Big 12 Basketball: Bruce Weber, Scott Drew lead 2019 Coach of the Year race
By Chris Kern
2. Scott Drew
The Baylor Bears might be the biggest surprise team in the conference. They have been playing some really good basketball despite a roster full of new faces as well as some injuries to a couple of their only returning players. They have had a lot of the new guys step up but Scott Drew deserves a ton of credit for the way this team is playing.
Baylor lost four seniors from a year ago and a couple of the other returning players have suffered injury and are either out for the season or have missed multiple games. Senior guard Jake Lindsey hasn’t played at all this season after undergoing season-ending hip surgery. He will retain his senior eligibility next season though so his time in Waco is not done.
The Bears have had just four players that have played in all 26 of the games this season and Mark Vital is the only one who is returning from a year ago. Tristan Clark was arguably Baylor’s best player before he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Senior guards Makai Mason and King McClure have both missed games recently including McClure missing the last four.
Despite all that Scott Drew has kept this team rolling and they look well on their way to securing an NCAA Tournament berth. It has been a full team effort in doing so but they have been led by their star point guard, Makai Mason. He once led Yale to an upset of Baylor in the NCAA Tournament but now he is leading the Bears to the big dance where they will look to do some damage.
Baylor has three very winnable home games left against West Virginia, Texas, and Oklahoma State which gives them a good chance to finish at least 11-7 in conference play. The other two games are on the road against Kansas and Kansas State. Obviously, anything can happen in those games but if they win all three of the homes games then Scott Drew deserves strong consideration for Big 12 Coach of the Year depending on what happens with Texas Tech and Kansas State.