Welcome to the Monday Morning Sports Buzz. Whether you’re a Baylor student, a distant T-shirt fan or the proverbial man-chained-in-a-cave from Plato’s Republic, we’re glad you’re here. I hope the dancing, bear-like shadows on the wall help pass the time.
Let’s get into it.
Welcome to the portal
This weekend saw Baylor men’s and women’s basketball each snag their first transfer of the offseason. Both teams are looking to rebuild after major roster losses to exhausted eligibility.
On the men’s side, former Liberty sharpshooter Brett Decker Jr. is coming to Waco. The 6-foot-3 scoring guard racked up 16.9 points per game on 49.9/47.1/84.8 shooting splits and led the Flames to a Conference USA regular-season championship. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
The women’s team added Utah forward Reese Ross, the former South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year and second-leading rebounder in the Big 12, trailing only the Bears’ own Darianna Littlepage-Buggs. She averaged 9.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game on 47.2% shooting (32.8% from three) for the Utes.
Baylor under the Big Oak
Baylor golf alum Johnny Keefer opened the Masters this weekend, commencing the event with the opening drive of round one.
Keefer, who qualified by winning 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year honors, struggled in the tournament. The rookie shot four-over-par for a 76 on Day 1. On Day 2, he posted seven bogeys and a double to miss the 54-player cut line. Keefer finished 83rd in the 91-player event.
Keefer will look to continue his rookie season in Hilton Head, S.C., at the RBC Heritage tournament next weekend.
Causing a racket
No. 11 Men’s tennis dropped its conference finale to No. 4 TCU on Sunday, 4-1, in a tightly contested match which lasted over three hours. The Bears bounced back to sweep UTRGV in the final match of the regular season and will now turn their attention to the postseason. The team is set to face Utah at 9 a.m. Thursday in the first round of the Big 12 Championship, which runs through Saturday.
Women’s tennis dropped its regular-season finale at Texas Tech on Saturday, 4-1, setting the Bears up with a No. 6 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, which runs through Saturday. They’ll face No. 2 seed Arizona State in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Around the horn (Dia Edition)
- Track and field posted a number of impressive results at the Baylor Invitational, including from senior sprinter Tiriah Kelley, who climbed to No. 10 nationally in the 100 meters with a personal-best 11.27. She finished second behind only Cambrea Sturgis, a two-time NCAA champion and world No. 36. The team also swept the top spots in women’s pole vault and men’s 4×100 relay.
- Softball (24-18, 7-8 Big 12) dropped two out of three weekend games at Kansas, continuing a month-long slide. The Bears are 4-11 in their past 15, including three straight Big 12 series losses, after beginning the season 20-7 (5-1 Big 12). They’ll look to get things back on track Wednesday night against No. 13 Texas A&M (30-12, 11-4 SEC).
- Baseball (20-15, 8-7 Big 12) rode a ninth-inning rally to avoid a series sweep against Cincinnati this weekend. The Bears had won back-to-back series over Houston and BYU, and will now turn their focus to the biggest series of the regular season: a trio of bouts with TCU (21-14, 8-7 Big 12) along the Brazos.
- Diadeloso (59-0) is spelled wrong. It should be three words. I will die on this hill.
It’s a beautiful week for life, Baylor sports and all the mystery in between.
Thanks for reading.
— JPose
