Getting Probationed to NCAA Champion, How Scott Drew Transformed Baylor Over the Years

The Baylor Bears occupy the numero uno spot in the Big 12 with a 9-0 tally this season. So far they have defeated tough teams like the Auburn and the Oregon State. They seem to be an invincible team this season and the main credit goes to their head coach Scott Drew.

Keeping himself away from the limelight, Drew has been one of the best NCAA basketball coaches to emerge in recent times and a talent like this certainly deserves recognition.

The Early Years

Graduating from the Butler University, Drew was a student assistant on their men’s basketball team. Apart from a keen interest in basketball, the Missouri-born also played in the tennis team though he did not earn a letter for that.

His father Homer Drew was the head coach at the Valparaiso University Crusaders, and Scott spent 9 years under his father as an assistant. In those formative years, Scott learned the art of recruiting and also understood game tactics that helped him win the regular season conference championship post the retirement of his father when he was promoted to the position of the head coach.

However, the team couldn’t participate in the NCAA tournament since they lost to the IUPUI, and Scott then transferred to the Baylor Univeristy while his father returned from his retirement to coach the Crusaders.

Scott assumed his coaching role at a time when the Baylor’s path was mired with complications. Their previous head coach Dave Bliss had to resign following a scandal and almost every top player was granted a full release.

In such dire straits, Drew led the Baylor to an 8-21 record in the first season. Furthermore, the NCAA extended Baylor’s probation until 2010 and banned the university from non-conference play in the 2005-2006 season.

Drew continued to instill hope in his team taking them to a 9-19 and 4-13 in Big 12 conference during 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons respectively.

 Beginning with the 2007-08 season, Drew propelled his team to end the season with a 21-9 regular season tally while finishing fourth in the Big 12. It was the Baylor’s best season record since 1996.

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His work with the team was so good that he signed on a 10-year contract extension as the head coach. He transformed the team by proving all polls wrong when he gave the impetus to the Bears to finish second in the Big 12 instead of the tenth spot as predicted by polls.

The Dominance

The next season saw another controversy since Drew was informed hours before their matchup that their star Perry Jones III would not be able to ply his trade for accepting benefits. Though, the decision was later retracted, the Bears did not play in the post-season tournament.

They finished with an 18-13 overall record in the season. However, Drew turned the tides next season when the Baylor cruised to a 17-0 at the start of the season. They advanced to the Championship Game losing out to the Missouri whereas they were ousted in the Elite Eight by the Kentucky. For the record, the Kentucky then went onto win the Title.

Disaster struck the Baylor once again when both their men’s and women’s counterpart basketball programs had to cut down their scholarships after an investigation divulged major violations. Moreover, an assistant coach at Baylor had bribed two AAU coaches to give false information during the investigation.

The penalty reached Drew as he was suspended for the first two conference games. The next season, the Baylor ended the season with a decent 24-13 and 9-9 in the Big 12 play. Though they couldn’t make it to the NCAA tournament, the Bears advanced to the NIT where they decimated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the championship game.

Drew in the following season became the winningest coach in the Baylor history eclipsing Bill Henderson when he won his 202nd game with the team. They screeched to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to the Wisconsin and also entered the Big 12 tournament.

In 2014-15, the Baylors occupied the fourth spot in the Big 12 play but fell short to the Kansas in the semi-finals.

All of Drew’s hard work came to fruition when the Baylor won the National Championship for the first time in 2021. They clashed with the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Final edging past them by a respectable margin of 86-70.

It was their first regular-season conference title since 1950. Whereas in 2022, the Baylor received a major upset by the Univerity of North Carolina during the Round of 32.

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Going by what Drew had achieved in all these years, the Baylor only seem to be progressing towards a satisfying result this season.