By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
Any given night so far this season, the energy seen coursing through the Bears on the court has been driven by the vocal leadership roaring from the bench.
Baylor’s “bench mob” has been a thing of legend the past few seasons. Led by such local leaders as Mark Paterson and Austin Sacks, a new player has donned the mantle of Baylor’s seated leader.
Enter Will Kuykendall, a redshirt sophomore guard who transferred to Baylor after two seasons at Arizona.
“Will is someone that has been around a lot of high-level basketball and knows the importance of competing hard every day,” head coach Scott Drew said. “Dating back to his high school days, he has won a lot of basketball games, so he is going to be a great teammate and someone that will make us better by how hard he brings it every day in the gym.”
As a senior in high school, Kuykendall led Santa Maria (Calif.) St. Joseph’s to a 14-0 conference record in 2022-23, averaging 5.8 points and 2.7 assists per game. Despite posting a career-high 17 points against Atascadero High School that spring, the 6-foot-2 guard left his alma mater with no college offers.
Still seeking to pursue his dream of becoming a Division basketball player, the California native journeyed south to join a talented, Tommy Lloyd-led team.
“The locker-room experience [at Arizona] was fantastic to be around,” Kuykendall said. “Being around guys like Caleb Love and Carter Bryant, who are super high-level competitors, opened up a lot of opportunities for me.”
With all the odds stacked against him, Kuykendall — who walked on at a program filled with NBA talent in every corner — earned himself a full-ride scholarship spot by his second year with the program.
“I had to work really, really hard,” Kuykendall said. “No one really respected me when I walked in, so having to earn that respect constantly was definitely a challenge. Earning the full ride was like, ‘It finally paid off,’ so it was all worth it for sure.”
Kuykendall put his name in the transfer portal and looked to make his way to Waco after his former high school teammate, five-star freshman Tounde Yessoufou, committed to Baylor.
Kuykendall and Yessoufou began playing basketball together in 2021 at St. Joseph’s, when Kuykendall was starting his junior year and Yessoufou his freshman. It wasn’t long until the pair became inseparable, to the point that Yessoufou moved in with Kuykendall and his family during the California native’s senior season.
“Tounde moved in with me about two years ago,” Kuykendall said. “We’ve been like brothers, basically, and being here together has made it all the more better.”
Kuykendall committed to the green and the gold as a full scholarship player the first week of May.
Kuykendall has yet to see the court for the Bears, but is making sure his presence is felt. A strong believer in the importance of team chemistry to a winning program, the guard is working to build a tight-knit culture among the Bears.
“These guys, we are super well bonded,” Kuykendall said. “The trip to Germany obviously closed-knit us quite well, just because we were kind of thrown into the fire over there.”
Kuykendall has made an impact by cultivating Drew’s famous ‘Culture of JOY’ environment from his role on the bench so far this year, and has no intent on slowing down as he awaits his Baylor debut.
“Our chemistry this year has just been unbelievable,” Kuykendall said. “We have so many funny guys and great characters. It has been so much fun getting to cut up together and then see those relationships translate to on-the-court success.”
The Bears’ next matchup is against Creighton at 1 p.m. Monday in Las Vegas. The game will be broadcast on truTV.
