The Sports Bank’s college basketball season previews undergo a face lift this season. Rather than counting down the top 111 teams in 111 days, we will go conference-by-conference. I’ve already counted down the Pac-12 and now we turn our attention to the Big 12.
The Baylor Bears lose three of their top four scorers from a year ago and hope the addition of six new faces can help fill the void.
BAYLOR BEARS
Last Season: T-6th, 9-9 in Big 12, 26-12 overall
Predicted Big 12 Finish: 6th
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Rico Gathers (Jr)/Johnathan Motley (Fr)
F: Deng Deng (Jr)/T.J. Maston (Fr)
SF: Royce O’Neele (Sr)/Taurean Prince (Jr)
SG: Allerik Freeman (Fr)/Ish Wainwright (So)/Damiyne Durham (Fr)
PG: Kenny Chery (Sr)/Lester Medford (Jr)
Gone: PF-Cory Jefferson, C-Isaiah Austin, G-Gary Franklin, SG-Brady Heslip
2014-2015 Outlook:
Scott Drew loses some serious length and athleticism in the frontcourt but the bruising Rico Gathers returns and will step into a much larger role dow low. At 6-8, he is an undersized five-man but knows how to throw his body around in the paint. JUCO transfer Deng Deng should immediately step into the starting line-up with his athleticism being his biggest attribute. Depth on the inside will be a concern with redshirt freshman Johnathan Motley and freshman T.J. Maston the only real size coming off the bench.
Drew does return some versatility on the wing with Royce O’Neele, Taurean Prince, and Ishmail Wainwright all back in the fold. O’Neele was a terrific glue guy for the Bears last season while Prince made a nice impact in a reserve role. Wainwright needs to step up coming off a somewhat disappointing freshman campaign. He is a big body but versatile enough to play numerous positions and that flexibility should be a huge asset for Baylor.
The driving force behind the Bears figures to be returning starting point guard, Kenny Chery. His quickness is reminiscent of former Baylor floor leader, Pierre Jackson and he must take on a bigger scoring role. Drew tapped into the junior college ranks for another point guard by adding Lester Medford who will backup Cherry at the one.
Redshirt freshman Allerik Freeman missed all of last season with a wrist injury but is a dangerous scorer who should replace Brady Heslip at shooting guard. The former top 100 recruit brings more of an all-around ability to the two. Freshman Damiyne Durham figures to be the odd man out of the rotation on the wing.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/18 at South Carolina
11/24 vs. Stephen F. Austin
11/27 vs. Memphis (Las Vegas Invitational)
11/28 vs. Illinois/Indiana State (Las Vegas Invitational)
12/4 at Vanderbilt (SEC/Big 12 Challenge)
12/9 vs. Texas A&M
12/17 vs. New Mexico State
OTHER BIG 12 PREVIEWS:
PAC-12 PREVIEWS:
#1 ARIZONA WILDCATS
#4 UCLA BRUINS
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.