Which Player Turned the Corner for Baylor the Most?

2,493 Views | 30 Replies | Last: 11 mo ago by Crawfoso1973
Married A Horn
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After Bliss, the Legendary Coach Scott Drew comes to Baylor prophecying Baylor's National Championship. But what PLAYER would you give credit to for turning the program into what it has become? Basketball's version of RGIII if you will.

Seeing Curtis Jerrells made me think of this.

Was it him? LaceDarius? Tweety? Acy? What was their 'moment?'
IowaBear
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I'd go Aaron Bruce. If I recall he was Drew's first big get as far as recruiting rankings go. He started the turnaround imo
chorne68
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Lace...no one else close.
BUBBFAN
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IowaBear said:

I'd go Aaron Bruce. If I recall he was Drew's first big get as far as recruiting rankings go. He started the turnaround imo

Agree here.
ursamajor
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That's tough, since there have been several stages.

Jerrells, Rogers, Dugat showed we could recruit and compete in the Big 12 and make the tourney

The 2010 team showed we could advance, and the 2012 team showed we could compete with anyone.

Then the 2021 team.

I'd have to say that first trio though. They changed the whole paradigm.
Big12Bear
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Kevin Rogers.

From a recruiting standpoint, he was the first bigtime recruit that Drew was able to get - top 75 nationally. And you can believe that Rogers got laughed out the building when he made his choice to come here, but he stayed loyal.

That signing gave us credibility. A top 100 national player coming to Baylor after what had just preceded that was unthinkable. And for that, Rogers will always hold a special place in my heart, along with all of the others who helped set the foundation.
fubar
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I'd go with either Kevin Rogers or Tweety Carter. Since Big12 already said Rogers, I'll say Tweety. He was our first McDonald's All-American. He was the first major recruit in his class to commit ... anywhere. You'd look on rivals, and there was "Demond Carter" with a big interlocking BU next to his name. He was the leader of that 2010 team. And now he's back.

BTW, did you guys know that Tweety scored more points in high school than any other player, ever? Seriously! He started on the varsity in 8th Grade!

PS ... did any of you know that Rico Gathers never lifted weights until he got to Baylor?
Married A Horn
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chorne68 said:

Lace...no one else close.


I would have to go with Lace. His shooting was a lot of fun...I really remember it well; and I feel that helped bring in Tweety. Then it snowballed from there.

This is a more 'on the floor' approach. But everyone else's comments are great.

Edit: Tweet was before Lace. My memory failed me. It'll happen more and more as I get older.

Sounds like Tweety and Bruce to me. All mentioned here played a great part.

Lohmers with the tip!
bear2be2
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Married A Horn said:

After Bliss, the Legendary Coach Scott Drew comes to Baylor prophecying Baylor's National Championship. But what PLAYER would you give credit to for turning the program into what it has become? Basketball's version of RGIII if you will.

Seeing Curtis Jerrells made me think of this.

Was it him? LaceDarius? Tweety? Acy? What was their 'moment?'
Ekpe Udoh. His impact on defense turned the Bears from a nice team/story into a legit contender. And we've basically been one since he left.

We were consistently awful on defense until 2010. Udoh changed the program's culture on that end of the floor.

Mark Vital and Davion Mitchell did the same thing for our transition from zone to man.
GoodOleBaylorLine
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This is not exactly your question, but the first player I remember that I was like "Whoa, we got that guy" was Perry Jones.

Biggest impact probably Tweety
Task Force 2015
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Tweety was the first McDonald's All American and he recruited Lace and Udoh.I vote for him.I respect the other choices made above as well.


Is
DanaDane
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I didn't know that Tweety helped recruit him but Ekpe told me years ago the main reason he came to Baylor was to simply get away from the frigid cold winter that he hated when he was at Michigan.
Married A Horn
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Task Force 2015 said:

Tweety was the first McDonald's All American and he recruited Lace and Udoh.I vote for him.I respect the other choices made above as well.


Is


Wasnt Lace before Tweety??
vanillabryce
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Quevyn Winters?
LIB,MR BEARS
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vanillabryce said:

Quevyn Winters?
Nah. Unless I'm dreaming it was Darrell Arthur

In all seriousness, it was Tweety. BU arrived in big boy hoops when we got him.
Hotsauce
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Tweety is, and always will be, the most important player of the CSD era for a multitude of reasons.

But his predecessors...Bruce gave the ball a nudge. Then Jerrells/Rogers/Dugat got it rolling.
Crawfoso1973
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Agreed, Aaron Bruce. He got the ball rolling.
Task Force 2015
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As a sidebar,after signing Tweety,Drew sent out a recruiting letter to prospects that had pictures of coaches who had not signed a McDonalds All American(not his best idea).One of the coaches was of Bob Knight with a line drawn across his face.I think that was the match that lit the firestorm of criticism of Drew by Knight.Both Tweety(2006) and Lace(2007) came from Louisiana where Rico was not lifting weights.Drew often used Tweety as the host for prospects on their official visits because of his legend and terrific personality.
BU14
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Josh Lomers is the only correct answer
Married A Horn
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BU14 said:

Josh Lomers is the only correct answer


The only player to appear in every game thread ever! How can you argue against this?!?
DallasBear9902
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Jerrells, Rogers and Dugat got us to the NCAA tournament. They brought back excitement. Aaron Bruce is in there, too.

Tweety Carter, Lace Dunn, Quincy Acy and Epke Udoh took us next level with that Elite 8.

So, I think it was a tag team effort.
DallasBear9902
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Task Force 2015 said:

As a sidebar,after signing Tweety,Drew sent out a recruiting letter to prospects that had pictures of coaches who had not signed a McDonalds All American(not his best idea).One of the coaches was of Bob Knight with a line drawn across his face.I think that was the match that lit the firestorm of criticism of Drew by Knight.Both Tweety(2006) and Lace(2007) came from Louisiana where Rico was not lifting weights.Drew often used Tweety as the host for prospects on their official visits because of his legend and terrific personality.


Knight/Drew (family) history goes further back. Knight HATED Dale Brown. Some of his comments in public about Brown were vicious.

Homer Drew was a key assistant to Dale Brown and Drews were very close to Dale Brown.
CST Bear
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great post. Great responses. I love how many of us revere the team(s) before 2008 and the guys that really got things hummin.

Bruce, Jerrels, Lace (to an extent), Dugat, Acy should never have to buy a drink in Waco ever.
Task Force 2015
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I didn't know about the family feud.Perhaps I should have said that letter added fuel to the fire.That also may explain why Knight reacted/overreacted.
vanillabryce
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I'd say Aaron Bruce, Tweety, and Udoh.

Bruce to gives a kickstart, Tweety kinda marked a turning of a corner, and Udoh gave us the inside game/defense to go to an Elite 8 where we arrived as a legit contender.
datboiquadzilla
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Tweety Carter.
historian
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I'm so glad we gave Tweety on staff!
Fre3dombear
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Ekpe Udoh

Made baylor a legit title contender. That run set the stage for the next couple decades

CTbruin
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Tommy Bowman
Tylerbear
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Carlton Dotson

Without him their is no Scott Drew and without Scott Drew we continue to be an afterthought in basketball
Crawfoso1973
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Dark, but in a twisted way, I don't disagree.
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