By Jackson Posey | Sports Editor
After Baylor men’s basketball missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, more bad news broke: Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou, the team’s top scorers, were declaring for the NBA Draft. (Yessoufou later entered the transfer portal as well.)
Though not unexpected, the decisions echoed a year’s worth of frustrations for the program, which famously replaced its entire roster just a year prior. Once Carr declared, the Bears found themselves in a similar spot: barring new eligibility rulings, nine of the Bears’ top 10 players are on their way out the door.
This offseason has taken a markedly different tone than 2025. For one, players are returning. Starting guard Isaac Williams IV is back, joined by Juslin Bodo Bodo and Maikcol Perez, both of whom would’ve likely been rotation players if not for sustaining season-ending injuries in the offseason.
Four other reserves return as well, backstopping the roster with seven returning players, a critical resource for building and preserving culture.
Williams shot a blazing 71.1% at the rim and provided much-needed creation for the Bears. Bodo Bodo won back-to-back Big South Defensive Player of the Year honors at High Point and is a legit defensive anchor. Perez, a former four-star recruit, has a near-7-foot wingspan and starred for the U17 Italian National Team.
With a foundation in place, head coach Scott Drew went big-game hunting and landed multiple impact transfers on the perimeter. Liberty transfer guard Brett Decker Jr. (16.9 points, 47.1% 3PT) led the Flames to a Conference USA regular-season title and finished second nationally in 3-point shooting. Days later, the Bears added Kayden Mingo (13.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.1 steals), a combo guard from Penn State.
Mingo, a shifty finisher with a nose for forcing turnovers, led the Nittany Lions in assists and ranked second in the Big Ten in steals. Public speculation that his signing portended another major domino proved correct: five-star recruit Dylan Mingo decommitted from North Carolina to join the Bears.
The Mingo brothers have Baylor ties, having played alongside former Bear VJ Edgecombe during their time together at Long Island (NY) Lutheran High School.
Dylan Mingo’s health status is up in the air after reports that multiple injuries led to North Carolina reconsidering its offer and likely redshirting him for medical reasons. CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported that he “decommitted as a result” of those conversations.
If the younger Mingo brother is healthy, he could join four-star forward Elijah Williams as the Bears’ lone freshmen in the rotation. Williams, a San Antonio product and the No. 35 prospect in the 247Sports Composite, is the son of former NBA player and 2022 NBA Coach of the Year Monty Williams. He’s a versatile athlete with scoring potential, though the efficiency is still coming along: he shot just 41% from the floor and 63% from the line in EYBL play.
Back in the portal, Baylor signed transfer forward Isaac Celiscar (13.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists), who earned Second Team All-Ivy League honors and helped lead the Bulldogs to their seventh straight Ivy League title. He’s a physical, multi-level forward who rebounds beyond his height (6-foot-6) and has shown burgeoning shooting ability. He’s the early favorite to start at the four.
The Bears also inked UAB forward Evan Chatman (8.8 points, 8.8 rebounds), a Harker Heights native who spent two years at McLennan Community College. He’s a true power forward, but has the size and rebounding chops to get some small-ball minutes at the five, and could compete with redshirt freshman Mayo Soyoye for center duties when Bodo Bodo is off the floor.
Baylor currently appears to be in a holding pattern while the NCAA considers radical changes to eligibility guidelines. The Bears have two open roster spots remaining, which could go to developmental players or more wing depth. The team has already made major strides in the portal, ranking among the 10 most-improved teams in the nation per EvanMiya, and could continue to build as the offseason progresses.
