By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer

For the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, Baylor men’s basketball finished with an offense ranked outside the top 100.

Head coach Scott Drew isn’t about to let that happen again.

Star freshmen VJ Edgecombe and Robert O. Wright III are headed out the door to the NBA draft and BYU, respectively. Gone are seniors Norchad Omier, Jayden Nunn and Jeremy Roach, as are utilitymen Jalen Celestine and Langston Love. In their stead arrives a wave of transfer portal additions looking to carry forward the legacy of Baylor teams past.

Among other additions, Wyoming’s Obi Agbim (17.6 PPG), Oregon State’s Michael Rataj (16.9 PPG) and Omaha’s JJ White (13.7 PPG) are in line to carry the load for an offense that isn’t expected to have any returning minutes available for opening night.

Rataj offers a high-level scoring skillset as a forward, particularly as a mid-range jump shooter. He’s quick enough to challenge forwards on the perimeter and strong enough to bully guards inside. His pull-up shooting stroke is silky smooth.

Free throw shooting is widely seen as an indicator of future 3-point success, but Rataj’s indicators have been inverted. Decent freshman-year shooting (37.3% on 1.6 attempts) was offset by an abysmal performance from the line (59.6% on 1.5 attempts). The following year, he lost his 3-point touch (28.8% on 2.0 attempts) but shot a respectable 73.8% from the charity stripe on 2.1 attempts per game.

He finally put it all together in 2024-25. Playing 32.4 minutes per game as the Beavers’ unquestioned offensive fulcrum, he shot career-high volume from both locations, finishing at 35.1% from three on 2.9 attempts per game and 78.8% from the line on 5.0 attempts per game. How well he shoots from behind both lines will determine his offensive effectiveness as he transitions to Big 12 play.

He’s not a catch-and-shoot player by any means. Rataj often heads straight into dribble-drive penetration instead of shooting off the catch or swinging the rock. He has the touch and athleticism to make that work against mid-major competition, but it’ll be tougher to pull that off consistently against high-major defenders.

That aggressiveness led to a lot of short jump shots as defenses collapsed around the ball. Rataj held his own against high-caliber opponents, scoring 20 points against Oregon and 29 against Gonzaga, but the bunny jumpers will be fewer and further between moving forward.

The term “pure scorer” sometimes evokes images of selfish players who don’t try on defense. Here, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Rataj plays with high intensity on both ends of the court, scrabbling over loose balls and shooting upcourt in transition. He isn’t the most explosive athlete, but he has the touch and body control needed to make the most of impact situations.

Rataj’s length offers a high defensive ceiling; his effort raises the floor. The most important trait, though, is that he can flat-out score. He’s Baylor’s best frontcourt pull-up shooter in recent memory, and he’ll form a dynamic pick-and-roll duo with Agbim. He represents the exact sort of rim-pressuring, 3/4 combo forward the Bears have been missing in recent years.

To maximize his impact, Rataj will need to keep his percentages steady beyond the arc and at the line while increasing spot-up 3-pointer volume. If he can check those boxes effectively, he has the skillset of a high-motor, high-volume scorer with strong defensive potential for the Bears.