By the Numbers: It's Time for Baylor Basketball to Grow Up
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“Get old and stay old” has been an adage for building successful teams in college basketball for years. Previous Baylor squads utilized this tactic well as it built toward success. However, that strategy for roster construction is getting tougher and tougher to follow in the modern era with NIL and the transfer portal.
So if you can’t grow old, you might have to grow taller and longer. That is the approach head coach Scott Drew has clearly taken this offseason for his Bears.
Through the 2024-25 season, the Bears' top nine players had only one player taller than 6-feet-11 and just one player with a wingspan of better than +4. In both cases, that was center Joshua Ojianwuna, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in February.
The Bears lacked the size and length to compensate for the combination of youth, inexperience and lack of athleticism that afflicted any given individual on the court regarding defense.
Houston, the Big 12 champions and national runners-up, was not the tallest team. Its average height was 6 feet 5.13 inches, compared to Baylor’s average height of 6 feet 5.44 inches. However, Houston had three forwards with massive wingspans, great athleticism and elite defensive intensity to compensate for its shorter overall stature.
J’Wan Roberts is 6-foot-8 (two inches shorter than Ojianwuna) with a 7-foot-4 wingspan (+6 like Ojianwuna’s). He has the smallest wingspan of the three-headed Houston monster, all of whom are 6-foot-8.
Ja’Vier Francis has a 7-foot-5 wingspan or a +9, and Joseph Tugler has a 7-foot-6 wingspan or a +10.
To quote my boss and general ball-knower, Ashley Hodge: “WINGSPAN MATTERS!”
So with what became a blank slate of a roster, Drew went out and gathered tall, long and athletic players to hopefully bring championship-level defense back to the banks of the Brazos.
Tennessee transfer wing Cameron Carr might be just 6-foot-5, but he has the longest wingspan delta on Baylor’s new team at +9 inches.
High Point transfer center Juslin Bodo not only brings pure height at 7-foot-0, but he also boasts a 7-foot-8 wingspan.
Cincinnati transfer wing Dan Skillings also has a +8-inch wingspan, coming in at 6-foot-6 in the height department with a 7-foot-2 reach.
Wyoming transfer guard Obi Agbim brings better length to the backcourt, too, with a +5-inch wingspan delta. Rice transfer center Caden Powell, as well as high school commits Tounde Yessoufou and Andre Iguodala II, boast +4, +4 and +5-inch deltas, respectively.
That makes seven Bears on the 2025-26 squad with +4-inch or better wingspan deltas, compared to just three such players on last year’s team.
Height and length are not everything. Skill, basketball IQ and effort will all play their part in the outcomes next season. Drew can teach scheme or skills, but you can’t teach height and length.
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