Early years
Luther Burleson coached the first basketball team in Baylor in 1907 also doubling as the soccer coach. In Baylor’s second season of basketball afterward cross-town rival TCU began their schedule that the Bears defeated twice during the 1908–09 season. Ralph Glaze’s (1911–1914) .788 winning percentage rankings in the best all time in school history. Ralph Wolf (1927–1941) direct Baylor to its first SWC Championship in 1932 after surviving and beating one of the first great tragedies in college sports in his first season as coach.
Immortal Ten
See also: List of mishaps involving sports teams
On January 22, 1927, Coach Ralph Wolf’s Baylor Basketball group was traveling by bus to perform with the University of Texas. As the bus passed through Round Rock, Texas, it approached railroad tracks on the south side of the company district on a drizzly, cloudy day. As the bus crossed the tracks the occupants failed to listen to the noise of the train whistle and ringing bell. The driver caught sight of the train in the last minute and tried to maneuver clear of however, the Sunshine Special crashed into the bus at near 60 miles off ripping off the roof and right side.
The Immortal Ten Memorial Ten Baylor students and basketball players have been killed by the effect. [3] One player, James Clyde”Abe” Kelly, driven his buddy, Weir Washamout the window at the bus only minutes before the effect, saving Washam’s lifetime but costing Kelly his own. The bodies of Kelly and Robert Hailey were discovered horrifically stretched across the cow-catcher on the front part of the train, with arms wrapped around each other and Kelly overlooking a leg. Ivy Foster Sr. of Taylor, Texas, had heard of the crash and rushed to the train station in Taylor to meet with the train and help where needed simply to locate his son among the deceased.
The deceased were Jack Castellaw, Sam Dillow, Merle Dudley, L.R. “Ivey” Foster Jr., Robert “Bob” Hailey, James Clyde “Abe” Kelly, Willis Murrary, James “Jim” Walker, and William Winchester.
The remainder of the 1927 season was canceled. The tragedy had reverberations over the whole nation and nation and contributed to the construction of the first railway overpass in Texas where the event happened at Round Rock. Buses were later required to come to a complete stop and open the door at all railway crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten narrative was commemorated annually since 1927 initially in Chapel services then afterwards at the Freshman Mass Meeting during Homecoming Week. In 2007, the occasion was also memorialized in bronze on the Baylor campus in Traditions Plaza.
On the 90th anniversary of this tragedy, January 22, 2017, the City of Round Rock held a memorial occasion to remember those who were murdered in the train-bus collision. In the event, the city dedicated the”Immortal Bridge,” which arcs over the railroad tracks where the accident occurred. Green lampposts, green-and-gold paint and other markers honor the 10 students who were killed there. The event was open to the public, and attendees included Baylor administrators and student leaders, that the spirit squads, and Baylor’s Golden Wave Band.
Post World War II victory Baylor men’s teams won five conference championships in the former Southwest Conference (1932, 1946, 1948, 1949*, 1950*; * discussed shared title). The Bears reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 1946, also reached the Final Four in 1948 and 1950. Bill Henderson’s 1948 team advanced to play the Kentucky Wildcats for the NCAA championship, but dropped 58–42 to Adolph Rupp’s first national championship team. The team advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1950 under Henderson losing to the Bradley Braves 68–66. Bill Menefee (1962–1973) would lead the Bears into a national position in 1969 but failed to make the postseason that year. Menefee was the only trainer over the next 50 years to have a career record of over .500, and might later serve as Baylor’s athletic director in the 1980s. Gene Iba’s 1988 NCAA tournament team are the very first NCAA tournament appearance for the program in 38 decades.
2003 scandal
Main article: Baylor University basketball scandal
The men’s basketball program was plagued by a scandal in 2003. Patrick Dennehy, a player for the team, was killed by former teammate Carlton Dotson; then-coach Dave Bliss was forced to resign amidst allegations that he had violated NCAA rules by making financial payments to four players and that he made improper statements to the media characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer. The school put itself on probation, restricted itself to 7 scholarships for two years and enforced a post-season ban for a year. Furthermore, the NCAA further punished the group by initiating a non-conference ban to the 2005–2006 year and extending the probationary period through the school would have restricted recruiting statements.
Decade Long Resurgence
The 2005 Bears were hindered by just using 7 scholarship players and recorded just one win in conference playwith. Regardless of those challenges, head coach Scott Drew was able to put together a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop.
The basketball program experienced a resurgence under coach Scott Drew having an NCAA Championship appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years using a 9–7 summit record and the group’s first national standing in 39 decades. The January 23, 2008 116–110 5OT win over Texas A&M at College Station officially became the greatest game in Big 12 history. The 2008–09 team again was ranked early in the season but stumbled to a 5–11 conference finish before heating in the Big 12 Tournament defeating both Kansas and Texas en route to the championship game versus Missouri, and lost by a score of 73–60. The 2008–2009 team listed the program’s first postseason victory since 1950 in its initial round NIT victory within the Georgetown Hoyas at Waco.
The 2008–09 team went on to advance to the NIT Final in which they fell to Penn State. The 2009–10 group was rated in both surveys and pulled off the biggest road win in school history across the afterward #6 Texas Longhorns at Austin 80–77 on Jan. 30th. The Bears closed out the season with a Big 12 era best 11–5 album and #1 in the Big 12 championship.
The 2009–10 team was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 in the Big 12 Coaches Poll as a result of graduation of several key players from the preceding year. However, the group ended the regular season 23–6 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12 standings. After a 2–1 record in the Big 12 championship, the Bears were rewarded with a #1 in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. The Bears defeated #14 seed Sam Houston State 68–59 at First Round action and then defeated #11 seed Old Dominion 76–68 in Second Round play to advance to the Sweet 16 hosted at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Bear’s Sweet 16 match-up was #10 seed Saint Mary’s, which had defeated #2 seed Villanova the prior week to advance to the Sweet 16. The Bears won handily over the Gaels, 72–49, after major 47–19 in the half. The Elite Eight was held at Reliant Stadium and the Bears’ competition was the #1 seed Duke Blue Devils, the final #1 seed standing in the NCAA tournament after the other three #1 seeds (Kansas, Syracuse, and Kentucky) were defeated by lower seeded teams. In front of quite a pro-Baylor crowd of over 47,000, the Bears were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils, 78–71, to end the magic run to the Elite Eight. It was the best season in the Scott Drew era as characterized by conference standing, overall ranking, wins, and NCAA tournament wins. The Bears finished the year ranked #10 from the final ESPN/Coaches Poll–the maximum ranking in program history at that moment.
The 2010–11 team started the season ranked 14th (according to this AP Preseason survey ). The Bears started 7–0, also climbed to 9th from the polls prior to falling to Gonzaga in a neutral court in Dallas. The team finished 18–13 total and seven –9 in league playwith. The highlight of this season was Lacedarius Dunn getting the Big 12’s all-time leading scorer, and a sweep of this series versus ranked Texas A&M. After freshman star Perry Jones III was suspended from the NCAA for six matches, the Bears proceeded to lose their first-round game of the Big 12 Tournament against Oklahoma.
The 2012 season saw another historic effort for the Bears since they followed up the 2011 season with another successful conference run that saw the Bears win 30 games and make it into the Big 12 tournament title game. The Bears were selected for the NCAA tournament and made it all of the way to the Elite Eight, which ended at a loss to eventual national champion Kentucky.
The 2013 year witnesses another winning effort for the Bears since they followed the 2012 Elite Eight season with another successful conference run that saw the squirrels sweep both TCU and Texas Tech while only dropping one game to UT. The bears started out with a pre-season ranking of 19 in the nation. The Boys finish conference play at .500 and have been chosen for the NIT championship. The Bears made it all of the way into the Final, which ended in a win over Iowa, winning the tournament in front of a large crowd in Madison Square Garden and claiming the 2013 NIT Title.
Read more: http://www.olcayreklam.com/steelers-vs-titans-nfl-pick-preseason-week-3/