Baylor

Baylor Adds Michigan Transfer Ekpe Udoh

Press Release — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:41:31 -0700

WACO, Texas — Baylor head men’s basketball coach Scott Drew announced Thursday the addition of former University of Michigan forward Ekpe Udoh to the Bears program.

The 6-10 forward will sit out the 2008-09 to satisfy the NCAA’s transfer policy and will retain two seasons of eligibility.

A native of Edmond, Okla., Udoh played two seasons for the Wolverines and averaged 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 67 career games (31 starts). He led the Big Ten with 92 blocks as a sophomore in 2007-08 and was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.

“Ekpe has a personality that makes him a perfect fit for Baylor basketball,” Drew said. “He’ll be a great representative of our program. His accolades speak for themselves; he led the Big Ten in blocks and was on the league’s all-defensive team. Baylor fans will enjoy watching him play.”

Udoh’s 92 blocks set a new Michigan sophomore blocks record (second-highest total in school history), surpassing the previous record of 91 set by Chris Webber in 1992-93. Udoh’s 159 career blocks rank fifth all-time on U-M’s all-time blocks list.

The Wolverine’s “sixth-man” as a freshman in 2006-07 before entering the starting lineup nine games into his sophomore season, Udoh played in all 67 games during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.

Udoh, who prepped at Santa Fe High School in Edmond, was born in Oklahoma but is of Nigerian descent. His full given name is Ekpedeme, which translates to “Lion.”

Baylor is coming off its most successful season in decades and will suit up an experienced squad in 2008-09. The Bears, who finished fourth in the Big 12 Conference and played in their first NCAA Tournament in 20 years last season, return eight of their top nine players and their top five scorers.

Live From DC: Q&A w/ Baylor's Mark Shepherd

Jon Teitel — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:34:31 -0700

Live from Washington DC, CHN's Jon Teitel is covering the NCAA Tournament pod featuring Xavier/Georgia, Baylor/Purdue, West Virginia/Arizona, and Belmont/Duke. He'll be checking in periodically with player & coach interviews as well as news updates from the Verizon Center.

Tonight, Jon brings us an interview with Baylor's Mark Shepherd:

Q: What is your day like today?

A: We had a walk through earlier today of our plays and Purdue’s plays, trying to find out their different habits, but I have no idea what we are doing later today.

Q: You were the last team announced on Selection Sunday: what was the mood like in the room before the announcement, and what happened afterwards?

A: It was very tense on Sunday. Once they called our names, there were hugs everywhere. In all honesty, I thought we were getting in, but it was torture waiting on the last spot.

Q: What was the 5-overtime game against Texas A&M like?

A: It was a battle all night, as both teams just kept on fighting. It was the longest game I have ever seen, but it was a classic, and a lot of fun.

Q: What is Coach Drew like?

A: He is a very nice guy, with great Christian morals, and one of the most enthusiastic people I have ever met. He is preparing us for our Tournament game just like he has prepared us all year long.

Q: How has the basketball program changed over the past several years since the shooting tragedy earlier this decade?

A: I am 1 of 3 seniors on the roster, so I got here right after everything happened. I saw it as an opportunity to build the program back up, and the fact that we made the tourney shows that we were able to turn it around. We have not received respect for a while, but now we have it.

- Interview w/ Purdue's Scott Martin

- Interview w/ Duke's Greg Paulus

- Interview w/ Xavier's Derrick Brown

- Interview w/ Georgia's Troy Brewer

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2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: Baylor

Joel Welser — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:35:51 -0700

Baylor Bears

Big 12 (21-10, 9-7)

Big Wins: 11/18 vs Notre Dame (68-64), 1/23 at Texas A&M (116-110), 2/23 Kansas State (92-86)

Bad Losses: 1/5 Arkansas (78-85), 2/13 at Oklahoma State (83-93), 3/5 Texas A&M 57-71)

Last NCAA Appearance: 1988, First Round loss to Memphis

Coach: Scott Drew (First NCAA Appearance)

Probable Starters:

Curtis Jerrells, Junior, Guard, 14.9 ppg, 3.6 apg, 3.5 rpg

Aaron Bruce, Senior, Guard, 8.7 ppg, 2.0 apg

Henry Dugat, Junior, Guard, 12.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg

Kevin Rogers, Junior, Forward, 12.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg

Josh Lomers, Sophomore, Center, 3.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg

Key Roleplayers:

LaceDarius Dunn, Freshman, Guard, 13.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg

Tweety Carter, Sophomore, Guard, 9.6 ppg, 2.8 apg

Mark Shepherd, Senior, Forward, 1.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg

Mamadou Diene, Junior, Center, 3.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg

Why They Can Surprise:

Don’t let the name on the front, or the back for that matter, of the jersey fool you…this is an explosive offense. Baylor was not known for much of anything on the court, but that has quickly changed under the tutelage of Coach Scott Drew. The Bears have five perimeter players who average over eight points per game. If one or two are cold, there is plenty of scoring punch left to pick up the slack. Curtis Jerrells is the best scorer of the bunch and the junior has now led the Bears in points and assists every year he has been in Waco. At one point in time Jerrells’ backcourt mate, Aaron Bruce, was the team’s leading scorer. Now Bruce ranks sixth on the team in scoring. That is because of the massive upgrade of talent that Coach Drew has brought in over the last three years.

Henry Dugat is the other perimeter starter and his versatility works well in the Bears three guard set-up. Tweety Carter and LaceDarius Dunn would be starting on most other teams. In fact, Carter was a part-time starter last year and he certainly did not lose his starting job due to a poor performance this season. Dunn, just a freshman, is a superb outside shooter, knocking down 41.8 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Why They Can Disappoint:

On average, Baylor barely breaks even in the rebounding department. Forward Kevin Rogers is the only player on the team that grabs more than five boards per game. Yet, with all that talent on the perimeter, there is not much that can be done at this point. The other problem is assists. For a team that scores over 81 points a game, they should have more than 12.2 assists per contest. Sometimes it is understandable, like when a team gets to the free-throw line a lot or gets a bunch of put backs on offensive rebounds, but Baylor doesn’t really fit into those categories. They do get to the line quite a bit due to the guards attacking the basket, but there is still too much one-on-one play going on in Waco.

Who To Watch:

Rogers has developed into a decent scorer and rebounder, but he needs some help from his seven-foot centers. Josh Lomers and Mamdou Diene will not put up a lot of points or grab too many rebounds. Diene is a good shot blocker and will work hard on the glass, but he finds himself in foul trouble the minute he steps foot on the floor. Lomers can have the same foul difficulties and there is not much depth behind Rogers, Lomers and Diene in the post.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 81.4 (11^th in nation, 2^nd in conference)

Scoring Defense: 74.4 (284, 12)

Field-Goal Percentage: 45.6 (96, 4)

Field-Goal Defense: 42.9 (127, 8)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.6 (27, 1)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.2 (48, 2)

Free-Throw Percentage: 74.2 (32, 1)

Rebound Margin: 0.1 (178, 7)

Assists Per Game: 12.2 (249, 11)

Turnovers Per Game: 12.6 (43, 2)

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Cheerleader of the Day: Baylor

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:30:01 -0700

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, we now have access to thousands of great college basketball photos to use on the site. Each day, along with our Picture of the Day, we'll be featuring a Cheerleader of the Day. We'll be mixing up the schools & cheerleader so check back daily!

Baylor

- Check out past Cheerleaders of the Day!

- Also check out the Picture of the Day!

Wednesday Report Card: Aaron Bruce's Struggles

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:48:53 -0800

A - Hasheem Thabeet

The big 7-3 soph lacks the consistency of conference rival Roy Hibbert.. but considering the experience gap, Thabeet's having a much more impressive season. (Thought it should be noted they're similar in actual age despite Thabeet being a sophomore and Hibbert being a senior.) With 8 blocks last night against DePaul, its now 5 games in a row with at least 6 blocks. Thabeet is averaging 4.4 blocks per game, twice the amount of Hibbert, and he also averages more rebounds. I compare these two for obvious size & position reasons, and also because they'll be vying for position in this summer's NBA Draft. Coming into the year, Hibbert was considered to be a much better prospect, but Thabeet is steadily moving up the charts.

B - Oklahoma

How many more close wins does this team have left? Last night's wild double-OT win.. which Baylor basically gave away multiple times, was one of many close wins for the Sooners. There was the miracle shot against Texas Tech, down to the wire wins over OSU and Tech again, and back in December they beat WVU in double-OT and escaped with a close win over Gonzaga. For all the tight wins, the only real heart-breaking loss was to Kansas State when Michael Beasley hit a late game-winner. Something tells me this team's good luck will run out when it counts.. early in the NCAA Tournament.

C - Justin Fuehrmeyer

The Missouri State sophomore guard might seem like an odd choice for the Report Card considering his so-so stats and his team's mediocrity. A couple years back I saw him play in some late round of the Missouri high school tournament, shortly after he had signed with Barry Hinson. At the time he didn't really look like a D1 player due to his tiny build and lack of height. Yet here he is playing almost 30 mpg for a team that although itsn't good, isn't bad either. Who knew.

D - Jerome Dyson

I still find it hilarious how good UCONN's been since Dyson was suspended.

F - Aaron Bruce

Bruce has had a nice career and deserves respect for really being the first guy to get on-board Drew's rebuilding project at Baylor. He's stuck it through lean times and the four-year starting point guard should finally reach the NCAA Tournament this year. Yet, he's had a rough stretch here.. fouling Crocker on a 3-point attempt that turned into a 4-point play, and then there was the phantom time-out call late in the recent loss to Texas. On an unrelated note, Bruce is a rare player whose mpg has diminished in each of his four years.. from 34.8 to 31.1 to 29.7 and now 23.0

The Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

Previous Best / Worst

February 19th - Josh Duncan / Tim Welsh

February 18th - Wake Forest / NJIT

February 15th - Oral Roberts / Big Ten Predictions

February 13th - Mike Green / Ed Donato

February 11th - Charron Fisher / Tim Morris

February 8th - Big West / Virginia

February 6th - Chris Lofton / Dick Vitale

February 5th - Bob Knight / Josh Heytvelt

February 4th - New York Giants / Washington State

February 1st - Nevada / Penn

January 31st - Kansas State / St. John's

January 29th - Winthrop / Dyson & Wiggins

January 28th - Rutgers / Doris Burke

January 25th - Ron Hunter / Princeton Offense

January 23rd - Kentucky / Archbishop Burke

January 22nd - DJ Augustin / Scott Sutton

January 21st - New York Giants / Marquette

January 20th - Maryland / ESPN.com editors

January 18th - Cleveland State / Marquette

January 17th - Drake / HP Laptops

January 14th - Roy Hibbert / Michigan State

January 10th - Tony Bennett / Saint Louis

January 9th - DJ White / CSTV

January 8th - Robert Morris / Schedule Makers

January 7th - Wayne Ellington / Illinois

January 6th - Herb Sendek / Kentucky

Team of the Day: Baylor

Raphielle Johnson — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:55:48 -0800

Baylor 17-8 (5-6 Big 12) Computer numbers (as of Sunday): RPI 42, SOS 44 With a lot of the attention focused on what happened in Bloomington, Indiana last night, many didn't get to see a huge game in the Big 12 last night. Oklahoma, thanks to a four-point play from Tony Crocker, beat Baylor 92-91 in overtime. The loss, Baylor's fifth out of their last six games, drops them to 5-6 in league play and possibly, for the time being at least, squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. This does not look to be a year when being in a BCS league can make up for finishing under .500 in conference, so the Bears have some work to do. Curtis Jerrells played well all night, scoring 29 points, but it'll be his two missed free throws with one second remaining in overtime that people remember. The momentum many thought would carry over from their five-overtime win at Texas A&M? Just a memory. On the clock: Florida. The Gators have fallen on hard times of late, dropping a tight one at Vandy after losing at home to LSU. 19-7 without a marquee non-conference win means that they need to make a move in the SEC, starting tonight against South Carolina.

Today's Poll: How Good is Baylor?

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:30:07 -0800

Seven Day Stretch: A New Weekly Column

Rob Carpentier — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:15:06 -0800

The Seven Day Stretch, a new weekly column by Rob Carpentier.

Seven Day Savior (Team): Baylor

This one is easy: the Baylor Bears. It was only two years ago that the Bears and new coach Scott Drew had to play an abbreviated schedule that consisted of only Big 12 Conference games because of the massive violations that occurred under Drew’s predecessor, Dave Bliss. This doesn’t even begin to get into the issues that arose out of the murder of forward Patrick Dennehy in the summer of 2003. If there was ever a program in need of a program-changing victory, this was it. All the Bears did on Wednesday night was go to Texas A&M and defeat the Aggies in a five-overtime game, 116-110, that has to be, until now, the game of the year in college basketball. The Bears won despite having 5 players foul out and their bench only shot 21% from the floor. This is easily the biggest and most impressive win in what has already become a most impressive season for Baylor, who is 16-2 and only have lost to Washington State and Arkansas. Not bad for a team that was imploding in on itself only 30 months ago.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Jermaine Taylor

Junior Jermaine Taylor of Central Florida. He started the week by scoring 32 points in a Conference USA road victory over East Carolina and followed that up with a 24 point performance on Wednesday in a crushing victory over UTEP. That’s the same UTEP team that was supposed to be one of the only roadblocks to Memphis having an undefeated conference season. In the two games, Taylor was a combined 20-28 from the floor, including 5-8 from behind the arc. He was also 11-12 from the charity stripe. Taylor is the clear leader of the Golden Knights, who are 4-0 in C-USA. Central Florida is 11-7 on the season, but all 6 of those losses have come against major conference teams and three have been by 3 points or fewer. Memphis, you’ve been warned about Central Florida and their best player, Jermaine Taylor.

Game of the Week (The one you’ve already heard about): WSU at ASU

While Memphis hosting Gonzaga and Connecticut playing Indiana highlight the intersectional schedule and Georgetown going to Morgantown to face West Virginia is a critical Big East clash, the most important game of the day is going to happen out in Tempe, Arizona. Washington State visits upstart Arizona State in a game between two teams tied for first in the Pac-10. Washington State was supposed to be in this position, but ASU was picked to finish in the bottom half of the conference. The Sun Devils have gotten to this point on the strength of freshman James Harden, (if Kevin Love isn’t the Pac-10 Frosh of the year, then Harden should be), junior Jeff Pendergraph and the coaching of Herb Sendek, who has brought a disciplined, defensive intensity to Tempe that Washington State coach Tony Bennett would be proud of. The game is more critical to ASU as Wazzu has already played UCLA and the Sun Devils need to make the trip to Los Angeles next week. To complicate matters for Arizona State, it seems that Harden has a bit of an injury heading into the game.

Game of the Week (The one you DON’T know about): Cleveland State at UWM

The Horizon League has proven to be one of the best mid-major conferences in the country over the past several years. The conference can boast the success of Butler and Wisconsin-Milwaukee over the past few seasons. This season, Butler was expected to be the top team in the conference and one of the top teams in the nation. However, the Bulldogs sit 2, that’s right, 2 games out of first place. That’s because the surprise of the season in the Horizon League has been undefeated Cleveland State. The Vikings are coached by former Rutgers head man Gary Waters and they are playing the kind of defense that takes teams, even mid-majors, into the second week of the Big Dance. The Vikings have a two-headed attack in the form of juniors Cedric Jackson and J’Nathan Bullock. The one criticism of the Vikings up to this point is that they haven’t faced a real conference road test yet. That changes on Saturday as they travel to Milwaukee to take on a rejuvenated Panther squad that is being driven by a freshman point guard, Deonte Roberts. UWM’s record isn’t gaudy, but with a win over the Vikings they climb within a game and a half of the Vikings and, more importantly, bring Cleveland State back to the pack. This is especially significant as the Horizon’s conference tournament games are played at the home of the higher seed.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Providence

That’s right, the Providence Friars. When talking about the Big East, everyone seems to talk about the same teams; Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Marquette, Louisville, blah, blah, blah. This Friar team is one that can surprise enough to win the league. They are coming off of a very good win at Connecticut last week and the next two games set up well for them to prove my point. They get an undermanned Syracuse and then Notre Dame on the road. Win one of those two and they will be players in the Big East title race. Win both and look out. What sets Providence apart is that they are relentless on the boards.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Mark Gottfried

The SEC is having a down year for a conference that has produced the past two NCAA champions. Traditional power Kentucky is having, what for it, is a horrible year, and the western division of the conference may only produce one team with a winning conference record. You could look at LSU and its streak of seven straight losses as a program whose coach is on the proverbial hot seat. But Coach John Brady is less than 2 seasons removed from a Final Four berth. But this week’s occupant of the Seven Days on the Hot Seat goes to fellow SEC West member Alabama and Coach Mark Gottfried. The Tide is on a four game losing streak and they host Tennessee next week in a game the Tide has to win. Gottfried had a chance to stay away from the Hot Seat last Saturday at home against Mississippi State, but Alabama fell short in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score. To add to Gottfried’s misery, his best guard, Ronald Steele, is hurt again. Alabama didn’t hire Gottfried so they could miss the NCAA Tournament two seasons in a row.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Oregon State

Oregon State fired Coach Jay John this week after a miserable 6-12 start to the season. There was conjecture that John would be let go after last season’s 10-21 record, including only 3 Pac-10 Conference wins. Anyone who knows basketball knew that OSU was returning a young team with mediocre talent. When Oregon State’s administration allowed John to return this season, the assumption was that they knew this, too, and would give John some leeway in rebuilding the roster. Instead, OSU gave John his walking papers six games into the conference season. The question is, why? The dismissal of Kansas transfer C.J. Giles only a day after John’s firing may have something to do with it, but it still leaves you wondering…

Daily Dribble: Sunday Report Card

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:09:08 -0800

The Report Card

A new series, the Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

A - Maryland

The Terps have been hideous at times this season, and I've mocked them repeatedly during that time. But beating the #1 team on their home court is a big deal so Maryland deserves the spotlight for today. Quietly, Gary Williams' squad has actually won 6 of 7 games. And barring a late collapse in Blacksburg that led to a 1-point defeat to Virginia Tech, they could easily have won 7 in a row. As it is, they sit at 12-7 overall, and at least somewhat alive for a Tournament bid. I hate to say that considering how bad they've been, but lets be honest, the committee loves any ACC team that finishes above .500 in league play.

B - Baylor

Giving a B to the Baylor Bears is fitting, so I went with it. At 15-2, 3-0 in Big 12 play, the Bears are getting absolutely no respect. Their lone losses are to Final Four contender Washington State and an admittedly poor effort against Arkansas. And yes, I know that Baylor has yet to face frontrunners like Kansas or Texas in league play. But considering the usual bias the media has towards power conference teams, its odd no one has jumped on their bandwagon.

C - Texas

At one point earlier in the season, the Longhorns were the darlings of the country having beaten two Top 10 teams in UCLA and Tennessee. But after a loss to Mizzou dropped them to 13-3, you figure they'd have been fired up to take on Colorado at home. Not so, Texas was down 37-28 to the lowly Buffs in the first half. Even though they came back to win thanks to Abrams and Augustin, such results won't get it done. The Big 12 might not be the best conference out there, but its no cakewalk and you have to bring 100% effort every night.

D - Syracuse

13-6 isn't the worst thing in the world, and neither is 3-3 in Big East play. But look at who this team has actually beaten? Their three league wins are against Rutgers, South Florida, and St. John's.. otherwise known as three of the worst BCS teams in the country. Their best non-conference win is against Virginia (currently just 1-2 in the ACC). All this adds up to a resume that is no better than most MAC teams. Yet, this is Syracuse so the announcers during yesterday's game spent 35 of the 40 minutes talking about Syracuse player, almost forgetting that there was a game going on against a better, ranked Villanova team.

F - ESPN Headline Writers

This is a pet peeve of mine. Every time an unranked team beats a ranked team, you see headlines on ESPN.com about how X "stuns" Y or "shocks" them. Here, I'm referring to Kansas State over Texas A&M. Is that result really stunning? A solid K-State beating an overrated A&M at home? No, its not shocking at all. Once a week, you see some ridiculous headlines like that on ESPN.. but they need to save it for the real stunners, like Maryland over UNC.

Previous Best / Worst

January 18th - Cleveland State / Marquette

January 17th - Drake / HP Laptops

January 14th - Roy Hibbert / Michigan State

January 10th - Tony Bennett / Saint Louis

January 9th - DJ White / CSTV

January 8th - Robert Morris / Schedule Makers

January 7th - Wayne Ellington / Illinois

January 6th - Herb Sendek / Kentucky

Five Minutes With a Star: Baylor's Tweety Carter

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:25:14 -0800

Five Minutes With Tweety Carter.. Baylor's Star Guard

Sophomore guard Tweety Carter is helping Baylor achieve new heights, as the Bears are off to a 13-2 start. In just 23 minutes per game, the speedy 5-10 playmaker is averaging 9 ppg and 3 apg, including an almost 2 to 1 assist/turnover ratio.

CHN) Win or lose, what's the best game your team has played so far?

TC) Our game against Notre Dame in the Paradise Jam Tournament. We were able to pick up a lot of defensive stops that were key to the win.

CHN) Do you think the team has played as well as it is capable of?

TC) No, we can do a better job at closing games, getting stops late and maintaining leads through the rest of the season.

CHN) Is there any opposition player that you have been particularly impressed with?

TC) Harangody from Notre Dame. We knew that he relied heavily on his left shoulder, but he was still very physical and difficult to stop.

CHN) Grading your own play from A to F, what would you give yourself and why?

TC) I'm not really sure, I just know that I have to get better this season.

CHN) What are you looking forward to in the 2nd half of the season?

TC) Getting better on defensively and in rebounding. That will help us win some more games."

- We'll be rolling out a series of daily Q&A's with top college basketball stars over the next few weeks. Check back tomorrow to see whose next!