Bears

DENVER (AP) &mdash; There&rsquo;s some good-natured debate over which is the better Baylor &mdash; Scheierman or the Bears.
Some answers arrive on Sunday when&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/CBSSportsCBB/status/1636848750663725057" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baylor Scheierman</a>&nbsp;and No. 6 seed Creighton take on third-seeded Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
One thing both schools can agree on: the importance of a transfer stepping in to fill a missing piece for an otherwise-solid program. There are schools that use the transfer portal to get good quick. Then there are schools like Baylor (23-10) and Creighton (22-12) that use the portal to stay good for a while.
The Bears brought in two players in Jalen Bridges (from West Virginia) and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/BaylorMBB/status/1636865628744339456" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Caleb Lohner (BYU) to</a>&nbsp;fill in holes and try to make a run to a second title in three seasons.
For Creighton, the big addition was Scheierman, the highly sought-after player who left South Dakota State and chose to stay close to home (he&rsquo;s from Nebraska).
He&rsquo;s definitely on the radar of Baylor coach Scott Drew.
&ldquo;Love his name,&rdquo; Drew cracked. &ldquo;Hopefully, this Baylor does better than that Baylor tomorrow.&rdquo;
Scheierman made a big impression in a first-round win over North Carolina State, sealing the game with a late basket and blowing a kiss to the crowd in celebration.
Safe to say he has settled into his new surroundings.
&ldquo;Ever since I stepped on campus, the guys have taken me in and treated like I&rsquo;ve been there all along,&rdquo; said Scheierman, who was the 2021-22 Summit League player of the year at South Dakota State. &ldquo;The process coming in has been smooth and the chemistry on the team is very good, and at a very high level right now.&rdquo;
The same can be said at Baylor (the school).
When Bridges was considering a new program for this season, he had a definitive checklist with warm weather, winning culture and family atmosphere leading the way.
Check, check and check with the Bears.
&ldquo;It was kind of easy to see myself here because they played in a way that fits my style,&rdquo; said Bridges, who is averaging 10.2 points 5.6 rebounds this season. &ldquo;I just try to do my best to make a play.&rdquo;
Same with Lohner, who appeared in 62 games with BYU before joining Baylor this season. He scored a season-high 13 points in a first-round win over Santa Barbara on Friday.
&ldquo;For me, (the transfer portal) has been awesome,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/BaylorMBB/status/1636819509612007425" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lohner said</a>. &ldquo;One of those situations that all lined up and I&rsquo;m really grateful and blessed to be in a spot like this.&rdquo;
At South Dakota State, Scheierman was counted on for his scoring (more specifically, his 3-point shooting).
At Creighton, he has plenty of company. The Bluejays have big man&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/BluejayMBB/status/1637136786748067840" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ryan Kalkbrenner</a>&nbsp;and guard Trey Alexander to help carry the scoring load.
&ldquo;Coming in, I knew my role is going to be much different than it was in South Dakota State and I was accepting of that,&rdquo; Scheierman said. &ldquo;I knew that if we put everything together and we made a deep run that it would eventually help all of our individual goals pan out.&rdquo;
Sharing the same name as the school the Bluejays are about to play has been &ldquo;a lot of fun,&rdquo; Scheierman said.
Along with it, a bit of confusion.
&ldquo;The past 24 hours the coaches have been saying Baylor a lot and it&rsquo;s kind of thrown me off a little bit,&rdquo; Scheierman cracked. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really follow them a lot growing up and what-not. Obviously, I always knew that we had the same name, but at the end of the day, it&rsquo;s just another basketball game.&rdquo;

As No. 6 seed Creighton faces No. 3 Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament both schools have benefitted from transfers.

Transfers step up for Baylor, Creighton in March Madness

When defending its national championship last season, Baylor lost a top newcomer to an injury in the first scrimmage. A lingering foot injury eventually shut down a leading scorer, and the player known as &ldquo;Everyday Jon&rdquo; suffered a devastating knee injury.
Through all of that, after the departure already of a talented trio of guards from the title team, the Bears still won a share of their second consecutive Big 12 regular-season crown and were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They overcame a 25-point deficit in the second half of their second-round game not far from home before falling in overtime to the eventual national champion.
Even with another restructured roster, Scott Drew goes into his 20th season as the Baylor coach with his fifth-ranked Bears the preseason Big 12 favorite.
&ldquo;Really like the returning upperclassmen,&rdquo; Drew said. &ldquo;The new guys are really bought in, and really great additions. The chemistry has been tremendous, and our staff really enjoys going to practice every day, working with our guys because they want to get better. Couldn&rsquo;t ask for more.&rdquo;
Leading scorer Adam Flagler (13.8 points per game) and big man Flo Thamba (6.2 points, 5.6 rebounds in 20 minutes per game) are the only returning starters. Guards LJ Cryer and Langston Love were cleared for practice, though post Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua is still recovering from surgery to repair multiple torn ligaments in his left knee.&nbsp;
The Bears added transfer forwards Jalen Bridges (West Virginia) and Caleb Lohner (BYU), and their highest-ranked recruit ever: Keyonte George, a Texas kid who was a five-star guard at IMG Academy in Florida and was picked as the preseason Big 12 freshman of the year.
Cryer was in and out of the lineup because of his surgically repaired right foot, but still led the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) when he played his last game in mid-February. Drew expects Love, the 6-foot-5 guard who tore his ACL in the first scrimmage before last season, to have a big impact on the program though he will need some time to get back to game speed.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tremendous competitor,&rdquo; Drew said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a connector. He brings people together &mdash; everybody, upperclassman, new players, staff have such respect for him.&rdquo;
FLAGLER ON POINT
The versatile Flagler is set to take over at point guard.
&ldquo;We all know he&rsquo;s a great shooter, scorer, but he&rsquo;s going to have an opportunity to show that he can run a team,&rdquo; Drew said. &ldquo;He can play on and off the ball, but he really takes care of the ball and he really does a great job pitching ahead in transition. ... Guys like playing with someone who moves the ball like he does.&rdquo;
GUARD PLAY
During their championship season, the Bears had the selfless trio of standout guards Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague. Baylor now has another pretty talented backcourt with Cryer, Flagler, George, Love and Dale Bonner, the transfer from Division II Fairmont State who turned into a key rotation player last season.
ONE AND DONE
Baylor lost a pair of one-and-done players, with forward Jeremy Sochan and guard Kendall Brown being NBA draft picks after their freshman seasons. Point guard James Akinjo was also there only one season after being a graduate transfer from Arizona.
OH CANADA
All the newcomers were part of the Bears&rsquo; summer trip to Canada for GLOBL Jam, where they represented the United States and advanced to the finals after upsetting host Canada.
&ldquo;I just feel like we came together as one early,&rdquo; said George, who averaged 22.8 points in those games. &ldquo;So we&rsquo;re better than a lot of college teams right now.&rdquo;
TITLE REMATCH
Baylor will be in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Dec. 2 to play second-ranked Gonzaga in a rematch of the 2021 NCAA championship game that the Bears won 86-70. After three consecutive home games to open the season, they go to Las Vegas to play No. 18 Virginia on Nov. 18, then No. 8 UCLA or No. 23 Illinois two days after that. Their Big 12 opener is at Iowa State on New Year&rsquo;s Eve.&nbsp;

Even with another restructured roster, Scott Drew goes into his 20th season as the Baylor coach with his Bears the conference favorite.

No. 5 Baylor preseason Big 12 favorite for Drew’s 20th season

As the NBA season has wound down and funneled into fewer and fewer games, I've had the chance to dive deeper into the grassroots circuit and hone in more on what this next season of college hoops could look like.
I am irrationally excited about the Baylor Bears coming into the 2022-23 NCAA season.
After a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament to eventual finalist North Carolina, the Bears are in a state of flux. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/jeremy-sochan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeremy Sochan</a> and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/2022-nba-mock-draft/players/kendall-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kendall Brown</a>, two projected first-round picks, are in the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft</a> pool. Starting point guard James Akinjo, who led the Big 12 with 5.8 assists per game this past season, announced he'd also enter the draft and hire an agent. Starting forward Matthew Mayer also entered, and recently entered the transfer portal. And finally, leading scorer Adam Flagler too entered the draft, although he remains NCAA eligible as he tests the waters of his draft stock.
Needless to say, things are changing in Waco, Texas! Baylor big man Flo Thamba will return for a fifth year and Jonathan Tchamwa-Tchatchoua is coming back from the knee injury that sidelined him late in conference play. LJ Cryer missed the NCAA Tournament and end of last year with a foot injury, and should step into an even larger role as a third-year player.
Five of the top six in minutes played on the team last year might not be back in the rotation, which is equally jarring and exciting. With that being said, open minutes means new opportunities!
Where things start for me in my intrigue is Keyonte George. The five-star shooting guard out of IMG Academy has a legitimate chance to be the best guard to play at Baylor, which is high praise considering the wealth of NBA talent that's flowed through head coach Scott Drew's tenure.
George is an effortless shooter off a variety of movements. He's comfortable off the ball and moves well as a cutter. His pull-up and shot creation are routinely cash for him. George's handle shifts defenders with guile, and he can maneuver his way through tight spaces with ease.
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He has real pop around the rim, and some of the finishes through contact he pulls off are WILD. So often, we talk about three-level scorers and look at guys who can handle and operate behind the arc and in the mid-range with lesser efficacy at the rim; George is a plus pretty much anywhere on the court, which makes him a remarkably tough guard.
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He can capably run offense, setting up incredibly well out of pick-and-roll situations with pocket passes, dump-offs and a really impressive lob game as well.
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George is a stout defender at the point of attack with active hands, and routinely will make the right plays off the ball as well. He's a tremendous all-around player with a real opportunity to make waves as a freshman. His shot creation next year is going to be a joy to watch against some of the best defenses in college basketball.
Another one of the major reasons I'm excited for Baylor is Langston Love's return to the court! Love was the 35th-ranked recruit in the 2021 high school class, but missed the entirety of his freshman season with an ACL tear. It would be unfair to expect him to come back without rust, but it's good to get a reminder of just how good Love is when healthy.
While it'd be tough to crack the starting lineup given who's returning, Love's shotmaking and creation (a theme for Baylor) could be a boon.
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Love has a really explosive drive game that allows him to get into the paint, but he tends to rely more on speed rather than his handle &mdash; which isn't neccesarily a bad thing &mdash; but will likely be there for him less in college.
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Watch that first clip. Love does a great job getting into the paint, but that's the sort of play where I really want to see him take a hang dribble and a momentary pause off the screen. He doesn't typically see skip passes from here &mdash; which again, not an indictment &mdash; but it's where he's at as a playmaker right now. There's a lot of room to grow with reps.
When he gets an ideal lane or angle, Love can collapse a defense, but I like what he can do operating on the second side of actions more. Getting involved in an empty-corner action, using pistol exchanges to get him open looks and getting the most out of his shooting gravity and straight-line speed are where a lot of his best reads come from as a playmaker. He's so solid at hitting backline cutters from the middle of the floor.
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As mentioned, the creation is what stands out with this Baylor squad.
Up and down the roster, there are players who can dribble, shoot and make the right plays.
Cryer was one of the best shooters on volume in basketball last season, canning 46.8% of his threes (5.8 per game). Flagler was a 38.7% shooter on 6.3 attempts per game last season.
Baylor is a team that's thrived upon having multiple shot-creators over the last few seasons, and the Bears have fully leaned into that identity headed into the upcoming year. As different as this team will be made up, its apparent strengths could make for some incredible offensive ball.
One of the bigger questions is the defense. While Love and George are both capable defenders to be sure, they're a significant downshift in size from Sochan and Brown. With Mayer out of the picture as well, things get murky on the wing.
Baylor added Caleb Lohner, a starter at BYU last year, via the transfer portal. The 6-foot-8 forward showed some ability to play defense out on the perimeter, although seems much more adept in help and as the low man. It'll be interesting to see how he factors in.
The Bears also added West Virginia transfer Jalen Bridges, who brings a vital skill set and versatility to Baylor and seems to be a likely starter (started all 33 games for the Mountaineers last season).
I was really intrigued by Bridges as a freshman, but last year's WVU team was a tough to evaluate contextually. After a 13-2 start, the team went 3-15 the rest of the way. The defense was average, but pretty awful by Bob Huggins' standards, and the offense was among the worst in the country. Bridges' efficiency dropped without much of an increase in usage, which was odd and a bit discouraging. Yet, with a new team and alongside better offensive talent, I think there's a chance Bridges really pops as a player &mdash; but much of it will be determined by how his shot falls.
Bridges has good size at 6-7 with a sizable wingspan and solid instincts. He has some really good moments both on and off the ball with active hands, but finding consistency on that end will be key for him and for Baylor.
This Baylor team has a new look, a retooled roster and a bright future this season if things really click.
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A retooled Baylor team could have a lot of upside and reason for excitement headed into a new season, writes Mark Schindler.