Early years
Luther Burleson coached the first basketball staff in Baylor in 1907 also doubling as the soccer coach. In Baylor’s second season of basketball then cross-town rival TCU began their schedule which the Bears defeated twice during the 1908–09 season. Ralph Glaze’s (1911–1914) .788 winning percentage rankings in the top all time in school history. Ralph Wolf (1927–1941) direct Baylor to its first SWC Championship in 1932 after living and beating among the first excellent tragedies in college sports in his first season as coach.
Immortal Ten
See also: List of accidents involving sports teams
On January 22, 1927, Coach Ralph Wolf’s Baylor Basketball team was traveling by bus to play with the University of Texas. Since the bus passed through Round Rock, Texas, it approached railroad tracks on the south side of the company district on a drizzly, cloudy day. As the bus crossed the tracks the occupants failed to listen to the noise of the train whistle and ringing bell. The driver caught sight of the train at the last moment and tried to steer clear of however, the Sunshine Special crashed into the bus near 60 miles off ripping off the roof and right side.
The Immortal Ten Museum Ten Baylor students and basketball players have been killed by the effect. [3] One player, James Clyde”Abe” Kelly, driven his buddy, Weir Washamout the window of the bus just moments before the effect, rescue Washam’s lifetime but costing Kelly his own. The bodies of Kelly and Robert Hailey were discovered horrifically stretched across the cow-catcher on the front part of the train, with arms locked around each other and Kelly missing 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 help where needed simply to find his son among 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 remainder of the 1927 season was canceled. The tragedy had reverberations over the whole nation and nation and contributed to the construction of the first railway overpass at Texas in which the event happened at Round Rock. Buses were later required to come to a full stop and open the door at all railway crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten narrative was commemorated each year since 1927 at first in headquarters providers then later at the Freshman Mass Meeting during Homecoming Week. In 2007, the occasion was memorialized in bronze on the Baylor campus in Traditions Plaza.
About the 90th anniversary of the catastrophe, January 22, 2017, the City of Round Rock held a memorial event to recall those who were murdered in the train-bus collision. At the event, the city committed to the”Immortal Bridge,” that arcs over the railroad tracks where the incident occurred. Green lampposts, green-and-gold paint and other markings honor the 10 pupils who were killed 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 success Baylor men’s teams won five conference championships in the former Southwest Conference (1932, 1946, 1948, 1949*, 1950*; * denotes shared title). 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 again advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1950 beneath Henderson losing to the Bradley Braves 68–66. Bill Menefee (1962–1973) will lead the Bears to a nationwide 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 listing of over .500, and might later serve as Baylor’s athletic director from the 1980s. Gene Iba’s 1988 NCAA tournament team would be the first NCAA tournament appearance for the program in 38 decades.
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 team, was killed by former teammate Carlton Dotson; then-coach Dave Bliss had been forced to resign amidst allegations that he had violated NCAA rules by making monetary payments to four players and that he made improper statements to the media characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer. The school placed itself on probation, limited itself to 7 scholarships for two decades and enforced a post-season ban for one year. Furthermore, the NCAA further penalized the group by initiating a non-conference ban to the 2005–2006 season and extending the probationary period during which the faculty would have restricted recruiting privileges.
Decade Long Resurgence
The 2005 Bears were hindered by only using 7 scholarship players and listed just one win in conference playwith. In spite of these challenges, head coach Scott Drew managed to gather a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop.
The basketball program undergone a resurgence under coach Scott Drew with an NCAA Championship appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years using a 9–seven conference record and the group’s first national standing in 39 years. The January 23, 2008 116–110 5OT win over Texas A&M at College Station officially became the greatest game in Big 12 history. The 2008–09 team again was rated early in the season but stumbled on a 5–11 conference finish before heating in the Big 12 Tournament beating both Kansas and Texas en route to the championship match versus Missouri, also 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 at Waco.
The 2008–09 team went on to advance to the NIT Final in which they fell to Penn State. The 2009–10 squad was rated in both polls and hauled off the biggest road win in school history over the then #6 Texas Longhorns at Austin 80–77 on Jan. 30th. The Bears closed out the season with a Big 12 era finest 11–5 album and #1 in the Big 12 championship.
The 2009–10 group was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 in the Big 12 Coaches Poll due to the graduation of several key players from the preceding year. On the other hand, the group finished the regular season 23–6 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12 standings. After a two –1 record in the Big 12 tournament, the Bears were rewarded with a #3 seed in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. The Bears defeated #14 seed Sam Houston State 68–59 in First Round action and then defeated #11 seed Old Dominion 76–68 in Second Round play 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 previous week ahead of the Sweet 16. The Bears won handily over the Gaels, 72–49, after leading 47–19 in the half. The Elite Eight was also held in Reliant Stadium and the Bears’ competition was the #1 seed Duke Blue Devils, the final #1 seed standing at the NCAA tournament following another three #1 seeds (Kansas, Syracuse, and Kentucky) were all defeated by lower seeded teams. In front of quite a pro-Baylor crowd of over 47,000, the Bears were defeated by the Duke Blue Devils, 78–71, to finish the magic run to the Elite Eight. It was the best season in the Scott Drew age as characterized by convention standing, overall standing, wins, and NCAA championship wins. The Bears finished the season ranked #10 from the last ESPN/Coaches Poll–the maximum ranking in program history at that time.
The 2010–11 team started the season ranked 14th (according to this AP Preseason poll). The Bears began 7–0, also climbed to 9th in the polls before falling to Gonzaga in a neutral court in Dallas. The team finished 18–13 total and seven –9 in league playwith. The highlight of the season was Lacedarius Dunn becoming the Big 12’s all-time top scorer, and a sweep of the series versus rated Texas A&M. After freshman star Perry Jones III was suspended from the NCAA for six matches, the Bears proceeded to shed their first-round match of the Big 12 Championship from Oklahoma.
The 2012 season saw another historic effort for the Bears as they followed the 2011 season with another successful conference 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 championship and made it all the way to the Elite Eight, which ended in a loss to eventual national champion Kentucky.
The 2013 season witnesses another winning effort for the Bears as they followed up the 2012 Elite Eight season with another successful conference run which saw the Bears sweep both TCU and Texas Tech while only dropping one game to UT. The bears started out using a pre-season standing of #19 in the nation. The Bears finish conference play .500 and have been chosen for the NIT tournament. The Bears made it all the way into the Closing, which ended in a win over Iowa, winning the championship in front of a sizable audience in Madison Square Garden and promising that the 2013 NIT Title.
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