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It didn’t take long for Baylor football associate head coach and new running backs coach Khenon Hall to notice the talent in his position room. With returners who include junior Richard Reese, senior Dominic Richardson and sophomore Dawson Pendergrass, Hall said he’s thrilled with his corps as spring camp rolls on.

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.

In the world of Baylor Athletics, the name Alexis Brown is a familiar one. The Kennedale native has dominated Baylor track and field’s indoor season, as she won 2024 All-American Indoor honors and 2024 All-Big 12 Indoor because of her prowess in long jump. This past weekend at the Clyde Hart Invitational, which was her first outdoor meet in two years, Brown set a new program record for the long jump, as she recorded a 22-11 mark twice, and won the women’s 100-meter race.

Baylor baseball found itself in a sticky situation after allowing at least one run in each of the first five innings. The UTSA bats capitalized on every opportunity, and the Bears struggled to find a rhythm late, as they fell 9-7 on Tuesday at Baylor Ballpark.

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.

“I think the art is lost with winning in the details and then bringing physicality behind all that,” said Breckterfield, who hasn’t even been in Waco a full three weeks.

She may be the smallest on the court at times, but 5-foot-7 junior guard Jada Walker had the biggest impact on Sunday. Walker poured in a career-high 28 points — highlighted by a crucial and-one layup with 19 seconds to go — and No. 5 seed Baylor women’s basketball escaped No. 4 seed Virginia Tech 75-72 in the Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

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.

No. 5 seed Baylor women’s basketball knocked out No. 12 seed Vanderbilt 80-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night in the Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

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.

Day two of spring practice camp has come and gone for Baylor football, and one thing that’s clear is the competition for starting quarterback is still up for grabs.

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.

“The work has been done at this point,” Long said. “It’s just about going out there and executing your cues for every person, for sprinters, for jumpers, for throwers. It’s just about not letting the moment get too big.”

When Baylor football hit the field for its first spring practice on Tuesday, one thing was clear: The starting quarterback job is there for the taking, and the competition is unsurprisingly between fifth-year senior Toledo transfer Dequan Finn and redshirt junior Sawyer Robertson.

Baylor men’s golf wrapped up the All-American Intercollegiate with an eighth-place finish, thanks to a 3-over 291 on Tuesday at The Golf Club of Houston.

After Baylor baseball plated its first run of the game in the top of the third inning, 12 of the next 13 Sam Houston batters reached base — including 10 straight — to craft a 12-run bottom of the third inning. The Bearkats used that hot start and dominated the Bears 18-3 on Tuesday night at Don Sanders Stadium in Huntsville.

Baylor dusted Houston Christian 14-4 in a five-inning run-rule victory on Tuesday night at Getterman Stadium.

The duo was thrown into the fire as freshmen, as they played pivotal roles for a team seeking its 13th-straight Big 12 regular season title. They didn’t expect to have to play so much as underclassmen, but Fontleroy said the 2022-23 season accelerated their progression.

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.

As players and schools continue to search for profitable ways to navigate the ever-changing world of Name, Image and Likeness, the sports card boom has proved to help benefit athletes. On Feb. 14, Baylor men’s and women’s basketball partnered with ONIT Athlete to bring licensed sports cards to the community.

Freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter is different from a typical one-and-done star.