By Camille Cox | Staff Writer
The Bear Pit is the student section at the Ferrell Center, composed of spirited students who cheer on the men’s and women’s basketball teams at every home game.
According to its website, “all students who cheer on the Baylor Bears and Lady Bears basketball teams are considered members of the Bear Pit, the official student section for basketball.”
Students interested in helping set up for games and leading chants and cheers can officially join the Bear Pit to facilitate the spirit of the Ferrell Center.
Charlotte, N.C., sophomore Nicko Henderson said he joined the Bear Pit his freshman year after being involved in a similar spirit group in high school.
“In high school, I did this thing called Covenant Crazies, which was basically the same thing but for all sports,” Henderson said. “Then I heard about the Bear Pit and joined last year.”
Henderson said that he was part of the Bear Pit crew last year and that he now serves on the leadership team as the game day chair.
“I will be at the games two hours early and will be with anyone else who is a part of the Game Day Committee, and we’ll be setting up for the game,” Henderson said. “We put out the newspapers on the back of chairs and T-shirts, if we’re doing T-shirt giveaways, and basically anything that would go on inside of the stadium.”
Houston sophomore Jack Quisenberry said that the newspapers they place on chairs are for students in the student section to hold up when the opposing team walks in.
“The newspapers are for whenever away teams run out onto the court — all the students will put up newspapers and say, ‘Who’s that?’ to get in their heads,” Quisenberry said.
Quisenberry said he joined the Bear Pit this year after his friends joined and he wanted to participate.
“I’ve always loved Baylor basketball, and all my friends are doing it this year, so I decided to do it,” Quisenberry said.
Quisenberry said that the Bear Pit supports the teams on the home court but that it also makes occasional trips for away games.
“We always go to UT for an away game, so I know for sure we are going there for an away game,” Quisenberry said.
Henderson said he is excited to cheer on the teams this year after coming off of a successful 2021 basketball season, both for the men’s and women’s teams.
“I’m most excited for having a new group this year and coming off of a women’s team that went to the Elite Eight and a men’s team that won the National Championship,” Henderson said.
Students interested in officially joining the Bear Pit can visit its Instagram or Twitter at @baylorbearpit.
