Baylor Basketball has been looking for their point guard of the future. Some luck occurred late August, with the Bears getting top-100 guard Jared Butler.
Baylor Basketball will be looking very different for the 2018-19 season all over the court, after losing the team’s four leading scorers. One of them was Manu Lecomte, a transfer from Miami who in two years as the Bear‘s starting point guard averaged 14.2 ppg and 3.8 apg. He led the team in scoring at over 16 ppg while still distributing the offense.
His absence will be felt the most but Baylor already had a plan to replace him. Last year they received a commitment from Makai Mason, who won the Ivy League Player of the Year Award in 2016 with the Yale Bulldogs. That ended up being the last time playing basketball, with foot injuries taking him out for almost two full years.
He should be healthy for the start of the 2018-19 season but how much the toll from the injuries took on him remains to be seen. He might look like the same star that led Yale to the NCAA Tournament but he also may not be able to keep up with the point guards of the Big 12.
Even in the best case scenario, Mason will graduate after next season, leaving Baylor with a need to find a long-term replacement. It was looking like they would have to wait for an option to develop in the 2019 recruiting class until new developments occurred in the Bear’s favor.
Whoa. Baylor MBB has announced the addition of 2018 4-star PG Jared Butler who was granted a full release after signing with Alabama. #SicEm
— Craig Smoak (@CraigSmoak) August 19, 2018
Baylor was a finalist for Butler before he opted to sign with Avery Johnson and Alabama. He looked to be a possible future starting point guard for the Crimson Tide after Collin Sexton went to the NBA Draft until five-star ball handler Kira Lewis just a couple of weeks ago reclassified to the 2018 class and also committed to Alabama.
With the backcourt becoming crowded and minutes now in question, Butler asked for a release (and received one) and opened his recruitment for a short time before joining the Bears. The overall top-100 ranked guard is expected to be an impact player for the team if he plays this upcoming season. And even if he can’t Butler can always redshirt and learn under Mason and get the keys to the offense for 2019-20.
Although Baylor loses the team’s top scorers, there’s optimism that they can remain competitive in the Big 12. Butler should help that – both in the immediate and certainly in the long-term future. It’s just a couple of months from opening tip for next season but the Bears already got a crucial win for their program.