Season Outlook
Baylor’s recent success has launched this program into a standing as one of the elite programs in the nation. Clearly, the Bears are not a Blue Blood and have a long way to go before anyone thinks that, but it’s crazy to see where Baylor is based on their history. Even before the scandals in the early 2000’s, this wasn’t exactly a basketball school, but Drew has changed all of that.
Flagler and Cryer lead a talented backcourt that gets a major boost in George, expected to be one of the nation’s best freshmen this season. While there are a few players coming back from injuries, the Bears have a number of known commodities on this team, and the additions of Bridges and Lohner really help secure the frontcourt, though both players are versatile weapons.
Even though the names on the backs of the jerseys are different this year, we can still expect Baylor to be an explosive offensive team that plays very solid defense. The only initial concern for the Bears, outside of those injury issues, is how the frontcourt holds up. There are some pieces here that can be successful, but behind Thamba there’s not exactly great depth for this interior defense. When they won the national title, there weren’t injury issues and they did great things all over the court, with Thamba teaming up with Mark Vital down low.
Those issues aside, there’s a lot of optimism that this is going to be another championship-level season at Baylor. You’re going to see the Bears picked either first or second in this tough Big 12, and they’ve proven this with their play in the last few seasons. There are some extremely impressive pieces in the backcourt and there’s loads of potential all over the floor. Drew led this team to the national title just two seasons ago and is no strange to postseason success; how far will Baylor soar this season?