Bears building a new legacy for themselves
This is madness
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"They couldn't believe it," said the Bears junior big man. "They were like, 'Why?"
"Now I think they know," he added.
Baylor wasn't exactly the chic pick a few years ago, shortly after Scott Drew took over a program with a dark cloud hanging above it in the aftermath of the Patrick Dennehy murder.
It was a complete mess in Waco, Texas.
Dave Bliss was fired after a cover-up and the athletic director was forced out as well. The school imposed its own sanctions — including a postseason ban for Drew's first season, a year that he had just five scholarship players at times and one in which the team managed to win a total of eight games.
Now, five years later, the Bears not only battle just about anyone outside of in-state power Texas for a recruit in the Lone Star State (they beat Texas A&M for skilled forward Anthony Jones), but can also hang with just about anyone on the court.
But Dennehy still looms over the program.
Rarely does an interview go by in which the Baylor players aren't reminded of the incident in which player Carlton Dotson later confessed to killing his teammate.
None of the current players were in Waco when everything went down, but they still face constant questions about a situation that preceded their arrival.
"There's so many other things to talk about," said senior guard Aaron Bruce, the veteran of the team. "So many great things with Baylor basketball. You could do 100 different stories."
Bruce may be correct, but this is the one that everyone talks about.
The one where a program overcame the adversity of having to deal with a murder that rocked the nation — and make an improbable trip to the NCAA tournament just five years later.
Baylor was the last team to learn of its inclusion in the Big Dance this year, and when the name popped up on Sunday night, Drew and the rest of the Bears went crazy.
Rightfully so.
The murder made Drew's job extremely difficult. Recruiting wasn't all that easy, but nothing compared to when he had to inform his players of the news that they weren't allowed to play any non-conference games in 2005-06.
"That was tough," Drew said. "I just felt so bad for them."
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| Scott Drew faced a huge rebuilding project at Baylor and has done a remarkable job. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) |
Rogers and the other freshmen — Curtis Jerrells and Henry Dugat — played just 17 games their freshman season. The Bears finished 4-13 and were practicing the entire first part of the season while every other Division I club was playing games.
"It stunted their growth," Baylor assistant Jerome Tang said.
"They are really first-semester juniors rather than second-semester juniors," said fellow assistant Matthew Driscoll.
Regardless, the Bears have earned their first NCAA bid in two decades after finishing 21-10 and 9-7 in Big 12 play. Eight of their 10 losses came to NCAA tournament teams. Now they will face No. 6 Purdue in the first round in a contrast of styles.
Baylor is guard-heavy and wants to get up and down the court, while the Boilermakers prefer a half-court, slow-down game.
Rogers said this is the reason why he and his teammates elected to come to Baylor.
"We're hoping this can help put everything behind us," Rogers said. "If we win this game, people can continue to forget."
The Bears are still on NCAA probation, but everything is different now.
The players who took a chance and chose to play in Waco have a couple of years under their belt. They have heard all the stories about Dennehy, but just want to turn the page and create their own identity.
It starts on Thursday.
"We want to remember the past, but we don't want to dwell on it," Drew said.
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