Florida Atlantic announced on Wednesday that it hired Baylor assistant coach John Jakus as its next head coach. Jakus has been on Bears head coach Scott Drew’s staff for the last seven years.
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Following a national championship in 2020-21, three straight Baylor men’s basketball seasons have concluded with an underwhelming second-round exit. Whether it be injury-riddled seasons or unthinkably slow starts, each season has found a different way to leave a lasting mark. However, the 2023-24 season will mostly be looked back on fondly due to those close bonds on the team.
There may not have been a team ranked in the preseason AP Top-25 that underwent more overhaul than 2023-24 Baylor men’s basketball. As the only Big 12 team with four brand new starters that also welcomed seven total newcomers, head coach Scott Drew found a way to bring his “Culture of Joy” to new levels.
After senior guard RayJ Dennis powered through contact and ended a scoring drought that lasted just over two minutes, No. 3 seed Baylor men’s basketball was down by 13 with just over six minutes to play.
Ja’Kobe Walter could’ve coasted through his one-and-done season. Baylor could’ve been a pitstop. He didn’t have to care. That’s never been Walter, though — that’s not his style.
In late February, Brownell said on the Tigers’ flagship radio station that Big 12 teams would adjust their nonconference schedules to play softer opponents with the idea that more routs would take place. Thus, those larger-margin victories would boost how Big 12 teams are reflected in metrics like the NET, which is the NCAA Evaluation Tool used by the selection committee.
Inked in familiar territory, head coach Scott Drew takes his Bears (24-10) into the round of 32 for the ninth time in his career, and he holds a 5-3 record in those previous contests. However, Drew’s teams have faced second-round exits in back-to-back seasons. But with all the underlying emotions, Drew said that at the end of the day it’s still basketball at the biggest stage.
As good as No. 3 seed Baylor’s offense was throughout its 92-67 win over No. 14 seed Colgate on Friday afternoon in the FedExForum, the team knows its fate relies on the defensive end.
After Tchamwa Tchatchoua drilled his first career postseason 3-pointer with 1:16 to play, Sacks found his first with 22 seconds remaining. Sacks’ 3-pointer marked the 16th of the night, which tied a postseason program record and notched the 92nd point which also marked the highest scoring output for the Bears (24-10) in an NCAA Tournament game in school history.
The only team in the country to be a No. 3 seed or higher in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments, three-seeded Baylor men’s basketball did so with four new starters. Now, the Bears roll into a round of 64 matchup against No. 14 seed Colgate, which is scheduled for 11:40 a.m. on Friday at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.
Baylor redshirt sophomore guard Langston Love must have picked up pennies on the tails side or walked under ladders growing up. Love is out for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament with a series of ankle injuries, and the setback came after dealing with a torn ACL his freshman year, followed by an eye injury down the stretch of the 2022-23 season.
March Madness feels different when you’ve been there before. For those inexperienced mid-major teams that are making their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, there’s probably a feeling of “We’re just happy to be here.”
Before head coach Scott Drew took any questions on Wednesday, he addressed redshirt sophomore Langston Love’s status for the NCAA Tournament.
As the lights beamed bright on the opening night of the 2023-24 Baylor men’s basketball season, a freshman from Cameroon sat on the bench with just three years of prior basketball experience. By the season’s end, center Yves Missi had grown exponentially after starting 30 games for the Bears and becoming the first Baylor freshman to ever be named to the All-Big 12 Defensive Team.
Baylor basketball has been a threat all season, and heading into March Madness, it’ll continue to be one. Once it passes the first weekend, both teams will be ready to make it deep into the tournament.
As exciting as it may have been for both Baylor basketball teams to hear their names called on Selection Sunday, they know there’s no time to celebrate.
Freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter is different from a typical one-and-done star.
“I really believe that as soon as everything is said and done, I will have left Baylor a better place, so I am definitely proud about that,” Tchamwa Tchatchoua said. “I’m proud of being part of the team that made history and still [is] not done with history.”
The Bears’ hopes of a Big 12 Tournament title were crushed by the Cyclones, who outshot them 50% to 21% from beyond the arc.
It took more than eight minutes for No. 3 seed Baylor men’s basketball to hit its first postseason field goal, and following 20 minutes of play, the Bears had only made six, which was their lowest total in a half all season.