By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
With the Christmas season in full swing and Big 12 competition less than three weeks away, Baylor men’s basketball head coach Scott Drew has one thing on his wish list: a healthy basketball team.
“Really looking forward to getting some practice days when we can hopefully have a healthy team,” Drew said after the Bears’ 88-57 drubbing of Abilene Christian. “That’s my Christmas wish.”
Baylor’s pre-conference slate, the toughest in the Big 12, has featured five ranked opponents outside Foster Pavillion. The Bears fell out of the top 25 themselves after an injury-riddled 76-72 loss at UConn. Freshman wing VJ Edgecombe missed the game with a hamstring injury, and fifth-year guard Jeremy Roach exited midway through to enter concussion protocol.
“You gotta be healthy enough to develop, and we’ve been bit with the injury bug from [that] standpoint,” Drew said after the UConn game. “We’re under five practices as a team together, and it frustrates the heck out of me as a coach because I think we could be really good. But if you can’t practice together, you can’t expect execution, and you can’t expect to be at your best.”
In Roach’s stead, freshman point guard Robert O. Wright III stepped into a larger scoring role, dropping a career-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting against UConn. Wright’s ascension has given the Bears a shot of much-needed playmaking off the bench.
“I know he’s young, so just trying to give him confidence all the time, encourage him,” senior guard Jayden Nunn said of Wright. “When you’re young sometimes you make mistakes and get down on yourself, but Rob is a great guy. I love him. That’s my guy, and I like playing with Rob, so I feel like there was no difference for me. He’s a great guy, and he brings it in practice all the time.”
Still, the mounting injuries have slowed down the development of a Baylor team that entered the season with lofty expectations. A late scratch for the Bears’ opening-night matchup with Gonzaga, redshirt junior Langston Love didn’t play for over two weeks before finally hitting the hardwood against St. John’s. Since his return, the 6-foot-5 guard has played up and down the lineup, from point guard to power forward.
Edgecombe was fully back for the ACU game, starting and playing 30 minutes; only Nunn and Wright played more. But fifth-year big man Norchad Omier played just 16 minutes after being hit in the eye early in the game. Even in a blowout home win, the Bears’ health can’t seem to catch a break.
“Jeremy was fighting with the trainer to [get] back for the UConn game, and obviously, they couldn’t let him back in,” Drew said. “But you love players that want to play, and you love players that fight to play. … Obviously, we won’t put him in harm’s way. But as a coach, you always like guys that are like that.”
Baylor’s final game before Christmas break, a buy game against Norfolk State, will tip off at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Foster Pavillion. Then comes one final tune-up game against Arlington Baptist before the Bears’ Dec. 31 conference home opener against Utah. By then, the Bears hope to be fully healthy for the first time all season.
