By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
Before this season, Baylor was expected to be a competitive team in a highly skilled Big 12 Conference.
The Bears (16-16, 6-12 Big 12) were picked seventh in the conference preseason media poll. They finished the regular season 13th with a .500 record, the program’s worst finish since 2006-07.
Heading into the College Basketball Crown, Baylor leaves behind a tumultuous regular season defined by a series of unique moments.
Complete roster overhaul
By April 10, 2025, following freshman guard Robert Wright III’s commitment to BYU, not a single player from the 2024-25 roster remained with the program. Head coach Scott Drew was left with the nearly impossible task of recreating 100% of production for the upcoming year.
The Bears brought home a top 25 rated transfer portal class, bringing in 14 total newcomers to fling their green and gold afar on the hardwood.
“The team gets along,” Drew said in September. “There’s no cliques. You’ve got a lot of guys in similar situations, meaning, a kind of chip on the shoulder … I think [the team] is excited to have a chance to prove some people wrong.”
The Bears’ attempt to catch lightning in a bottle and win big with an inexperienced squad did not pan out as many had hoped. Yet much like Joey’s season on “The Bachelor,” this year’s cast found their way into the hearts of Baylor fans off the court.
“I feel like everyone is their own character,” redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Carr said before the season. “I think it all goes together very well. Everyone has their own connection.”
More injury issues
In “Star Wars,” it’s the empire that strikes back. In Waco, it’s season-ending injuries. Baylor saw three devastating injuries that greatly affected the depth of Drew’s tossed–together squad.
Freshman forward Maikcol Perez (ACL) and junior center Juslin Bodo Bodo (forearm) both suffered injuries that sidelined him all season. Fifth-year guard JJ White played just four games for the Bears before being ruled out for the season with a foot fracture.
The Bears have suffered nine season-ending injuries since the program’s national championship in 2021. Despite hopes for a turnaround, the mojo did not pan out any differently this year.
“Maikcol Perez just gets here and tears [his ACL] in the first week, so it’s not like we wore him down,” Drew said in February. “Bodo gets injured before he got here, so those are two of them. Now JJ gets a stress fracture … That’s one that happened on our watch.”
With the injuries came depth struggles, which led the Bears to seek out creative options to fill minutes.
Signing a former NBA Draft pick
In early November 2025, after Louisville signed a former G-League player to its active roster, Drew took to X to echo Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo’s complaints about the move.
Drew soon took a lesson from Michael Corleone: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
On Christmas Eve, Baylor announced the signing of James Nnaji, the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The move brought national backlash against Drew and kept a judgmental eye on the Bears early in conference play.
In Nnaji’s collegiate debut, a 69-63 loss at TCU in the Big 12 opener, the 7-foot freshman was welcomed to an eruption of Horned Frog boos. It didn’t take long for the negative attention to fade away as national media realized the newest Bear would be a long-term project rather than offering immediate dominance.
“Let’s be human first before the sport,” Nnaji said in an interview with ESPN. “Let’s be human. But at the end of the day, the controversy doesn’t bother me because I’m here to do my job, to help the team as much as I can and to get better.”
Bears’ worst defense in over a decade
The biggest strength the Bears carried this season was their high-volume offense, which was ranked as high as fifth in the nation in December, per KenPom. Potential first-round picks Carr and Tounde Yessoufou led the way with 17-plus points per game.
The team’s biggest defense was its defense. A lack of anchor in the post and poor rotational awareness throughout the year led the Bears to have the nation’s No. 268-ranked scoring defense.
The use of the pack-line defense, which prioritizes protecting the paint and allowing low-percentage shots from deep, did not benefit the Bears in conference play. Baylor’s decision to allow a high number of shots beyond the arc from a Big 12 Conference that averages 35% from three.
While post-defensive weaknesses can be credited to injuries, defense once again proved to be a concern for the green and gold.
There’s always next year
Baylor played the role of Job this season. As soon as the newest test seemed to push the Bears to their limit, another one appeared. From full roster reconstruction to season-ending injuries to the second-hardest defensive strength of schedule in the nation, the trials and tribulations were endless.
The stress of such a season can now be replaced with hope for next year. The Bears are expected to retain a large portion of their team, only losing four players to exhausted eligibility.
While Yessoufou and Carr could declare for the draft, the chances of a return for either are not zero. The development of sophomore guard Isaac Williams IV, Bodo Bodo’s looming Baylor debut and more expected returners should get Baylor fans through the long wait until next November.
