NCAA tournament after the other three #1 seeds (Kansas, Syracuse, and Kentucky) were all defeated by lower seeded teams. In front of a very pro-Baylor crowd of over 47,000, the Bears were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils, 78-71, to end the magical run to the Elite Eight. It was the best season in the Scott Drew era as defined by conference standing, overall ranking, wins, and NCAA tournament wins. The Bears finished the season ranked #10 in the final ESPN/Coaches Poll—the highest ranking in program history at that time.
The 2010-11 team started the season ranked 14th (according to the AP Preseason poll). The Bears began 7-0, and rose to 9th in the polls before falling to Gonzaga at a neutral court in Dallas. The team finished 18-13 overall and 7-9 in league play. The highlight of the season was Lacedarius Dunn becoming the Big XII's all time leading scorer, and a sweep of the series versus ranked Texas A&M. Freshman star Perry Jones III was controversially suspended by the NCAA before the first game of the Big 12 Tournament versus Oklahoma for an offense that took place before he was enrolled at Baylor. With the suspension the Bears lost the game and were shut out of postseason play for the first time since 2007.
Coaching record
| Coach | Years coached | Seasons | Wins | Losses | Percentage | Conference titles | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luther Burleson | 1907–1908 | 2 | 10 | 9 | .526 | — | — | — |
| Enoch Mills | 1909–1910 | 2 | 19 | 10 | .655 | — | — | — |
| Ralph Gaze | 1911–1914 | 3 | 26 | 7 | .788 | — | — | — |
| Norman Paine | 1914 | 1 | 1 | 8 | .111 | — | — | — |
| Charles Moseley | 1915–1920 | 6 | 28 | 65 | .301 | 0 | — | — |
| Frank Bridges | 1921–1926 | 6 | 51 | 78 | .395 | 0 | — | — |
| Ralph Wolf | 1927–1941 | 15 | 148 | 129 | .534 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Henderson | 1942–1943 and 1945–1961 | 19 | 201 | 233 | .463 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Van Sweet | 1944–1945 | 2 | 6 | 27 | .182 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Menefee | 1962–1973 | 12 | 149 | 144 | .509 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carroll Dawson | 1973–1976 | 4 | 42 | 51 | .452 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Haller | 1976–1985 | 9 | 104 | 130 | .444 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gene Iba | 1985–1992 | 7 | 98 | 106 | .480 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Darrell Johnson | 1992–1994 | 2 | 32 | 22 | .596 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harry Miller | 1994–1999 | 5 | 56 | 87 | .392 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Bliss | 1999–2003 | 4 | 61 | 57 | .517 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Scott Drew | 2003–2011 | 8 | 127 | 116 | .529 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Overall | 1907–2011 | 104 | 1162 | 1281 | .475 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
See also
- Season-by-season results
- NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coachesNCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coachesThis is a list of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Regional Championships by coach. The current names of the NCAA Tournament regions are the East, Southeast, Southwest, and West...