Baylor’s track record in sending players to the NBA is starting to look like something more than a nice run. The Bears now sit alone at sixth among schools with 11 former players currently active in the league, a number that puts them in a pretty rare spot nationally.
Only Kentucky and Duke are ahead of them, and those two live in a different universe when it comes to basketball pedigree. Kentucky leads the way with 30 NBA players, while Duke has 29.
Arizona is next with 19, followed by Michigan with 15 and UCLA with 12. Baylor’s place on that list stands out even more when you consider how young its rise has been across the big three sports over the last fifteen years.
It’s not easy for a school to get one player to the NBA. Two is better.
Once a program starts putting three, four, five, or more pros into the league at the same time, that’s when people really start taking notice. Baylor has pushed into that territory, and the current count of 11 former Bears in the NBA says plenty about where the program sits right now.
This year’s roster, though, is still a young one. Outside of Juslin Bodo Bodo, Evan Chatman, and a returning Caden Powell - Baylor’s only seniors currently listed on the roster - there isn’t much upperclassman weight to lean on. That means the next wave of NBA hopefuls may still be forming.
The Mingo brothers, Dylan and Kayden, are the names to watch if Baylor is going to produce another professional leap soon. They have the best chance of putting together the kind of season in Waco that turns heads and puts them on a draft path.
The season doesn’t start until November 2nd, but the early outlook already has Baylor in a tricky spot. ESPN’s projection pegs the Bears as a fringe NCAA tournament team and a mid-tier Big XII contender.
Their ceiling is listed at 24 wins and a sixth-place finish in the league, with a loss in the NCAA tournament round of 64. The floor drops all the way to 19 wins and no tournament berth at all.
Even with that range, there’s still room for optimism under Scott Drew in 2026-27. Baylor has added new pieces, and it has also kept important players like Bodo Bodo and Isaac Williams in the fold. That combination gives the Bears a real chance to push higher than the projections suggest.
In Other News...
Auburn Heads Into Baylor Test With Byrum Brown Sounding Unfazed
Byrum Brown didnt sound like a quarterback easing into a difficult first test. Speaking to the media Sept. 1 ahead of Auburns Aflac Kickoff Game against Baylor, Brown struck a confident tone about where the offense stands and how prepared it is for what Baylor will bring. He pointed to the challenge of sorting through the Bears defensive schemes and adjusting to new faces on that side of the ball, but he also made it clear Auburn expects to be ready for the opener.
Browns comfort level seems to be part of why the discussion felt so steady. He said hes at ease with the playbook and backed that up by noting he has already played in big stadium settings, a detail that matters in a game with this kind of stage. For Auburn, the early read on its quarterback is simple enough: the spotlight wont be too large, and the matchup with Baylor should provide an immediate measure of how far the offense has come. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Opens With An Early Test Against Auburns New-Look Reset
The season opener will hand Baylor an immediate look at what Auburn hopes is a fresh start under Alex Golesh, who takes over after the Tigers went 5-7 and parted ways with Hugh Freeze. Golesh was hired on Nov. 30, and the matchup gives both programs an early read on how quickly a new staff can settle in, especially with Auburn trying to put a disappointing year behind it.
One of the more interesting layers for Baylor is the roster churn around the game itself, including quarterback Byrum Brown arriving at Auburn from South Florida and running back Bryson Washington moving from Baylor to the Tigers. Those kinds of transfer movements make the opener feel bigger than a typical September nonconference game, because Baylor will not only be facing a new coach but also a reshaped Auburn roster built to look different from the one that finished last season. [Read more 🡒]
Baylors 2027 Commits Are Starting To Turn Heads On Fridays
A few of Baylors 2027 commits have been making their presence felt on Friday nights, and the latest round of high school box scores offered another reminder of why the Bears early recruiting work is drawing attention. Several members of that class turned in strong all-around performances, contributing on both sides of the ball and helping their teams in ways that go beyond the usual headline numbers.
Those outings matter for Baylor because they offer an early look at how the class is developing against weekly competition, not just in camp settings or on recruiting graphics. The schedule now keeps rolling for each of those programs, which means there will be more chances for the Bears future pieces to build momentum and keep showing the kind of Friday impact that gets noticed well before they ever arrive in Waco. [Read more 🡒]