NCAA Basketball: 25 biggest offseason winners heading into 2021-22 season

The Baylor Bears were uncertainly the overall winner of the 2020-21 season but once the game ended, they had some work to do in retooling the roster. There was no question that they were losing their top four players, as Jared Butler, MaCio Teague, Davion Mitchell, and Mark Vital were going pro.

But that ended up being it in terms of roster departures. No one else from last season’s team transferred out, with Baylor adding a couple of big pieces from the transfer portal. James Akinjo was one of the best point guards in the Pac-12 last season at Arizona, while Dane Bonner was a star at the Division II level. And considering how impactful former D-III star Freddie Gillespie was just a couple of years ago, don’t be surprised that Bonner does something similar.

But arguably the biggest positive news for the Bears was the return of Matthew Mayer. The 6’9 wing averaged 8.1 ppg last season but was a 40% three-point shooter and quality defender while being instant offense off the bench. He’ll go from being the 4th or 5th option offensively to No. 1 or 2 and being an all-conference performer for the Big 12 overall.

Anc coming off a top-15 recruiting class, Baylor has added top-50 guard Dillion Hunter and most recently, five-star shooting guard prospect Keyonte George in the 2022 class. That national championship is already having benefits off the court for the program and look for it to continue in the next few months as well.