Evaluating Baylor Basketball Offseason Questions: Biggest Needs? Portal Aspirations?

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As the transfer portal season begins for both Baylor basketball programs, Ashley Hodge and Levi Caraway dive into the top questions pressing Scott Drew and Nicki Collen’s programs.

What are Baylor MBB and WBB’s most significant needs in the transfer portal this offseason?

Ashley Hodge (MBB): Wingspan and athleticism are the most significant needs for MBB. This past Baylor team was smaller and, outside of VJ Edgecombe, Norchad Omier and Robert Wright III, lacking in athleticism. Ideally, you have eight to ten capable players who can defend multiple positions, attack the rim violently, make open 3-pointers and get to the foul line.

My wish list includes two scoring guards to pair next to Wright, who are great athletes and physical. Another is a back-to-the-basket big man who delivers tough buckets from the post. Plus, another versatile big man who can rim-roll, dunk and block shots. Lastly, a long wingspan stretch four that is a good defender.

Pairing those types of players with Wright (So.), Cameron Carr (RSo.), Tounde Yessoufou (Fr.) and Jalen Celestine (6Sr.) would quickly change Baylor MBB’s trajectory.

Levi Caraway (WBB): It starts with replacing the key senior players out of eligibility: center Aaronette Vonleh and guards Sarah Andrews, Jada Walker and Yaya Felder. This would almost be considered a “full rebuild” if not for the fact that two of the team’s best players, forwards Darianna Littlepage-Buggs and Bella Fontleroy, are returning.

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Baylor MBB will build its 2025-2026 roster around rising sophomore point guard Robert Wright III.

Head coach Nicki Collen must land an impactful post player who consistently gets easy buckets down low. When Littlepage-Buggs was sidelined for the final month of the regular season with a knee injury, Vonleh played her best basketball of the year. Despite being all-conference players, we never saw the duo share the court when both were at the top of their games.

With how skilled Littlepage-Buggs is in the paint, it’ll be interesting to see whether Collen wants to pair her with a dominant center again or prioritize adding impact guards and replacing Vonleh with a cheaper but solid option.

As a former guard herself, Collen has repeatedly said how much she expects from her point guards. With Walker and Andrews, the two team leaders in assists, leaving the program after two and five seasons, respectively, Collen will have to find a high-IQ player in the transfer portal to run the offense.

Ideally, Baylor adds a veteran point guard, another guard who is a good shooter, a forward with adequate size and length to back up Fontleroy and Littlepage-Buggs and an impactful center with a solid post-game.

What’s the most important question pertaining to the current roster of expected returning players?

Ashley Hodge (MBB): Will Wright be an all-conference caliber point guard? The program is investing heavily in him. Will he become a great distributor, finisher, defender and leader? You are betting that he will. Based on his character, freshman glimpses and work ethic, I think it is a solid bet. However, the ceiling will be limited if he doesn’t meet his sophomore-year expectations.

Levi Caraway (WBB): What’s Jana Van Gytenbeek's health status? Van Gytenbeek played 16 minutes before suffering a season-ending ACL injury in the 2024-2025 opener on Nov. 7 against Incarnate Word.

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Jana Van Gytenbeek was poised for a breakout year before tearing her ACL in the season opener.

By all accounts, something had clicked for Van Gytenbeek last offseason, and she was poised for a breakout year. She was expected to be the first player off the bench and give the team another player who could run the offense and drain shots from beyond the arc.

In Van Gytenbeek’s absence, Felder won the Big 12 Sixth Person of the Year, averaging 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 38% from 3-point range. On paper, if Van Gytenbeek was supposed to have a better season than Felder, the coaching staff was obviously expecting big things.

So with the Colorado native returning for a sixth season next year, can you count on her to be fully healthy and return to who she was last summer? If so, that can potentially solve one of your needs for a guard in the portal. Or do you make offseason transfer portal plans as if she won’t regain her form and any impact she makes is a bonus? It’s an interesting dilemma.

Will revenue sharing help or hurt transfer portal aspirations for Baylor’s basketball programs?

Ashley Hodge (MBB): If — and this is a big If — revenue sharing is followed and enforced, I see this as a positive development. MBB programs being on an even playing field financially will allow Scott Drew and the rest of his staff to focus on what has made Baylor MBB great in the past: JOY, player development and attracting high-character, hard-working young men who buy into the Baylor culture. I think the program has drifted from this in recent years.

There have been great kids, but perhaps they are getting sucked into the business aspect a little too much. It is a business, but if you watch those post-season interviews from Omier and Edgecombe, two of the highest-paid NIL players on the team, you can see that Baylor has some unique advantages that the program has to lean into. Players want to come here and participate in a positive growth environment!

Levi Caraway (WBB): People could argue for days about whether Baylor WBB is adequately funded to compete for the National Championships. The reality is that the landscape has changed, and more WBB programs across the country are putting effort into winning at a high level. If the playing field truly gets evened, I agree with Ashley that it’s a positive development for Baylor, especially for transfer portal and high school recruiting.

Where did things go wrong this season, and how controllable are the solutions in the offseason?

Ashley Hodge (MBB): I think the coaching staff did a good job with the hand they were dealt. However, the hand they were dealt was also of their own making, and Drew would be the first to admit this. Baylor tried too hard to replicate the 2020-202championship roster. The game seems to be shifting toward size again. The coaching staff must ask themselves, “If a player becomes available from a school with lots of money, is there a reason this player is suddenly available?”

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Baylor MBB must return to bringing in competitive players in the transfer portal.

Baylor needs guys who would cut off their left arm to play basketball. I think about James Akinjo, RayJ Dennis, Davion Mitchell, MaCio Teague and Jalen Bridges. They were durable and played every game. Omier was this type of player. Baylor needs a roster that is less top-heavy from an NIL perspective, which creates competition and allows the players who work the hardest and care the most to rise to the top.

Competitive grit must be a top priority in building next year’s roster. I have faith in the coaching staff; they will rebound and get the Bears to compete for the Big 12 championship again.

Levi Caraway (WBB): When you earn a hosting bid and fail to reach the Sweet 16, I think it’s fair to say that could be considered a failure. However, Baylor’s case in 2024-2025 is a bit more complicated and less cut and dry than simply saying it was a successful season versus a failure.

Van Gytenbeek was one of the team’s most important players with the energy and spark she brings off the bench, plus her ability to shoot and be a secondary ball-handler. The wind was temporarily taken out of the sails when she went down in the first game of the season.

Three days later, the Bears headed west to face Oregon for a true road matchup. Less than a minute into the contest, Fontleroy rolled her ankle and missed the rest of the game. Essentially, with a five-man rotation, Baylor lost 76-74 to the Ducks, an NCAA Tournament team.

Backup center Madison Bartley medically retired midway through the season. While Bartley wasn’t the dominant post like Vonleh was, she could spell Vonleh and give some valuable minutes off the bench depending on the matchup.

The last injury blow was when Littlepage-Buggs missed the final month of the regular season. The Bears played valiantly in her absence but desperately needed her in the two narrow losses against the top-10 TCU Horned Frogs — one for the Big 12 regular season title and one in the Big 12 Tournament Championship.

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Had Darianna Littlepage-Buggs not missed the final month of the regular season with an injury, there’s a chance Baylor would still be playing right now.

Let’s say Baylor wins a couple more of those games with a squad near full health. Collen’s team probably finishes the year with a higher seed, and there’s a good chance they are still playing right now.

On top of that, when Littlepage-Buggs returned, she was on a strict minutes restriction in the NCAA Tournament. She couldn’t play more than 20 minutes, well below her season-average of 29 per game.

Facing No. 5-seed Ole Miss, which had one player in its rotation under six feet, wasn’t an ideal matchup in the Round of 32. The game was ultimately won in the paint, and Baylor could have used 10 more minutes from Littlepage-Buggs, instead of being forced to play three-guard lineups for much of the contest.

Hindsight is 20/20, but it’s disingenuous to act as if injuries didn’t play a significant role in Collen’s squad not making it past the first weekend. Health isn’t something you can control, but hopefully, Baylor will have better luck in the next go-around.

Evaluating Baylor Basketball Offseason Questions: Biggest Needs? Portal Aspirations?

What are Baylor MBB and WBB’s most significant needs in the transfer portal this offseason?

What’s the most important question pertaining to the current roster of expected returning players?

Will revenue sharing help or hurt transfer portal aspirations for Baylor’s basketball programs?

Where did things go wrong this season, and how controllable are the solutions in the offseason?

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Evaluating Baylor Basketball Offseason Questions: Biggest Needs? Portal Aspirations?