SicEm365 All-Decade Team: Johnathan Motley did it all for Baylor men's basketball
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When Baylor lost to South Carolina in the 2017 Sweet 16, Johnathan Motley suffered a torn meniscus in his knee in the first half.
Not that he bothered to tell anyone.
“No one knew he hurt himself until after the game,” Bears coach Scott Drew said. “He was determined to do everything he could to help his team win.”
Although they came up short that night, Motley sparked his team to plenty of memorable moments during a three-year career that spanned from 2014-17. Baylor averaged 24.3 wins during that stretch and reached the NCAA tournament all three seasons.
A 6-foot-9 forward from Houston, Motley’s most successful campaign came when he averaged 17.3 points and 9.9 rebounds as a junior in 2016-17. His dominance in the paint helped Baylor—which opened the season unranked—climb to the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press poll for the first time in school history. The Bears opened the season with 15 straight wins, and they were 20-1 before sliding a bit down the stretch.
“With lots of guys, you hear the word ‘potential.’” Drew said. “But the key word with Mot was ‘production.’ You felt like he was going to get you a double-double every time he stepped on the court.
“He was so skilled and such a threat from anywhere—in the paint, away from the basket, at the free throw line. There were just too many weapons in his arsenal to shut him down.”
It was only fitting, then, that Motley—and unheralded recruit who redshirted his first year in Waco—earned the Karl Malone Award for the top power forward in America following that season, making him the first player in school history to claim a major postseason individual award. He was also a consensus second-team All-American, making him the first consensus All-American in program history.
Now Motley has another award to add to his resume, as he’s been named Baylor Men’s Basketball’s Player of the Decade.
The entire All-Decade team is listed below.
*Eligibility for this team began with the 2010-11 season
FIRST TEAM
PG - Pierre Jackson (2011-13) - Few Baylor players in history had the ability to take over a game like Jackson, who was as entertaining to watch as anyone Scott Drew has ever coached. Jackson signed with Baylor in 2011 after leading the College of Southern Idaho to the NJCAA national championship. He averaged 13.8 points and 5.9 assists as a junior and helped Baylor reach the Elite Eight, where it lost to eventual national champion Kentucky. The Bears missed the NCAA tournament the following season but won the NIT championship, and Jackson was voted tournament MVP. Jackson led the Big 12 in points (19.8) and assists (7.1) as a senior and was named first-team all-conference. His most memorable game came on Senior Night, when Jackson lit up Kansas for 28 points (on 11-of-13 shooting) and 10 assists in an 81-58 victory. The Philadelphia 76ers selected Jackson with the 42nd overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, but he didn’t make his NBA debut until December of 2016, when he took the court for the Dallas Mavericks. Most of Jackson’s professional career has been spent in the NBA G-League or overseas.
SG - Jared Butler (2018-present) - Butler finished as the runner-up to Motley for Player of the Decade, which may seem far-fetched considering he’s only spent two seasons in Waco. Butler’s accomplishments, though, are as impressive as any player in recent Baylor memory. The 6-foot-3 Louisiana native averaged a team-high 16 points for a squad that won a Big 12-record 23 straight games last season. The Bears were ranked No. 1 for five straight weeks—the longest stretch by any team in 2019-20—and become the first team in Baylor history to beat Kansas in Lawrence. A third-team All-American, Butler is one of the top pure scorers in the country and has also been an incredible teammate and ambassador for the Bears’ program. Butler has entered his name in the NBA draft but has left the option open to return. He’s currently projected as an early-to-mid second-round pick.
SF - Taurean Prince (2012-16) - An off-the-radar recruit from San Antonio, Prince was originally headed to LIU-Brooklyn before getting out of his letter-of-intent and signing with Baylor. Prince was a role player his first two seasons before experiencing a major breakthrough as a junior and senior, when he averaged 13.9 and 15.9 points, respectively. A difficult matchup because of his size and length, Prince scored from all areas of the court for Baylor and was also good at finishing in transition. His shot selection was iffy at times, but he still managed to lead the team to the NCAA tournament in each of his last two seasons. Unfortunately, the Bears lost in the first-round (to Georgia State and Yale) each time. Prince was the 12th overall player selected in the 2016 NBA draft—the third-highest any Baylor player has ever been picked—and is now a star for the Brooklyn Nets.
F - Johnathan Motley (2014-17) - The Player of the Decade fit the stereotype of a Baylor forward: long, lanky—and grossly-underrated coming out of high school. Rivals.com ranked Motley as the 110th-best prospect in the nation in 2013. While redshirting during his first year in Waco, Motley was able to practice against NBA-caliber big men such as Cory Jefferson, Isaiah Austin and Rico Gathers. Motley started all of Baylor’s 34 games the next season and earned third-team All-Big 12 honors the following year as a sophomore. Motley’s junior season, however, is when he burst onto the national spotlight while leading Baylor to its first No. 1 ranking in school history. Motley led the Big 12 in double-doubles (15) and rebounds (9.9) and ranked fourth in scoring (17.3). He earned MVP honors at the Battle 4 Atlantis. In one of the best performances in Big 12 history, Motley recorded 32 points and 20 rebounds in a victory over Texas. Motley chose to leave school a year early for the NBA draft but, amazingly, he wasn’t selected. The Dallas Mavericks signed him to a two-way contract and then traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers after one season.
F - Quincy Acy (2008-12) - Eight years after his departure, Acy remains one of the most popular players in program history. And for good reason. He was a key contributor to both of Baylor’s Elite Eight teams in 2010 and 2012, and when it came to crowd-pleasing slam dunks, few could compete with the 6-foot-7 native of Mesquite. In fact, in a victory against Texas in 2010, Acy scored 20 of his 24 points on dunks. Acy also turned heads by connecting on the first 20 field goal attempts of his college career. Acy was named Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year as a junior, when he averaged career highs in both points (12.4) and rebounds (7.6). In a first-round Big 12 tournament loss to Oklahoma that season he had 21 points and 15 rebounds. Acy was voted second-team All-Big 12 after averaging 12.0 points and 7.4 rebounds as a senior. The Toronto Raptors selected Acy with the 37th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. He would play for six NBA teams over the next seven seasons before embarking on an overseas career in 2019.
SECOND TEAM
PG - Davion Mitchell (2019-present) - Nicknamed “Off Night” because of a menacing lockdown defense that frustrates opponents into terrible games, Mitchell was a key reason Baylor won 23 straight games and achieved a No. 1 national ranking last season. The tone he sets permeates throughout Baylor’s locker room and gives the Bears their identity.
SG - LaceDarius Dunn (2007-11) - Playing alongside Tweety Carter, Dunn helped Baylor’s once-dormant program gain national respect by leading Baylor to the Elite Eight in 2010. Dunn never met a shot he didn’t like—or wouldn’t take—and as a result he is the Bears’ all-time scoring leader with 2,285 career points. That number ranks second on the Big 12’s all-time list behind Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield (2,291).
SF - Mark Vital (2017-present) - Possibly the most versatile and unique player of the Scott Drew era, Vital was one of three finalists for the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year award this spring. The 6-foot-5 bundle of mercury is quick and nimble enough to guard all five positions. Vital plays with as much joy and passion as any player in the country. No Baylor player earns as much praise from opposing coaches as Vital.
F - Cory Jefferson (2009-14) - Much like Motley, Jefferson benefitted greatly by sitting out a season as a redshirt. He went from averaging 3.6 points as a sophomore to 13.3 points as a junior, when he was named to the NIT All-Tournament team. Jefferson helped Baylor reach the Sweet 16 in 2014 by averaging career-highs in points (13.7) and rebounds (8.2). Jefferson was the final pick in the 2014 draft and spent two seasons in the NBA before embarking on a career in the G-League and overseas.
F - Freddie Gillispie (2018-present) - Gillispie’s story has been told countless times in college basketball circles. And rightfully so. His journey from Division III obscurity to major-college stardom was inspiring to anyone who heard it, and he will long be revered by Baylor fans for what he did for the Bears’ program. As a junior Gillispie stepped in after a January knee injury to Tristan Clark and helped lead Baylor to the NCAA tournament. And this season he earned second-team All-Big 12 honors after averaging 9.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
THIRD TEAM
PG - Manu Lecomte (2016-18) - A transfer from Miami, Lecomte arrived at just the right time for Baylor, which had lost point guard Lester Medford to graduation. Lecomte averaged 12.2 points and 3.8 assists for a 2016-17 squad that achieved a No. 1 ranking, finished second in the Big 12 and reached the Sweet 16. He scored 16.2 points a game as a senior the following season.
SG - Brady Heslip (2011-14) - The Canadian sharpshooter is the Big 12’s all-time leader in three-point field goal percentage, as he connected on 43.6 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc in his three seasons in Waco. The Boston College transfer also ranks second in school history and third all-time in the Big 12 with 301 career three-pointers. He averaged 10.2 points for the 2012 Elite Elite squad and 11.7 points for the 2014 team that made the Sweet 16.
SF - Royce O’Neale (2013-15) - No one could’ve envisioned how valuable O’Neale would be for the Bears after transferring from the University of Denver in 2013. O’Neale’s athleticism, ball-handling, passing ability and defensive versatility allowed Baylor to play at a fast pace. The Bears’ ball movement and shot selection was as good as it’s been during the Scott Drew era thanks, in large part, to O’Neale, who has spent the past three seasons with the Utah Jazz.
F - Isaiah Austin (2012-14) - One of the most high-profile recruits of the Scott Drew era initially planned to enter the NBA draft after his freshman season, but a partially torn labrum in his shoulder kept him from scheduling workouts with pro teams and forced him to return. The 7-foot-1 Austin averaged 11.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks for a squad that lost to Wisconsin in the 2014 Sweet 16.
F - Rico Gathers (2012-16) - One of the most physical forwards in Big 12 history, Gathers is the Big 12’s all-time leader in offensive rebounds (482) and ranks third on the career charts in total rebounds (1,134). As a junior in 2014-15 Gathers ranked third in the nation with 11.6 rebounds per game. In his four-year Baylor career, Gathers played in an Elite Elite and a Sweet 16 and won an NIT title. He then spent three years with the Dallas Cowboys as a tight end.
Player of the Decade: Johnathan Motley
Offensive Player of the Decade: Pierre Jackson
Defensive Player of the Decade: Mark Vital
Shooter of the Decade: Brady Heslip
Most Underrated Player of the Decade: Kenny Chery
Most Improved Player: Freddie Gillespie
Footnotes
*Other than current Bear Davion Mitchell, every player on the All-Decade squad played at least two seasons at Baylor.
*Perry Jones, Kenny Chery and Makai Mason were heavily considered for the third team. And so was current Baylor guard MaCio Teague, who would have had a chance if he wasn’t slowed by an injury toward the end of the 2019-20 campaign. Teague, who played the final month of the season with a broken wrist, was leading the team in scoring in conference games before he got hurt. And he still finished the season as the most efficient pull-up jump shooter in nation, according to Synergy. Conference coaches realized how valuable Teague was, which is why they voted him second-team All-Big 12. With one additional season under his belt, Teague would’ve been a lock for one of the three teams.
*Picking the decade’s “Most Underrated Player” was quite a chore, as Kenny Chery, Royce O’Neale and Ish Wainwright were all deserving. O’Neale’s value has already been addressed, and Wainwright brought so much to the program in terms of leadership. But it was Chery, more than anyone, who never received the praise he deserved for turning around what could’ve been an abysmal season in 2013-14. With Chery on the bench because of turf toe, Baylor lost eight of its first 10 Big 12 games. The postseason seemed like a pipe dream. But then Chery, a point guard, returned and sparked Baylor to wins in 10 of its next 11 contests. The Bears reached the championship game of the Big 12 tournament and then made the Sweet 16. What could’ve been a disastrous season turned into a special one thanks, in large part, to Chery, who notched the sixth triple-double in school history that season with 22 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds against Kansas State.
*Freddie Gillespie was the obvious choice for Most Improved Player. But Cory Jefferson and Jo Acuil also deserve a ton of respect for the strides they made in Waco. We’ve already discussed Jefferson, but seriously … how good was Acuil as a senior in 2017-18, when he averaged 14 points, 8.6 rebonds and 1.9 blocks? It’s a shame he didn’t get to play in the NCAA tournament that year. But Acuil’s Baylor career was still a resounding success.