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Baylor Basketball

Can Scott Drew Be Baylor's Jay Wright?

January 22, 2019
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Back in 2015, I wrote an article for the Baylor 247 Sports site with some perspectives that the next two decades of Baylor basketball under Scott Drew were going to be even better than the last two decades.  On a day where one Baylor writer threw down some opinions on Scott Drew’s future at Baylor that I strongly disagree with, I thought I would offer a counter argument.  In 2015, I used Coach K as a comparison.  But I think a better comparison could be Jay Wright at Villanova.  If Baylor is able to build a new fieldhouse and revitalize their basketball atmosphere, will they be doing it with one of college basketball’s best coaches in his prime?  My answer is yes and below are the reasons why I believe Baylor will enjoy a tremendous 20 year run if Baylor and Scott Drew commit to each other in a substantial way.  

Program Stability

Basketball coaching is a cut-throat profession where very few enjoy a run at a power 6 (or top mid major) school for longer than 10 years. In the power 6 leagues (ACC, Big East, B1G, Big12, Pac12, SEC) Jim Boeheim currently has the longest tenure at his school (Syracuse) at 43 years. Mike Krzyzewski started at Duke in 1980- so he is in his 39th year. Tom Izzo has been at Michigan State 24 years. Mark Few has been at Gonzaga for 20 years. Mike Brey at Notre Dame for 19 years.  Jay Wright at Villanova for 18 years.  Leonard Hamilton at Florida State for 17 years.  Bill Self (Kansas), Roy Williams (North Carolina) and Scott Drew (Baylor) are all in year 16 at their respective schools.  

The ages of those coaches:  Boeheim (74); Krzyzewski (71); Izzo (63); Few (56); Brey (59); Wright (57); Hamilton (70); Self (56); and Williams (68).  Then you have Scott Drew at age 48.  The one thing all of those coaches mentioned have in common is that they enjoyed the vast majority of their success after age 45.  

Jay Wright was 39 years old when he started at Villanova after 7 seasons at Hofstra.  Villanova was no stranger to basketball success.  The Wildcats won the national championship in 1985 by defeating heavy favorite Georgetown in the final.  Nova has been to 5 Final 4s since 1970 but three of them have been with Wright in the last 10 years.  By contrast, Scott Drew took over a Baylor program that had been to the NCAA tournament one time in the last 50 years.

It would take Wright six years into his coaching career to reach the NCAA tournament.  After making the dance two years in a row at Hofstra, Villanova came calling.  Wright did not make the NCAA tourney until year 4 of his Villanova tenure, but once he made it, he has been to the NCAA tourney 13 out of the last 14 years.  He made his first Final 4 in year 14 of his coaching career.  But it has been years 21 and 23 where Villanova has reaped the most fruit- two national titles.  

Scott Drew also made the NCAA tournament in his 6th year of coaching.  In probably his best coaching job to date, Drew has this Baylor team on the verge of their eighth NCAA tournament appearance if they can continue their progress this year-  winning 4 of their last 5 games despite losing one of the top big men in the country Tristan Clark (14 ppg; 6 reb; 3 blks) to injury.  In the last 11 years, the Bears have been to the NCAA tourney 7 times. He also has a couple of NIT championship game appearances- winning the NIT tournament in 2012-13. Baylor has made the Sweet 16 or better in 4 of the last 9 years.

Wright and Drew have their coaching differences.  Wright is known for his pin-striped suits and GQ persona similar to a Pat Riley.  He enjoys the psychological and motivational aspects of the game.  Scott Drew is relentlessly positive who spends a ridiculous amount of time scouting future opponents trying to gain an edge.  If Jay Wright is Pat Riley, Scott Drew is more like Chuck Daly.  

Family Atmosphere

It is the family atmosphere that has helped Drew have success at Baylor. Former players all say the same thing about Baylor's coaching staff.

"Coach Drew is just a great guy- he wants the best for you" 
"This staff really cares" 
"They would do anything to help you be successful on and off the court" 
"He's a fierce competitor- don't let the smile fool you"

Villanova had leaders like Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry, Dante Cunningham, Ryan Arcidiacono, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson to pass the baton to future Wildcat players. Coach Drew has started to establish a similar pattern with guys like Tweety Carter, Quincy Acy, Cory Jefferson, Brady Heslip, Kenny Chery, Ish Wainright, Johnathan Motley, Jake Lindsey and King McClure.  

Jay Wright was 122-85 in his first 7 years of coaching with one NIT appearance and a couple of NCAA appearances to show for it. Scott Drew's first 7 years of coaching resulted in a 101-96 record with a couple of NIT appearances and an NCAA bid. Over the next 10 years, Jay Wright was 224-111 with one Final 4. Coach Drew has not been to a Final 4 yet (4 sweet 16s; two Elite 8s) but he has amassed a 229-116 record over the last 10 years. Those numbers are tracking very close.

Projecting to the future, Drew is only 48 years old. Good college basketball coaches tend to enjoy their greatest success between ages 45-70. If you look at some of the legendary coaches in the past, if there is a strong marriage between a school and a coach, you can have a great deal of momentum and continuity that leads to some great results in those "golden" years of 45-70 in a coaches life.

In the list above, Tom Izzo went to 7 Final 4's after age 45. He won it all in 2000. Jim Boeheim was 58 when he won a title. Bill Self didn't make a Final 4 until age 45 (the year Kansas won it all).  Calipari didn't get a ring until age 52. Coach K was 43 when he got his first championship.

The point of that is to say that Coach Drew has not reached a ceiling and anyone who thinks that is not paying attention to historical precedents. Drew has been able to break a lot of impressive streaks as a Baylor coach.   In 2012, the Bears broke Kentucky's 55 game home winning streak by beating the Wildcats at Rupp Arena. This year, the Bears broke Arizona’s 52 game non-conference home winning streak.  By defeating #8 Texas Tech, Scott Drew and staff have beaten 40 top 25 teams in his tenure at Baylor.  27 of those top 25 wins have come in the last six seasons.  Drew's post-season record over the last 10 years is an impressive 31-18. It is arguably easier to win national titles at places like North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville and UCLA. But they are being won at places like UCONN, Florida, Maryland, Villanova and Syracuse as well.  Why not Baylor?  And why not Scott Drew?  

Baylor fans may have had a front row seat to the infancy of a long, successful run with Scott Drew at the helm. Better facilities, more consistent fan support and results and a plethora of continued NBA talent may be in the future for Baylor fans. Drew is already developing a strong track record of consistent results to show future recruits. His offenses over the last 11 years have been terrific- KenPom has Baylor's offensive efficiency in the top 25 in 9 of those 11 years. The defensive efficiency numbers have been elevating in recent years- a top 40 defense in 4 of the last 5 years.  

Player Development

Let’s be honest here, there is a lot of cheating in college basketball.  Many top recruits get paid.  An FBI trial on the corruption in college basketball has already claimed a legendary coach in Rick Pitino.  Bill Self and Kansas’ fingerprints are all over the FBI trial.  Before it is all said and done, there may be more than a few college coaches looking for other employment.  

But Scott Drew like Jay Wright has kept his reputation clean and done it by developing players.  There are currently 5 Baylor players in the NBA:  Taurean Prince, Royce O’Neale, Ekpe Udoh, Quincy Acy and Johnathan Motley.  All 5 of those players have this in common, they were not top 100 players coming out of high school.   But by the time they were done at Baylor, they had developed their games enough to get shots at the NBA.  

Jay Wright went through a miserable season (by his standards) in 2011-12.  The Wildcats went 13-19 and missed post season play.  The natives grew restless and thought he had reached his peak.  After his Final 4 in 2008-09, the program was showing a slow decline.  But then Wright (like all great coaches) reinvented his roster and style of play.  Drew is also reinventing his roster and style of play.  The Bears are currently #1 in Big12 play in offensive efficiency with a style that is more reminiscent of the Golden State Warriors with great spacing, 3 point shooting and guards that drive the basketball. 

Some Baylor fans don’t really know what is on the shelf for next year with two terrific guards sitting out in scoring guard Macio Teague (1st team All Big South at UNC Asheville) and point guard Davion Mitchell (played 17 min per game on SEC champ Auburn as frosh).  The Bears should return most of their scoring and rebounding and are in the hunt for 5 star big man Oumar Ballo who is choosing between Baylor and Gonzaga and Harlond Beverly who the Bears are battling several schools for.  

Enjoy the ride Baylor fans, this should be an exciting transformational season but the future is even brighter.  

Tags: Basketball
Discussion from...

Can Scott Drew Be Baylor's Jay Wright?

8,726 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by geewago
CTbruin
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Excellent article
BaylorOkie
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It's hard to overstate how poorly written the linked article is. Calling him a writer is very kind.
IndyYes
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Very much enjoyed this article and certainly agree with your points. Regarding the other "Baylor writer's" opinion, I don't even consider that an opinion, that's simple jack-assery.
LIB,MR BEARS
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He needs a taylor. Then we can talk.
BaylorOkie
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LIB,MR BEARS said:

He needs a taylor. Then we can talk.
"That's how they do pants!"
Sailor Bear
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BaylorOkie said:

LIB,MR BEARS said:

He needs a taylor. Then we can talk.
"That's how they do pants!"
Nice.
JohnProctor
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Holy cow. We have a school where more students show up for free Dr. Pepper floats than a top 25 team playing a Div 1 NCAA basketball game. How exactly are we going to get a Bill Self level coach to coach in an empty arena.

We are damn lucky to have Scott Drew. Damn lucky. Way better than we deserve. I say give him a 20 year extension, his name on the new arena, and a statue bigger than RG3. Love Mulkey but Drew has a much harder job and is up against competition and resources that Coach Mulkey doesn't face.

We had 1 Mens NCAA appearance in 50 years now some clown says he should move on... oh lawd help me.

Good Article.
GruntTuff
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Excellent article. Baylor is indeed fortunate to have Scott Drew.
Michibear
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JohnProctor said:

Holy cow. We have a school where more students show up for free Dr. Pepper floats than a top 25 team playing a Div 1 NCAA basketball game.
Seems to me they should serve free Dr. Pepper floats at all the big basketball games. ;-)
geewago
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Michibear said:

JohnProctor said:

Holy cow. We have a school where more students show up for free Dr. Pepper floats than a top 25 team playing a Div 1 NCAA basketball game.
Seems to me they should serve free Dr. Pepper floats at all the big basketball games. ;-)
AMEN to that !!!
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