BAYLOR (0-0) vs. HILLSDALE FWB COLLEGE (3-5)
Nov. 22, 2004 - Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas) - 7:00 p.m. CST
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RADIO: Baylor Radio Network (ESPN/KRZI 1660AM Waco)
INTERNET AUDIO: live broadcast at BaylorBears.com
TELEVISION: none
INTERNET VIDEO: live stream at baylorbears.com
THE GAME
Baylor opens its 2004-2005 basketball season Monday, November 22, when it hosts Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST at the Ferrell Center. The Bears, playing with limited scholarships and with nine newcomers, are beginning their second season under the tutelage of head coach Scott Drew. Baylor did not play any exhibition games and outside of a scrimmage with Houston, Monday will mark the first competition for seven newcomers (two newcomers become eligible in December). Baylor has won five straight season-opening games. Hillsdale is 3-5 on the season, most recently dropping a 74-36 decision at Midwestern State Saturday night.
BAYLOR TIP-INS
- Baylor has won its last 5 season-opening games.
- Baylor begins the season with 5 active scholarship players and 4 walk-ons.
- Baylor is the nation's most inexperienced team (only 1 returning scholarship player).
- Baylor was 4-4 vs. non-conference opponents at home last season.
- Baylor is 44-15 in regular-season non-conference games the last 5 years. - Baylor's roster includes three players taller than 6-6 (Mamadou Diene 7-0, Mark Shepherd 6-9 and Tommy Swanson 6-10).
- Baylor has dressed fewer than 8 scholarship players for 29 straight games [8-21 record] (since last game of 2002-2003 season).
- Baylor teams have made at least one 3-point basket in 378 straight games.
- Freshmen Mamadou Diene (Senegal) and Aaron Bruce (Australia) are Baylor's first international players since Steven Othoro (Kenya) joined the Bears in 1998.
- Two of Baylor's newcomers formerly were at other Division I schools. Sophomore Tim Bush played 10 games as a freshman at LSU in 2002-2003 and sophomore Patrick Fields was a redshirt at Mississippi in 2002-2003.
- Nine of the 12 players on Baylor's roster are Texas natives.
- Freshman Richard Hurd's older brother Lamar Hurd is the starting point guard at Oregon State.
HEAD COACH Scott Drew
Scott Drew enters his second season at Baylor with an 8-21 record and career mark of 28-32. Drew spent 10 seasons at Valparaiso, the last as head coach after nine seasons as an assistant to his father Homer. During his decade at Valpo, the Crusaders earned six NCAA Tournament berths, including five straight from 1996-2000. An outstanding recruiter, Drew is responsible for four national Top-20 recruiting classes over the last six years. He was named the 1998-99 National Recruiter of the Year by Court Vision and helped produce what HoopScoop named the nation's sixth best recruiting class in 2001, the 10th best in 2004, the 13th best in 1999 and the 19th best in 2003.
THE HILLSDALE SERIES
This is the first-ever meeting between Baylor and Hillsdale FWB College.
THE HILLSDALE FWB COLLEGE SAINTS
Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College (3-5) is a Division II school that competes in the National Christian College Athletic Association. Hillsdale is in its ninth season under the direction of Kelly Archer, who owns a 193-171 career record. Archer, a Texas Tech grad, has led Hillsdale to three NCCAA national championships.
HC NOTES: (stats available for 6 of 8 games played) The Saints are led by freshman F Jimmy Gibbs who averages 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds... Freshman G Travis Black is averaging 10.0 points and 2.7 rebounds... Hillsdale's preseason roster included 15 freshmen and two sophomores... The Saints' roster includes four players taller than 6-foot-2, and none taller than 6-5.
DREW vs. HILLSDALE
Baylor head coach Scott Drew's teams have never faced Hillsdale.
BAYLOR vs. NON-CONFERENCE FOES
The Bears are 44-15 in regular-season non-league play over the last five seasons, including a 5-8 record last year.
BEARS ONCE AGAIN SHORT-HANDED
The short roster numbers that the Bears endured last season will again be reality in 2004-2005. Baylor lost nine lettermen from last season's depleted roster (the Bears suited up between five and seven scholarship players over the season). The Bears begin the season with 10 active players including walk-ons. Baylor returns just one scholarship player from last season.
NATION'S MOST INEXPERIENCED TEAM
Baylor's 2004-2005 roster includes a total of three returning players (two of which are walk-ons) and nine players that haven't suited up for the Bears. Baylor is the nation's only team (and the only team in recent memroy) to return just one scholarship player. The three returnees have a combined total of four seasons of experience at the Division I level. The 2004-2005 Baylor squad includes nine underclassmen.
LOTS OF NEWCOMERS
The 2004-2005 Baylor roster includes seven newcomers and an additional two players who sat out last season and have yet to don the Green and Gold. The nine new faces include three junior college transfers (junior G Kevis Shipman, sophomore G Roscoe Biggers and G/F Patrick Fields); one Division I transfer (sophomore F Tim Bush); and five high schoolers (G Aaron Bruce, C Mamadou Diene, G/F Hall Henderson, F Richard Hurd, F Mark Shepherd).
TWO NEW BEARS AVAILABLE IN DECEMBER
Baylor is without two scholarship athletes to begin the season (first four games). Sophomore forward Tim Bush transfered from LSU last season and gains his eligibility following the fall semester (eligible Dec. 18 for game vs. Southern). Freshman center Mamdou Diene, a native of Senegal, is scheduled to arrive on campus in December.
BAYLOR'S EARLY SIGNING CLASS RATED 10th NATIONALLY
Baylor's five-man early signee class is rated the 10th-best class in the nation according to HoopScoop and is one of the highest rated recruiting classes in recent school history. The class includes three national Top-100 players and three Top-10 state recruits. The signees include four prep seniors, Henry Dugat of Dayton (Texas) High School, Curtis Jerrells of Del Valle High School in Austin, Texas, Kevin Rogers of South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas and Jari Vanttaja of Oulu, Finland; as well as Tony Jones, a freshman at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas. Rogers, a 6-8, 220-pound power forward, is rated the 35th-best recruit nationally by Rivals and Hoop Alliance and the sixth-best recruit in the state by Rivals. Dugat is a 6-0, 160-pound combo guard rated No. 69 nationally by Scout.com and the fifth-best recruit in the state by TexasHoops. Jerrells, a 6-1, 170-pound point guard, was named to the TABC 4A All-State second team. He is rated the No. 94 recruit nationally by Rivals and the No. 7 recruit in Texas by Texas Roundball. Vanttaja is a 6-10, 215-pound forward who recently averaged 14 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Finnish Junior National Team at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim, Germany. According to HoopScoop, if Vanttaja played in the U.S. he would be rated among the Top 50 high school prospects. Jones is a 6-7, 185-pound forward who redshirted the 2003-2004 season at Hill College and will have three seasons of eligibility at Baylor.
BAYLOR EARLY SIGNEES:Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown (Schools)Henry Dugat G 6-0 160 Fr. Dayton, Texas (Dayton HS)Curtis Jerrells G 6-1 170 Fr. Austin, Texas (Del Valle HS)Tony Jones F 6-7 185 So. San Antonio, Texas (Taft HS/Hill College)Kevin Rogers F 6-8 220 Fr. Dallas, Texas (South Oak Cliff HS)Jari Vanttaja F 6-10 215 Fr. Oulu, Finland (South Tapiola HS)
REMEMBERING LAST YEAR'S SPECIAL BEAR SQUAD
The 2003-2004 Bear team will be fondly remembered for overcoming the tragic events of the summer of 2003 that included talk of Baylor forgoing the season altogether, the loss by transfer of its top three returning scorers and a top prep recruit and the late-summer arrival of a new coaching staff. Seven Baylor lettermen chose to stay at the school and play the season and were joined by two recruits and a handful of walk-ons, and the squad was projected by all to not only finish winless in the Big 12 Conference - but many speculated the Bears may not win a game, period. During the season, the undermanned Bears played with a roster that fluctuated between nine and 12 healthy bodies and five-to-seven scholarship players. Six returnees (and six newcomers) and head coach Scott Drew defied all the odds and won over the hearts of the hometown Baylor faithful, as well as scores of onlookers nationwide, by scrapping their way to eight wins-including three upsets over Big 12 opponents - and playing eight other contests down to the wire.
DEPARTED PLAYERS
Nine lettermen from Baylor's season-opening 2003-2004 roster are not on the 2004-2005 edition. With those departed players the Bears have lost 88.8 percent of their scoring and 86.4 percent of last season's rebounding. Gone is Baylor's all-time games-played leader Matt Sayman, the USBL's No. 1 draft pick R.T. Guinn, talented All-District honoree Terrance Thomas, the scoring of third-team All-Big 12 selection Harvey Thomas and 22-game starter Carl Marshall. Four players left due to graduation/expired eligibility (Guinn, Robbie McKenzie, Sayman, T. Thomas), three transferred (Will Allen, Corey Herring, Marshall), one left to play professionally (H. Thomas) and one was dismissed from the team (Ellis Kidd Jr.).
FERRELL CENTER'S 17th YEAR
The Bears begin their 17th season in the beautiful Ferrell Center this year. Baylor finished 6-11 at home in 2003-2004 and owns a 142-100 all-time record in the arena, which opened in November 1988. The Ferrell Center is a golden-domed structure that seats 10,284 for basketball games.
BAYLORBEARS.COM
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes news releases, photos, biographical sketches, audio broadcasts, live gamecasts and chats is part of CSTV's College Sports Online. CSO currently hosts sites for more than 145 universities, including five Big 12 schools and the conference website.
BAYLOR GAMES ONLINE - AUDIO AND VIDEO
A live audio stream of all Baylor basketball games can be heard on BaylorBears.com at no cost. Live video is available at BaylorBears.com; all home games that are not scheduled to be televised are included in the package. Subscriptions are available for $6.95 per game, or $49.95 for a season pass that covers both men's and women's games.
OVER THE AIR
Bear basketball games are aired live on the Baylor Radio Network and flagship station 1660AM ESPN Radio (KRZI) in Waco. Selected games are broadcast on Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate WBAP 820AM, which covers 80 percent of the nation and reaches 38 states during night games. All Baylor games are broadcast by the "Voice of the Bears" John Morris, a veteran broadcaster in his 10th season, and former Baylor basketball standout Pat Nunley, in his 23rd season as color analyst.
INSIDE BAYLOR SPORTS TV SHOW
Inside Baylor Sports, a half-hour wrap-up of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout the Southwest. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and College Sports TV. KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest. All shows are archived online at BaylorBears.com and BaylorTV.com.
NEXT UP...
Baylor will host Louisiana-Monroe Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Ferrell Center. The Bears topped the Indians 85-79 in double-overtime last season in Waco.
