The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from Baylor's Week of Sports
Recruiting takes center stage, Men’s Basketball’s NBA Draft success reaches new heights, and offseason rosters continue their makeovers.
Here's a look at The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from the past week in Baylor Athletics.
THE GOOD
Commit Season — Recruiting is heating up across the country, including Waco, Texas, as the Bears picked up commitments from in-state RB Joseph Dodds midweek and Shreveport Evangel OL Tristan Santoro as a capper on another camp weekend. That makes five commits in June and nine pledges overall for 2024.
NBA Draft — Scott Drew's program continues reaching new heights as the NBA side of the elite program equation enters brand new territory. The Bears earned a program-record third-straight first-round selection, with Utah taking Keyonte George at No. 16. The program narrowly missed out on three straight lottery picks (No. 1-14) by just two spots, but three straight Top 16s will suit the recruiting pitches just fine. And with Ja'Kobe Walter, there's an opportunity to extend that streak in 2024, but first things first.
Keyonte George — He's easy to root for and has a great head on his shoulders with a stellar support system. Oh yeah, he's also an exceptionally talented basketball player. The George story went about as expected, short of achieving a deeper team run in March, but seeing reality come to fruition is so satisfying. George has star qualities and a good opportunity with the Jazz.
Jeremy Sochan — Sochan's personality is first-class fun and was on full display as he spent Draft night as a media correspondent for NBA.com. He was already a key cog in the Spurs' young core, but that growing machine now includes No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama, with whom Sochan already has a great rapport. It appears the future is as bright as his hair.
Adam Flagler — While some may consider going undrafted more The Bad, that wasn't a surprising outcome. No matter, the Thunder quickly picked up Flagler, who has a terrific opportunity to impress in summer league with a franchise trending upward.
BSB Transfer — Lamar RHP Patrick Hail is the newest addition to Baylor Baseball as the offseason roster rebuild continues. You can never have enough pitching, which was evident this past season.
WGolf Transfer — The program added Cypress HS' Ashleen Kaur, their third incoming freshman.
'23 Hall of Famers — The school announced this year's Hall of Fame class, headlined by Dodgers star Max Muncy and MBB's Pat Nunley. Other inductees include J.D. Walton (Football), Stan Curry (T&F), Sandy Forsythe Massey (T&F), Denes Lukacs (Men's Tennis), Ken Quisenberry (Football), Tiffany Townsend (T&F), and latest 'B Association' Wall of Honor inductee George Chandler (Men's Tennis). The ceremony will be held on Friday, November 3rd, the night before FB hosts Houston at McLane Stadium.
WBB Non-Con — The program announced its participation in December's Hall of Fame Series in San Antonio, where the Bears will square off with the Miami Hurricanes. The contest will occur on Saturday, December 16th, at AT&T Center. Tennessee vs. NC State will comprise the other half of the doubleheader.
You're An All-Star — The Phoenix Mercury stink and fired their head coach this weekend, but that didn't stop Brittney Griner from returning to form as a WNBA All-Star, earning her ninth career selection.
XFL Opportunities — A pair of former Bears were added to the XFL ranks, with linebacker Dillon Doyle joining the Seattle Sea Dragons and safety Christian Morgan landing with the Houston Roughnecks. There was a weird discrepancy as Morgan took to Twitter and said he wouldn't be playing for Houston and that the league was lucky he'd failed his physical with the Packers a while back. That tweet got deleted at some point, so who knows?
THE BAD
Kolby Branch — The star of the 2023 Baylor Baseball season entered his name into the transfer portal last Monday and will most likely be leaving Waco for an SEC or future SEC program. The transfer portal does not always make rebuilding a program easier. (Editor’s addition)
THE UGLY
Nothing ugly this week, from my point of view.
But as always, I look forward to anyone who wishes to throw in their two cents.
