The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from Baylor's Week of Sports
A late addition to the 2023 Football roster, some hoops tidbits, and more housekeeping notes.
Here's a look at The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from the past week in Baylor Athletics.
THE GOOD
Justin Sambu: Defensive lineman Justin Sambu committed and now heads to Waco via the transfer portal and Maine. They'll count on him to reinforce and provide an impactful presence on the defensive line. The native Canadian figures to need some adjustment time as a late arrival, but if he can bring some pressure and even similar numbers to his 5.5 sacks, 7 TFL, and 35 tackles from last season, that'd be spectacular news for Matt Powledge's defense — a nice win too, over the likes of Mississippi State, Missouri, and James Madison. From Sambu to Smith to Vaughns to Ma'ae to Dunson, and so on, they've retooled with transfers from all over the country, and soon we'll see how those moves pay off.
MBB Schedule: We learned about the pairings for this upcoming men's hoops season, which generally would contain little surprises. But this is the funky 14-team one-off year Big 12 season, meaning a shakeup and elimination of the round-robin home and away slate. The Bears get Kansas, TCU, Texas Tech, newcomer BYU, and the Longhorns in their final season as the home-and-homes, which is an exciting draw. They'll also host Houston and Oklahoma in what could be their last conference matchup against the Sooners, which should also be a hot draw for the Foster Pavilion. Trips to Manhattan, Morgantown, Orlando, and Stillwater are dangerous but manageable. It's the Big 12 and will remain a dogfight most nights, but there are far more variables now in play for this season, for better or worse.
Rucker Park: Scott Drew and the other conference reps enjoyed hosting the first Big 12 Hoops in the Park program in NYC despite some rainy weather cutting festivities a little short. It is a fantastic opportunity for all involved, and perhaps one of those young campers ends up a future Bear. I'm not keen on the idea of the conference spreading to the northeast, but I do like this idea and whatever exposure or influence it brings now or years later.
Schedule Release: Head coach Mike McGraw and Men's Golf released their upcoming 23-24 schedule. The fall adventures begin September 9 in San Antonio for the UTSA-hosted Valero Texas Collegiate.
Personnel Notes: More staff moves across campus, to mention this week. Nicki Collen added Kianna Ray to the WBB staff as Director of Recruiting and Player Influence. Equestrian added Nicole Meadows as Director of Operations. Women's Golf and HC Jay Goble announced the promotion and hiring of graduate assistant Collin Toner to Director of Operations.
THE BAD
Schedule Imbalance: Regarding the MBB schedule, I wouldn't say I like the end of a round-robin home-and-away slate. Everyone playing everyone at home and on the road made the league better, and I loved the balance. For example, the Bears host Houston but won't play in H-Town. That could be a benefit, but I appreciated the old balance.
THE UGLY
It's safe to leave this category blank again. But as always, if you feel differently or similarly about any subject, feel free to contribute your two cents. And thanks for reading.
