By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Six months later, that Baylor basketball team that dejectedly walked off the floor at Dickies Arena after a loss to North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament is nothing more than a memory.
When Scott Drew opened his 20th preseason on Monday with the first of 30 practices, only three players who saw significant minutes in that game were back on the court. Jeremy Sochan and Kendall Brown were taken in the NBA Draft, James Akinjo has moved on to the pro ranks and Matthew Mayer transferred to Illinois.
The Bears' restructured roster includes guards LJ Cryer and Langston Love being cleared to practice, along with the additions of 6-4 freshman guard Keyonte George and Division I transfers Jalen Bridges from West Virginia and Caleb Lohner from BYU.
At least they didn't need nametags following a trip this summer to play in the GLOBL JAM in Toronto, where the makeover Bears lost to Brazil in the gold-medal game after upsetting Canada in the semifinals.
"Having them in Canada was huge," Drew said of a group of newcomers that also includes 6-10 freshman forward Josh Ojianwuna from Nigeria and juco All-American guard Dantwan Grimes from Kilgore, "because that allowed them to put the Baylor uniform on and be able to run our offense and defense and start to get acclimated to things. I think that will really pay dividends come the beginning of (the) season."
George, the highest-rated recruit in program history (No. 3), said the Canada trip "jelled us together."
"It gave guys like me a lot of confidence to see how much trust Coach Drew and the rest of the staff put in me," said George, who had 37 points in the semifinal win over Canada and averaged 22.8 points per game overall. "I just feel like we came together as one early. So, we're better than a lot of college teams right now."
Much like the 2021 national championship team with Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler and MaCio Teague, Baylor will once again have one of the best backcourts in college basketball.
George joins returning fifth-year senior Adam Flagler, a second-team All-Big 12 pick who averaged a team-high 13.8 points per game, along with Cryer (13.5 ppg), Love (2021-22 redshirt) and Dale Bonner, a Division II transfer from Fairmont State who became a key rotation player in last year's lineup.
With guards in and out of the lineup because of injuries last year, Flagler said it showed "how versatile and complete as a guard group we were," with Bonner stepping up at different times, Akinjo taking over games and Flagler filling in at point guard as needed.
"It also just shows the trust from the coaching staff in the sense of putting guys in new situations and knowing that we'll get the job done," Flagler said.
Knock on wood, other than Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua still rehabbing a serious knee injury that he suffered in February, "nobody's injured," Drew said.
Cryer and Love have both been cleared "to go through contact" within the last couple weeks. Cryer missed 15 games last year with foot injuries, while Love missed the entire season after suffering a torn ACL during the preseason workouts a year ago.
"I think we got all those injuries out last year," Drew said. "We should be good to go this year."
While George is a talented offensive player that can give you "a lot of buckets," Drew said the freshman still needs to improve on the defensive end.
"What our staff has really enjoyed about Keyonte is (that) he's an extremely hard worker," Drew said. "He wants to get better on the defensive end, just because any freshman that comes in, there's a different speed and physicality required on the defensive end of the ball. . . . Something that you love as a coach is he wants to get better, will spend the time necessary to get better, and he can really facilitate, really pass the ball."
Cryer is another big-time shooter, averaging 13.5 points per game and shooting a team-best 47.6% from 3-point range last year.
"He's really, in my opinion, only shown glimpses of what he's able to do on the court," Flagler said of Cryer. "So, we're super-excited to get him back completely healthy. He's a guy that I can depend on the backcourt. Having him, as well as Keyonte, Langston, Dale, those guys, is just going to be tremendous."
Particularly without Tchamwa Tchatchoua, the Bears are not as deep at the inside spots. But, 6-10 senior center Flo Thamba (6.2 ppg, 5.6 rebounds) is joined by Bridges, Lohner, Ojianwuna, 7-footer Zach Loveday and 6-8 junior Jordan Turner.
Named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team in 2021, Bridges shot 49.6% from outside the arc that season before starting every game as a sophomore last year, averaging 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds. A Texas native from Flower Mound, the 6-8 Lohner averaged 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in two seasons at BYU.
Coming from West Virginia, the 6-7 Bridges is "somebody that can space the floor with the guards that we have," Drew said.
"He was one of the best in the conference actually both years, efficiency-wise," Drew said. "You know he's been coached, you know he has toughness coming from West Virginia. . . . We've had great rebounders on the offensive glass, and he carries that over."
Baylor will open the season with three-straight at the Ferrell Center, starting with an 11 a.m. tipoff for the "Future Bears Day" on Nov. 7 against Mississippi Valley.
"I'm just excited to be able to be back and go along this journey again," said Flagler, who went through the NBA Draft process before opting to return for his fifth year of college. "We're really excited for what's to come and just ready to really display what we've all been working on."
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