Baylor Bears basketball

Early years

Luther Burleson coached the first basketball team in Baylor in 1907 also doubling as the football coach. In Baylor’s second season of basketball then cross-town rival TCU started their program that the Bears defeated twice during the 1908–09 season. Ralph Glaze’s (1911–1914) .788 winning percentage ranks at the top all time in college history. Ralph Wolf (1927–1941) lead Baylor to its very first SWC Championship in 1932 after surviving and overcoming one of the first excellent tragedies in college sports in his first season as coach.
Immortal Ten
See also: List of mishaps involving sports teams
On January 22, 1927, Coach Ralph Wolf’s Baylor Basketball group was travelling by bus to play the University of Texas. Since the bus passed through Round Rock, Texas, it approached railroad tracks across the south side of the company district on a drizzly, cloudy day. As the bus crossed the paths the occupants failed to listen to the sound of the train whistle and ringing bell. The motorist caught sight of the train at the last moment and tried to steer away, but the Sunshine Special crashed to the bus at near 60 miles off ripping off the roof and right side.
The Immortal Ten Museum Ten Baylor students and basketball players have been killed by the effect. [3] One participant, James Clyde”Abe” Kelly, driven his friend, Weir Washamout the window of the bus just minutes before the effect, rescue Washam’s lifetime but costing Kelly his own. The bodies of Kelly and Robert Hailey were discovered horrifically stretched throughout the cow-catcher on the front of the train, with arms wrapped around each other and Kelly missing a leg. Ivy Foster Sr. of Taylor, Texas, had heard of the accident and rushed to the train station in Taylor to meet with the train and assist where needed simply to find his son one of the deceased.
The deceased were Jack Castellaw, Sam Dillow, Merle Dudley, L.R. “Ivey” Foster Jr., Robert “Bob” Hailey, James Clyde “Abe” Kelly, Willis Murrary, James “Jim” Walker, and William Winchester.
The remainder of the 1927 season was canceled. The catastrophe had reverberations over the whole nation and nation and led to the building of the first railway overpass at Texas where the event occurred at Round Rock. Buses were later required to come to a complete stop and open the door at all rail crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten narrative was commemorated each year since 1927 at first in Chapel services then later at the Freshman Mass Meeting throughout Homecoming Week. In 2007, the occasion was memorialized in bronze to the Baylor campus at Traditions Plaza.
About the 90th anniversary of this catastrophe, January 22, 2017, the City of Round Rock held a memorial occasion to remember those who were murdered in the train-bus collision. At the event, the city dedicated the”Immortal Bridge,” which arcs over the railroad tracks where the accident occurred. Green lampposts, green-and-gold paint and other markers honor the 10 pupils who were killed there. The event was open to the public, and attendees comprised Baylor administrators and student leaders, that the spirit squads, and Baylor’s Golden Wave Band.
Post World War II victory Baylor men’s teams won five conference championships at the former Southwest Conference (1932, 1946, 1948, 1949*, 1950*; * discussed shared title). The Bears reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 1946, and reached the Final Four in 1948 and 1950. Bill Henderson’s 1948 group progressed to play the Kentucky Wildcats for the NCAA championship, but fell 58–42 to Adolph Rupp’s first national championship team. The team again advanced into the NCAA Final Four in 1950 under Henderson losing to the Bradley Braves 68–66. Bill Menefee (1962–1973) would lead the Bears into a nationwide position in 1969 but failed to make the postseason that year. Menefee was the only coach during the next 50 years to really have a career listing of over .500, and might later serve as Baylor’s athletic director from the 1980s. Gene Iba’s 1988 NCAA championship team are the first NCAA championship appearance for the app in 38 decades.
2003 scandal
Main article: Baylor University basketball scandal
The men’s basketball program was plagued by a scandal in 2003. Patrick Dennehy, a player for the group, was murdered by former teammate Carlton Dotson; then-coach Dave Bliss was forced to resign amidst allegations that he had violated NCAA rules by making monetary payments to four players and that he made improper statements to the press characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer. The school put itself on probation, restricted itself to 7 scholarships for two decades and imposed a post-season ban for one year. Furthermore, the NCAA further punished the team by initiating a non-conference ban for the 2005–2006 season and extending the probationary period during which the school would have restricted recruiting statements.
Decade Long Resurgence
The 2005 Bears were hindered by just having 7 scholarship players and listed just one win in conference play. In spite of these challenges, head coach Scott Drew was able to put together a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop.
The basketball program undergone a resurgence under coach Scott Drew having an NCAA Championship appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years using a 9–seven summit record and the team’s first national standing in 39 years. The January 23, 2008 116–110 5OT triumph over Texas A&M at College Station officially became the greatest game in Big 12 history. The 2008–09 team again was rated early in the summer but stumbled to a 5–11 conference finish before heating up in the Big 12 Tournament beating both Kansas and Texas en route to the championship match versus Missouri, and lost by a score of 73–60. The 2008–2009 group listed the program’s first postseason victory since 1950 in its initial round NIT victory over the Georgetown Hoyas in Waco.
The 2008–09 team went on to progress to the NIT Final where they fell to Penn State. The 2009–10 squad was again ranked in both surveys and pulled off the largest road win in school history over the afterward #6 Texas Longhorns in Austin 80–77 on Jan. 30th. The Bears closed out the season with a Big 12 age best 11–5 album and #1 in the Big 12 tournament.
The 2009–10 group was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 in the Big 12 Coaches Poll due to the graduation of several key players in the preceding calendar year. On the other hand, the team finished the regular season 23–6 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12 standings. After a two –1 album at the Big 12 championship, the Bears were rewarded with a #3 seed in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. The Bears defeated #14 seed Sam Houston State 68–59 at First Round action and then conquered #11 seed Old Dominion 76–68 in Second Round drama to advance to the Sweet 16 hosted in Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Bear’s Sweet 16 match-up was #10 seed Saint Mary’s, that had defeated #2 seed Villanova the prior week ahead of the Sweet 16. The Bears won handily over the Gaels, 72–49, after leading 47–19 at the half. The Elite Eight was held in Reliant Stadium and the Bears’ competition was the #1 seed Duke Blue Devils, the last #1 seed status at the NCAA tournament after the other three #1 seeds (Kansas, Syracuse, and Kentucky) were all defeated by lower seeded teams. In front of a very pro-Baylor crowd of over 47,000, the Bears were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils, 78–71, to end the magic run to the Elite Eight. It was the best season in the Scott Drew era as defined by convention standing, overall ranking, wins, and NCAA championship wins. The Bears finished the year ranked #10 in the last ESPN/Coaches Poll–the maximum ranking in program history at that time.
The 2010–11 team started the season ranked 14th (according to the AP Preseason poll). The Bears started 7–0, also rose to 9th from the polls prior to falling to Gonzaga at a neutral court in Dallas. The team finished 18–13 total and seven –9 in league playwith. The highlight of this season was Lacedarius Dunn getting the Big 12’s all-time leading scorer, and a sweep of this series versus rated Texas A&M. After freshman star Perry Jones III was suspended by the NCAA for six matches, the Bears proceeded to shed their first-round match of the Big 12 Tournament against Oklahoma.
The 2012 season saw another historic campaign for the Bears as they followed the 2011 season with another successful conference run which saw the Bears win 30 games and make it to the Big 12 tournament title game. The Bears were selected for the NCAA tournament and made it all of the way into the Elite Eight, which ended at a loss to eventual national champion Kentucky.
The 2013 season witnesses another winning effort for the Bears as they followed up the 2012 Elite Eight season with another successful seminar run that saw the squirrels sweep both TCU and Texas Tech while only dropping one match to UT. The bears started out with a pre-season ranking of 19 in the nation. The Boys finish conference play at .500 and were chosen for the NIT championship. The Bears made it all of the way to the Final, which finished in a triumph over Iowa, winning the tournament in front of a sizable crowd in Madison Square Garden and claiming the 2013 NIT Title.

Read more: nbabasketball.info