Baylor Basketball: Why Johnathan Motley should decide to return to Waco

Mar 24, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Baylor Bears forward Johnathan Motley (5) reacts after loosing to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the semifinals of the East Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mar 19, 2017; Tulsa, OK, USA; Baylor Bears forward Johnathan Motley (5) looks to shoot while guarded by USC Trojans forward Bennie Boatwright (25) during the first half in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at BOK Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Baylor will be a great team…again

While Al Freeman is graduating and transferring and Ish Wainwright is departing, the Baylor Bears would still be one of the top teams in the Big 12 if Johnathan Motley returned.

In fact, it could be argued that Baylor would be a top 15 team if the 6’10”, 230-pound power forward comes back to Waco.

Motley gives the Bears a floor spacer, a big who they can throw the ball down to in the post and a solid defender who is excellent on the defensive glass. But as we learned in 2016-17, Motley cannot win games by himself, which is why the pieces surrounding him may make returning that much more intriguing.

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., Manu Lecomte, Jake Lindsey, King McClure, Wendell Mitchell, Nuni Omot and Terry Maston will be back, while Tyson Jolly and Mark Vital will be eligible for their redshirt freshman seasons.

Baylor would once again be long and athletic defensively, but with an offseason of improvements from McClure, Lecomte, Omot, Maston and Mitchell, Baylor could provide Motley with more consistent help on the offensive end.

Scott Drew’s team obviously won’t reach their potential unless Motley returns.

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