Early years

Luther Burleson coached the initial basketball staff in Baylor in 1907 also doubling as the soccer coach. In Baylor’s next season of basketball then cross-town rival TCU started their program that the Bears defeated twice during the 1908–09 season. Ralph Glaze’s (1911–1914) .788 winning percentage ranks at the top all time in school history. Ralph Wolf (1927–1941) direct Baylor to its very first SWC Championship in 1932 after living and beating among the first great tragedies in college sports in his first season as coach.
Immortal Ten
See also: List of mishaps involving sports teams
On January 22, 1927, Coach Ralph Wolf’s Baylor Basketball group was traveling by bus to play the University of Texas. Since the bus passed through Round Rock, Texas, it approached railroad tracks across the south side of the company district on a drizzly, cloudy day. As the bus crossed the paths the natives failed to hear the sound of the train whistle and ringing bell. The motorist caught sight of the train in the last moment and tried to steer clear of but the Sunshine Special crashed into the bus near 60 mph tearing off the roof and side.
The Immortal Ten Museum Ten Baylor students and basketball players were murdered by the impact. [3] One player, James Clyde”Abe” Kelly, pushed his buddy, Weir Washam, out the window at the bus only minutes before the impact, saving Washam’s lifetime but costing Kelly his very own. The bodies of Kelly and Robert Hailey were discovered horrifically stretched throughout the cow-catcher on the front of the train, with arms locked around each other and Kelly missing a leg. Ivy Foster Sr. of Taylor, Texas, had heard of the accident 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 rest of the 1927 season was canceled. The tragedy had reverberations over the entire nation and nation and led to the construction of the first railway overpass at Texas in which the event occurred at Round Rock. Buses were later needed to return to a complete stop and open the door at all railway crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten story has been commemorated each year since 1927 at first in headquarters providers then later at the Freshman Mass Meeting throughout Homecoming Week. In 2007, the event was also memorialized in bronze on the Baylor campus in Traditions Plaza.
On the 90th anniversary of the catastrophe, January 22, 2017, the City of Round Rock held a memorial occasion to recall those who had been murdered in the train-bus collision. In the event, the city dedicated the”Immortal Bridge,” which arcs over the railroad tracks where the accident occurred. Green lampposts, green-and-gold paint and other markings honor the 10 students who were killed there. The event was open to the general public, and attendees included Baylor administrators and student leaders, the spirit squads, and Baylor’s Golden Wave Band.
Post World War II success Baylor men’s teams won five conference championships at 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 progressed to play the Kentucky Wildcats for the NCAA championship, but fell 58–42 to Adolph Rupp’s first national championship team. The group again advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1950 under Henderson losing to the Bradley Braves 68–66. Bill Menefee (1962–1973) would lead the Bears to a national 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 record of over .500, and would later serve as Baylor’s athletic director from the 1980s. Gene Iba’s 1988 NCAA tournament team would be the first NCAA championship 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 group, 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 financial 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 years and imposed a post-season ban for one year. Additionally, the NCAA further punished the team by initiating a non-conference ban to the 2005–2006 year and extending the probationary period during the school would have restricted recruiting statements.
Decade Long Resurgence
The 2005 Bears were hindered by only having 7 scholarship players and listed just one win in conference playwith. Regardless of those challenges, head coach Scott Drew managed to put together a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop.
The basketball program experienced a resurgence under coach Scott Drew with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years with a 9–7 conference record and the team’s first national standing in 39 decades. The January 23, 2008 116–110 5OT win over Texas A&M in College Station officially became the longest game in Big 12 history. The 2008–09 team was rated 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 game versus Missouri, also lost by a score of 73–60. The 2008–2009 team 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 squad was again ranked in both surveys and pulled off the biggest road win in school history across the afterward #6 Texas Longhorns at Austin 80–77 on Jan. 30th. The Bears closed out the season with a Big 12 age best 11–5 album and #1 in the Big 12 tournament.
The 2009–10 group was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 at the Big 12 Coaches Poll due to the graduation of several key players from the preceding year. On the other hand, the team finished the regular season 23–6 and tied for 2nd in the Big 12 standings. Following a 2–1 record at the Big 12 championship, the Bears were rewarded with a #1 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 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, which had defeated #2 seed Villanova the previous 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 held at Reliant Stadium and the Bears’ competition was the #1 seed Duke Blue Devils, the last #1 seed status at the NCAA tournament following another three #1 seeds (Kansas, Syracuse, and Kentucky) were all defeated by lower seeded teams. In front of a very 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 age as defined by convention standing, overall ranking, wins, and NCAA tournament wins. The Bears finished the year ranked #10 in the final ESPN/Coaches Poll–the highest ranking in program history at that moment.
The 2010–11 team began the season ranked 14th (according to this AP Preseason survey ). The Bears started 7–0, and climbed to 9th in the polls prior to falling to Gonzaga in a neutral court in Dallas. The team ended 18–13 overall and seven –9 in league playwith. The highlight of this season was Lacedarius Dunn getting 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 by the NCAA for six matches, 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 since they followed the 2011 season with another successful conference run that saw the Bears win 30 games and make it to the Big 12 tournament title game. The Bears were selected for the NCAA championship and made it all the way into the Elite Eight, which ended at a loss to eventual national champion Kentucky.
The 2013 season witnesses another winning effort for the Bears as they followed the 2012 Elite Eight season with another successful conference run which saw the Bears sweep both TCU and Texas Tech while only dropping one match to UT. The bears started out using a pre-season standing of #19 in the country. The Boys finish conference play .500 and were selected for the NIT tournament. The Bears made it all of the way to the Closing, which finished in a triumph over Iowa, winning the tournament before a sizable crowd in Madison Square Garden and claiming the 2013 NIT Title.

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