Early years
Luther Burleson coached the initial basketball team in Baylor in 1907 also doubling as the soccer coach. In Baylor’s next 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 ranks at the best all time in college history. Ralph Wolf (1927–1941) direct Baylor to its very first SWC Championship in 1932 after surviving and beating among the first great 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 group was traveling by bus to play with the University of Texas. Since the bus passed through Round Rock, Texas, it approached railroad tracks across the south side of the business district on a drizzly, cloudy day. As the bus crossed the tracks the occupants failed to listen to the sound of the train whistle and ringing bell. The driver caught sight of the train at the last minute and attempted to maneuver away, but the Sunshine Special crashed into the bus at near 60 mph tearing 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 friend, Weir Washamout the window of the bus just minutes before the effect, saving Washam’s lifetime but costing Kelly his very own. The bodies of Kelly and Robert Hailey were found horrifically stretched throughout the cow-catcher on the front of the train, with arms locked 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 only 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 catastrophe had reverberations over the whole nation and nation and contributed to the building of the first railway overpass in Texas where the event occurred at Round Rock. Buses were later needed to come to a full stop and open the door at all rail crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten narrative was commemorated annually since 1927 initially in Chapel services then afterwards at the Freshman Mass Meeting throughout Homecoming Week. In 2007, the event was also memorialized in bronze on the Baylor campus at Traditions Plaza.
On the 90th anniversary of this catastrophe, January 22, 2017, the City of Round Rock held a memorial occasion to remember those who had been killed in the train-bus collision. At the event, the city committed the”Immortal Bridge,” that arcs over the railroad tracks where the incident occurred. Green lampposts, green-and-gold paint and other markers honor the 10 pupils who were murdered there. The event was open to the general public, and attendees comprised 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 at the former Southwest Conference (1932, 1946, 1948, 1949*, 1950*; * discussed 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 group progressed to play the Kentucky Wildcats for the NCAA championship, but dropped 58–42 to Adolph Rupp’s first national championship team. The group advanced into the NCAA Final Four in 1950 under Henderson losing to the Bradley Braves 68–66. Bill Menefee (1962–1973) will lead the Bears to a nationwide position in 1969 but failed to make the postseason that year. Menefee was the only coach over the next 50 years to have a career record of over .500, and would later serve as Baylor’s athletic director from the 1980s. Gene Iba’s 1988 NCAA championship team are the first NCAA championship appearance for the app 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 participant for the group, was murdered 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 press characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer. The school placed itself on probation, restricted itself to 7 scholarships for two decades and enforced a post-season ban for a year. Furthermore, the NCAA further penalized the group by initiating a non-conference ban for the 2005–2006 season and extending the probationary period during the school would have limited recruiting privileges.
Decade Long Resurgence
The 2005 Bears were hindered by only using 7 scholarship players and listed only one win in conference play. Regardless of these 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 Championship appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years with a 9–seven summit record and the group’s first national standing in 39 decades. The January 23, 2008 116–110 5OT triumph over Texas A&M at College Station formally became the greatest game in Big 12 history. The 2008–09 team again was ranked early in the summer 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 recorded the program’s first postseason victory since 1950 in its initial round NIT victory over the Georgetown Hoyas in Waco.
The 2008–09 team went on to advance to the NIT Final in which they fell to Penn State. The 2009–10 group was rated in both surveys 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 best 11–5 album and #1 at the Big 12 tournament.
The 2009–10 team was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 in the Big 12 Coaches Poll as a result of graduation of several important players from the preceding year. However, the group ended the regular season 23–6 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12 standings. After a 2–1 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 at First Round actions 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, that had defeated #2 seed Villanova the prior week to advance to the Sweet 16. The Bears won handily over the Gaels, 72–49, after major 47–19 at the half. The Elite Eight was also held in Reliant Stadium and the Bears’ competition was the #1 seed Duke Blue Devils, the last #1 seed standing at the NCAA tournament after 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 magical run to the Elite Eight. It had been the best season from the Scott Drew era as characterized by convention standing, overall standing, wins, and NCAA tournament wins. The Bears finished the season ranked #10 in the last ESPN/Coaches Poll–the maximum ranking in program history at that moment.
The 2010–11 team started the season ranked 14th (according to the AP Preseason survey ). The Bears began 7–0, and rose to 9th from the polls prior to falling to Gonzaga in a neutral court in Dallas. The group ended 18–13 total and seven –9 in league play. The highlight of the season was Lacedarius Dunn becoming the Big 12’s all-time leading scorer, and a sweep of this series versus rated Texas A&M. After freshman star Perry Jones III was suspended by the NCAA for six games, the Bears proceeded to shed their first-round match of the Big 12 Tournament against Oklahoma.
The 2012 season saw another historic effort for the Bears as they followed up the 2011 year with another successful conference run that saw the Bears win 30 games and make it into the Big 12 tournament title game. The Bears were selected for the NCAA championship and made it all of the way into the Elite Eight, which ended at a loss to eventual national champion Kentucky.
The 2013 year witnesses another winning effort for the Bears since they followed the 2012 Elite Eight season with another successful seminar run which saw the Bears sweep both TCU and Texas Tech while only dropping one game to UT. The bears started out with a pre-season standing of 19 in the country. The Bears finish conference play .500 and have been chosen for the NIT tournament. The Bears made it all of the way into the Closing, which finished in a win over Iowa, winning the tournament before a large audience in Madison Square Garden and claiming the 2013 NIT Title.
Read more: https://conservativewatchnews.org/nfl