Can you believe it? Only one week after the No. 5 Baylor Women’s Basketball team secured their 12th consecutive regular season Big 12 title (read all about the honor here!), the No. 3 Men’s Basketball team inked their second consecutive regular season title in Waco! The Bears closely held off Iowa State, 75-68 despite missing leading scorer LJ Cryer and defensive star Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua. Prior to head coach Scott Drew’s tenure, Baylor had only made the Final Four in 1948 and 1950 and the NCAA tournament in 1988. In 2003, the Bears made headlines after a player killed one of his teammates and the head coach at the time covered it up. Since Drew was hired that same year, he’s recorded a school record 398 in 19 years and before this year, notched a postseason record of 21-9 since 2009. Baylor men’s basketball is different from most of the other top national squads as they focus more on team building and player development than teams under the likes of Krzyzewski, Self, Calipari, and Izzo. Watching Baylor play is unique because the same faces reappear for 3-4 years as opposed to the Kansas’ and Kentucky’s that see star “one and done” NBA prospects (although that might change this year due to freshman Kendall Brown’s high draft status). Drew develops his teams to become true team players so as the years go by, players are willing to stay and wait their turn on the bench. And while last year’s record-breaking National Championship squad suffered through COVID outbreaks, they didn’t face as many injuries as this season’s team. The Bears went withoutW several of their starters throughout the entire season and still somehow clinched their second consecutive Big 12 title! James Akinjo led the team with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists; Kendall Brown notched a double double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists; Adam Flagler had 13 points and 3 assists; and Jeremy Sochan added 12 points and 6 rebounds. What a time to be a Baylor Bear!
