By Michael Haag, Foster Nicholas and Jackson Posey | Sports Desk
Baylor men’s basketball was ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25 Poll on Monday. The announcement came after Big 12 coaches picked the Bears to finish fourth in the league on Friday.
Is Baylor underrated going into the 2023-24 season? Here are the reactions from all three members of the Baylor Lariat Sports Desk.
Michael Haag | Sports Editor
If this installment of the AP Preseason Top 25 tells us anything, it’s that the voters factor newcomers way too much.
Two things can be true: Baylor men’s basketball can be ushering in seven new athletes and also have the makings of a darn good roster. Has head coach Scott Drew not proven himself to the country? He continues to reload despite constantly sending athletes to the NBA.
The Big 12 poll wasn’t shocking to me, as there’s no real knock to being listed as a top-four team in the best conference in America. No. 1 Kansas is the only program that’s separated itself from the rest of the bunch, with No. 7 Houston being a semi-close second. The Bears have the ability to compete with those upper echelon teams, though, including No. 18 Texas, which came in third.
Baylor’s biggest concern going into the year is how its guard rotation comes together. Drew has had to pivot with his backcourt before, but he’s never had to completely revamp it. Losing 2022-23 Honorable Mention AP All-American Adam Flagler, 2023 All-Big 12 Third Team member LJ Cryer and Keyonte George, a first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, is not ideal.
It’s safe to say Drew didn’t script that to happen, but that’s also the nature of the sport. The transfer portal, paired with NIL, has made it to where teams are overhauling their roster left and right. Drew utilized the portal to bring in key guards like senior RayJ Dennis and junior Jayden Nunn.
Dennis and Nunn should fit in nicely with a guard rotation that includes returners in redshirt junior Dantwan Grimes and redshirt sophomore Langston Love, as well as a pair of highly-touted freshmen in Miro Little and Ja’Kobe Walter.
Both rankings were probably fair given the amount of newcomers the Bears have, but a case should be made for the voters to look at roster acquisitions just as much as who a program loses.
Foster Nicholas | Sports Writer
Time will tell if a mini-offseason rebuild will turn into fruitful results, but at the moment, a No. 20 preseason ranking feels on par from an outside viewpoint.
The Bears fell out of the Top 25 early last season after a 65-week stretch of dominance from within, and despite the green and gold squeezing into this year’s rankings, I don’t see them falling out again.
While the turnover has been grand, the sneaky chemistry this team already has is far superior to that of the team from a year ago. A summer trip overseas and leadership all across the board, both in senior forward Jalen Bridges and graduate student forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua as well as incoming transfer senior guard RayJ Dennis means there will be plenty of voices to take this team where it wants to go, and miscommunication shouldn’t be an issue the way it was early last season.
The Baylor identity has always been around a defensive squad that can get stops in a big moment, and that was lacking in the postseason push a year ago. This year, the Bears’ defense is back in a big way — literally. With former Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year Tchamwa Tchatchoua back at full strength and a strong group of defensive focused guards, the days of teams dropping 80 or more points on the green and gold are over.
The questions will surround offensive production and an unproven guard room, but that should be more exciting than worrisome. With a great developmental staff and oozing potential, there will be a breakout star on the perimeter — the question becomes who.
Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Slotting Baylor in at No. 20 shows a lot of faith on behalf of the voters — and that might still be too low.
The Bears return one starter (Jalen Bridges) from a team that lost in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The center position remains a question mark, as does a defense which ranked 186th in scoring. The Bears allowed over 70 points per game for the first time in 15 years.
But, the team is stacked. After a hectic offseason which briefly saw the roster fall below 10 players, head coach Scott Drew reached into his bag and pulled out a half-dozen rabbits. Former Toledo point guard RayJ Dennis is a star, and VCU transfer Jayden Nunn is the perfect two-way complement. Freshman center Yves Missi could get big minutes after reclassifying to get on campus a year earlier.
This team feels like a Mario mystery block. If Dennis or freshman Ja’Kobe Walter can take the leap into superstardom, perhaps that’s the Yoshi egg back to title contention. This is the most talented team in Waco since the 2021 team that won a national championship, and it should rank among the top offenses in the nation.
But, if no one takes control of the center position, or if Bridges misses significant time, or if the lack of length on the perimeter proves to be more detrimental than expected, this could be yet another season of wondering what could’ve been.
