Baylor University

Baylor University is an independent coeducational Baptist institution of higher learning located in Waco, Texas. It is the largest Baptist university in the world and oldest university chartered by the Republic of Texas (1845).

Sports

The school's men's sports teams are called the Bears and the women's the Lady Bears. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A, as the only private school in the Big XII Conference. Prior to joining the Big 12, Baylor participated in the Southwest Conference from the conference's charter in 1914 until its dissolution in 1996. Baylor's most notable sports program has been their track and field team under Clyde Hart, which has produced 466 All-Americans under his 42-year tenure. The greatest standout of the track program has been its men's 4x400 relay team, which has sent teams to the NCAA finals in each of the past 27 years and produced three Olympic gold medalists - Michael Johnson, Jeremy Wariner, and Darold Williamson.

Related Topics:
NCAA - Big XII Conference - Southwest Conference - 1914 - 1996 - Clyde Hart - Michael Johnson - Jeremy Wariner - Darold Williamson

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Baseball

Baylor's baseball team is one of the most successful athletic programs at Baylor. Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, Baylor has carried the best conference record at 137-83 (.623). The current coaching staff consists of:

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The 2005 Bears played one of the toughest schedules in the nation and went all the way to Omaha where they finally lost to University of Texas, whom they had beaten 3 times during conference play. The Bears' strength was their pitching, with a weekend rotation of Trey Taylor, Cory VanAllen, and Mark McCormick with closers Abe Woody and Ryan LaMotta. While their offense was poor during the regular season, during the post season the offense produced.

Related Topics:
2005 - Omaha - University of Texas

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The 2006 team has lost many players to the MLB; however, they have reloaded and are prepared for a return to Omaha.

Related Topics:
2006 - MLB

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Men's Basketball

The school's men's basketball program was plagued by scandal in 2003. Patrick Dennehy, a player for the team, was murdered by a former player for the team, and then-coach Dave Bliss was forced to resign after findings that he had made improper financial payments to players and was planning to characterize Dennehy as a drug dealer, despite no evidence of fact. The school placed itself on probation, limited itself to 7 scholarships for two years, and a post-season ban for one year. Additionally, the NCAA further punished the team by initiating a non-conference ban for the 2005-2006 season and a continued probation with fewer recruiting rights. In spite of this, the recruiting class for 2005 is ranked in the top ten in the nation thanks to the efforts of head coach Scott Drew.

Related Topics:
Scandal in 2003 - Patrick Dennehy - Dave Bliss - NCAA - Scott Drew

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Coaching staff:

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The 2005 Bears were hindered by only having 7 scholarship players and went winless in conference play. However, the 2006 Bears include Aaron Bruce, the highest scoring freshman in the NCAA, Mamadou Diene, rated one of the top 10 centers for the 2007 NBA draft, as well as the incoming class of:

Related Topics:
Aaron Bruce - Mamadou Diene

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• 2004, Baylor won its first team national NCAA title, the tennis championship for men's NCAA Division I, by defeating UCLA, 4-0. On October 30th, Baylor humiliated the then #16 Aggies 35-34 in Overtime.
• 2005, Baylor Lady Bears won the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship. Coached by Kim Mulkey-Robertson, the Lady Bears defeated the Michigan State University Spartans 84-62. This made Mulkey-Robertson the first women's coach and only the third coach ever to win an NCAA basketball championship as both a player and a coach. (The two preceding her were Dean Smith and Bob Knight.)