Four years after the shooting death of Patrick Dennehy, Baylor has started off this season 16-2.

NEIL JOSHI, The Sports Lounge
JSB COLLEGE BASKETBALL COLUMNIST

It’s been over four years since the Baylor men’s basketball program was forever tainted by the infamous shooting scandal involving Dave Bliss’ infamous cover-up, but the Bears are finally starting to have some long awaited good fortune come their way.

Last night, Baylor continued their great start to the season with an improbable five-overtime victory over 18th ranked Texas A&M, on the road no less. Three players fouled out for Baylor, but they still had enough to escape from Reed Arena with a landmark win.

The 116-110 marathon improved the Bears to a ridiculous 16-2, and kept them as one of only three unbeaten teams left in the Big 12, joining the two Kansas schools. With the win, the Bears ensured that they would be ranked for the second straight week. That’s not too bad if you consider that it’s been nearly forty years since they were last ranked before they finally made it a week ago.

Since Patrick Dennehy’s tragic death in 2003, Baylor’s optimistic thoughts for a burgeoning basketball program immediately came crashing down, and the Bears went 36-69 (.342) in the four years leading up to the 2007-08 season. Several other violations during those losing seasons made life as a Baylor Bear worthless.

During the school’s scandal that rocked the NCAA, head coach of the time Dave Bliss allegedly covered up Dennehy’s murder by insisting that he was a drug dealer. As expected, Bliss resigned soon thereafter, but he will forever be remembered for how he handled this situation. After the dust settled, numerous sanctions were administered on the team, and it was unsure whether Baylor could ever become a competitive team in the rugged and deep Big 12.

But, coach Scott Drew has led a resurgence in Waco, Texas, and Baylor is looking like a great bid to make the NCAAs this year. Their amazing start to the season has to be one of college basketball’s most inspiring stories this year. Junior Curtis Jerrells has led the team in scoring his entire career with Baylor, and was the toughest man on the floor in last night’s win. He played 53 minutes and led the Bears with 36 points. With each passing overtime, he insisted to his teammates that they couldn’t walk away from the arena without a win, “no matter how long it took.” It took 65 minutes, but the Bears wouldn’t trade those five overtimes of pure grinding for anything else.

With his team off to its best start since 1946, Drew has a lot to be proud of, but the Bears are talented enough to do some more damage. Five players average double-digits for the superbly deep Bears, and they are just continuing to prove that they are a quality team. Baylor entered itself in a preseason tournament in the Virgin Islands, and beat Notre Dame and Winthrop to take the title. Since then, they put a major scare into the sixth ranked Washington State Cougars and won back-to-back thrillers on the road. Folks, I think this team has finally moved on from their tragic episode.

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