Early years
Luther Burleson coached the first basketball team at Baylor in 1907 also doubling as the football coach. In Baylor’s next season of basketball then cross-town rival TCU started their schedule which the Bears defeated twice during the 1908–09 season. Ralph Glaze’s (1911–1914) .788 winning percentage rankings in the best all time in college history. Ralph Wolf (1927–1941) direct Baylor to its very first SWC Championship in 1932 after living and beating one of the first excellent tragedies in college athletics in his first season as coach.
Immortal Ten
See also: List of mishaps involving sports teams
On January 22, 1927, Coach Ralph Wolf’s Baylor Basketball team was traveling by bus to perform with the University of Texas. As the bus passed through Round Rock, Texas, it approached railroad tracks across the south side of the company district on a drizzly, cloudy day. As the bus crossed the tracks the natives failed to listen to the noise of the train whistle and ringing bell. The motorist caught sight of the train at the last moment and attempted to maneuver away, however, the Sunshine Special crashed to the bus near 60 miles off ripping off the roof and side.
The Immortal Ten Memorial Ten Baylor students and basketball players were killed by the impact. [3] One player, James Clyde”Abe” Kelly, pushed his buddy, Weir Washamout the window of the bus only moments before the effect, rescue Washam’s life but costing Kelly his own. The bodies of Kelly and Robert Hailey were found horrifically stretched throughout the cow-catcher on the front of the train, with arms wrapped around each other and Kelly overlooking a leg. Ivy Foster Sr. of Taylor, Texas, had heard of the crash and rushed to the train station in Taylor to meet the train and assist where needed simply to find his son one of the dead.
The deceased were Jack Castellaw, Sam Dillow, Merle Dudley, L.R. “Ivey” Foster Jr., Robert “Bob” Hailey, James Clyde “Abe” Kelly, Willis Murrary, James “Jim” Walker, and William Winchester.
The rest of the 1927 season was canceled. The tragedy had reverberations over the entire state and country and contributed to the building of the first railway overpass in Texas in which the event occurred at Round Rock. Buses were later needed to return to a full stop and open the door at all rail crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten narrative was commemorated each year since 1927 initially in headquarters providers then later at the Freshman Mass Meeting throughout Homecoming Week. In 2007, the occasion was also memorialized in bronze on the Baylor campus at Traditions Plaza.
On the 90th anniversary of this tragedy, January 22, 2017, the City of Round Rock held a memorial event to recall those who were killed in the train-bus collision. At the event, the city dedicated the”Immortal Bridge,” that arcs over the railroad tracks where the accident happened. Green lampposts, green-and-gold paint and other markers honor the 10 students who were murdered there. The event was open to the general public, and attendees included Baylor administrators and student leaders, that the spirit squads, and Baylor’s Golden Wave Band.
Post World War II victory Baylor men’s teams won five conference championships in the former Southwest Conference (1932, 1946, 1948, 1949*, 1950*; * denotes shared name ). The Bears reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 1946, also reached the Final Four in 1948 and 1950. Bill Henderson’s 1948 team advanced to play the Kentucky Wildcats for the NCAA championship, but dropped 58–42 into Adolph Rupp’s first national championship team. The group advanced into the NCAA Final Four in 1950 under Henderson dropping to the Bradley Braves 68–66. Bill Menefee (1962–1973) will lead the Bears into a national ranking in 1969 but failed to make the postseason that year. Menefee was the only coach during the next 50 years to really have a career record of over .500, and would later serve as Baylor’s athletic director in the 1980s. Gene Iba’s 1988 NCAA championship team are the first NCAA championship appearance for the program in 38 years.
2003 scandal
Main article: Baylor University basketball scandal
The men’s basketball program was plagued by a scandal in 2003. Patrick Dennehy, a player for the group, was killed by former teammate Carlton Dotson; then-coach Dave Bliss was forced to resign amidst allegations that he had violated NCAA rules by making monetary payments to four gamers and that he made improper statements to the media characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer. The school put itself on probation, restricted itself to seven scholarships for two decades and imposed a post-season ban for a year. Additionally, the NCAA further punished the group by initiating a non-conference ban to the 2005–2006 year and expanding the probationary period during which the faculty would have limited recruiting privileges.
Decade Long Resurgence
The 2005 Bears were hindered by only using 7 scholarship players and recorded only one win in conference playwith. Regardless of those challenges, head coach Scott Drew was able to gather a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop.
The basketball program undergone a resurgence under coach Scott Drew having an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years with a 9–7 summit record and the team’s first national standing in 39 years. The January 23, 2008 116–110 5OT triumph over Texas A&M in College Station officially became the longest game in Big 12 history. The 2008–09 team was rated early in the season but stumbled to a 5–11 conference finish before heating in the Big 12 Tournament defeating both Kansas and Texas en route to the championship match versus Missouri, and lost by a score of 73–60. The 2008–2009 group listed the program’s first postseason victory since 1950 in its first round NIT victory within the Georgetown Hoyas in Waco.
The 2008–09 team went on to progress to the NIT Final where they fell to Penn State. The 2009–10 squad was again ranked in both polls and pulled off the largest road win in school history across the afterward #6 Texas Longhorns at Austin 80–77 on Jan. 30th. The Bears closed out the season with a Big 12 age best 11–5 record and #1 at the Big 12 championship.
The 2009–10 team was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 at the Big 12 Coaches Poll due to the graduation of several important players in the previous calendar year. However, the team finished the regular season 23–6 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12 standings. Following a two –1 record at the Big 12 championship, the Bears were rewarded with a #1 in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. The Bears defeated #14 seed Sam Houston State 68–59 in First Round action and then conquered #11 seed Old Dominion 76–68 in Second Round drama to advance to the Sweet 16 hosted in Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Bear’s Sweet 16 match-up was 10 seed Saint Mary’s, which had defeated #2 seed Villanova the prior week ahead of the Sweet 16. The Bears won handily over the Gaels, 72–49, after major 47–19 in the half. The Elite Eight was also held in Reliant Stadium and the Bears’ opponent was the #1 seed Duke Blue Devils, the final #1 seed status in the NCAA tournament after the other three #1 seeds (Kansas, Syracuse, and Kentucky) were defeated by lower seeded teams. In front of a very pro-Baylor audience of over 47,000, the Bears were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils, 78–71, to end the magical run to the Elite Eight. It was the best season from the Scott Drew age as defined by conference standing, overall ranking, wins, and NCAA championship wins. The Bears finished the year ranked #10 in the last ESPN/Coaches Poll–the highest ranking in program history at that moment.
The 2010–11 group started the season ranked 14th (according to this AP Preseason survey ). The Bears began 7–0, and rose to 9th in the polls prior to falling to Gonzaga in a neutral court in Dallas. The team finished 18–13 overall and 7–9 in league play. The highlight of this season was Lacedarius Dunn getting the Big 12′s all-time top scorer, and a sweep of this series versus ranked Texas A&M. After freshman star Perry Jones III was suspended by the NCAA for six matches, the Bears proceeded to lose their first-round game of the Big 12 Championship from Oklahoma.
The 2012 season saw another historic campaign for the Bears as they followed up the 2011 year with another successful seminar run that saw the Bears win 30 games and make it to the Big 12 championship title game. The Bears were chosen for the NCAA tournament and made it all the way into the Elite Eight, which ended in a loss to eventual national champion Kentucky.
The 2013 year witnesses another winning effort for the Bears as they followed up the 2012 Elite Eight season with another successful conference run which saw the squirrels sweep both TCU and Texas Tech while just dropping one match to UT. The bears started out using a pre-season ranking of #19 in the nation. The Bears finish conference play .500 and have been selected for the NIT championship. The Bears made it all of the way into the Final, which finished in a win over Iowa, winning the tournament in front of a large crowd in Madison Square Garden and claiming the 2013 NIT Title.
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