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Posted: Saturday October 26, 2002 9:06 PM Updated: Wednesday October 30, 2002 4:50 PM Baylor Bears
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
Dave Bliss has worked his magic before, first as head coach at Oklahoma and then at SMU. In his next stop, Bliss took over a solid program at New Mexico and led it to unprecedented success. Bliss' final four seasons in Albuquerque were the most successful in school history, with a 102-30 record and at least one NCAA Tournament win each year. Bliss is now in his fourth year at Baylor, and there’s every reason to believe he will work wonders with the program in Waco. Entering the 2002-03 season, Bliss ranks 14th among active Division I coaches in victories with 512, and he has put together 20-win seasons 14 times in his 27 years as a head coach. Last year’s starting lineup included two freshmen, one sophomore and one junior, so the Bears should be growling again this season. Bliss has the fans excited, too, as evidenced by a 60 percent increase in attendance in his first three years -- an average of 2,689 fans before his first season to an average of 6,843 last season.
Look for the Ferrell Center turnstiles to keep spinning this year. "This year’s team promises to be real exciting and if there is an area in which we have strengthened ourselves, it would be our athletic ability," Bliss said. "We should be much quicker." Bliss is a proven recruiter and landed one of the Big 12’s top classes before 2001-02. Three of his freshmen made an impact on a team that won 19 games in 2000-01. John Lucas, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, returns as the starting point guard after leading the team in 2001-02. Lucas (13.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.0 apg) started 27 of 30 games and averaged 33.5 minutes. He was chosen to the Big 12 All-Freshman team. Lucas comes by his talent honestly. He’s the son of former star Maryland point guard and current Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Lucas. Bliss won’t let Lucas rest on his offensive laurels. "We’d like John to become a much better defensive presence out there," Bliss said. "We think his offense has been terrific for us. We look for him to refine his point guard skills and get more people involved and perhaps increase his assists." Bliss won’t hand the starting job back to Lucas. Robert Hart, a 5-foot-10 transfer from Paris (Texas) Junior College, will compete against Lucas for the starting job. Hart averaged 12.9 points, 6.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds last season. He led the team to a 24-9 record and into the NJCAA Region 14 championship game, where it lost to Lon Morris College and fellow Baylor signee Terrance Thomas. "If [Hart] doesn’t start, he’ll see a lot of action, because although he may not shoot the ball quite as well as some of our other point guards, he’s a very good floor leader and somebody that can play good defense," Bliss said. Matt Sayman, a 6-foot-4 junior, can play either guard position. Sayman (5.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg) has played in all 61 games since coming to Baylor and started 13 times. "Matt Sayman is a winner," Bliss said. "He makes plays that win games." Twice in the past two seasons, Sayman made game-winning free throws in the last seconds. He made two free throws with 10 seconds left in overtime to beat Colorado in the 2001 Big 12 Tournament, and last season he made two free throws with 11 seconds left to lift Baylor to an 81-80 victory over No. 22 Missouri. After two seasons as a walk-on, 6-foot senior guard Andre White was awarded a scholarship in the offseason. White (0.2 ppg, 0.3 rpg) played in 24 games the past two seasons after transferring from Hardin-Simmons. Will Allen, a 6-foot-2 freshman guard, will provide depth in the backcourt. Allen played at Trinity Christian Academy last year in Dallas. The likely starter at shooting guard is 6-foot-4 sophomore Ellis Kidd Jr., who averaged 14.6 points and shot 37.8 percent (87-of-230) from 3-point range last season at Seminole (Okla.) State College. He played in two games and eventually red-shirted at Oklahoma State in 2000-01, left for Seminole State, and now has three years of eligibility at Baylor. He also will play small forward. "We think Ellis can be a tremendously good offensive player," Bliss said. "He’s an athlete, probably second to none on our basketball team." Wendell Greenleaf, a 6-foot-2 senior, was kicked off the team in August after he was arrested twice on assault charges. Greenleaf (12.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg) started 27 games last season, but was suspended in the offseason. Last season, Greenleaf was chosen to the Big 12 All-Defense team after finishing second in the league in steals with 2.17 per game. He shot 86.2 percent from the floor, a team high. "We think a new start for Wendell in another location might be best,'' Bliss said. "As a university, we tried to understand and work with Wendell, and we wish him well.'' Kenny Taylor, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, will battle for minutes in the backcourt. Taylor (3.9 ppg, 0.7 rpg) played in 21 games as a freshman last season. At small forward, the Bears’ most heralded recruit, the 6-foot-6 Thomas, is the probable starter. Thomas, a Waco native, led Lon Morris to a 28-5 record and the region title and the second round of the NJCAA Tournament. He averaged 19.7 points and 10.5 rebounds and was on the NJCAA All-America third team and recruiting analyst Rick Ball’s Junior College All-America second team. "Terrance is an all-around type player with ball-handling abilities to run the break and the strength to post up inside," Bliss said. Tommy Swanson, a 6-foot-9 forward, is the only freshman in the recruiting class. Swanson, who played at North Crowley (Texas) High School, is a slender big man who can play either forward position. Bliss wants to see Swanson, who was rated as the state’s No. 24 prospect before his senior season, gain some weight in his first season at Baylor. Steven Raquet, a 6-foot-7 freshman, completed for Baylor’s track and field program last season and will provide depth in the frontcourt. Returning as the starting power forward is 6-foot-8, 230-pound sophomore Lawrence Roberts, who started all but one game as a freshman last season. Roberts (16.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg) set the Big 12 freshman scoring record with 498 points and led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocks (39), starts (29) and fouls (80). He was a consensus Big 12 All-Freshman player and was chosen to several Freshman All-America teams. Bliss says Roberts will only get better. "We look for Lawrence to be a much more powerful and polished player this year," Bliss said. Roberts’ backup at power forward will be 6-foot-7 junior Carlton Dotson, a transfer from Paris Junior College, where he played with Hart. Dotson averaged 12 points and 7.1 rebounds last season. "Carlton is a real steady player," Bliss said. "A good, smart player and capable rebounder." R.T. Guinn, a 6-foot-10 junior, returns after starting 15 games last season. Guinn (7.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg), a junior, was fourth in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage in 2001-02, shooting 46.2 percent, and broke into the starting lineup midway through his sophomore season. In the offseason, Guinn added 20 pounds to his frame and is listed at 260. He’s in his third season at Baylor after transferring from New Mexico. He started 14 of the last 15 games as a sophomore. The backup center will be 6-foot-11 senior Steven Othoro, a fifth-year player who has been slowed by injuries throughout his career. Othoro (0.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg), a Kenyan, played in 10 games last season while nursing an ankle injury. "Steven’s had a tremendous spring and summer," Bliss said, "and we hope that he can get back to being the type of player that had a real influence on the team two years ago and played important parts in upsets of Iowa State and Kansas." Some believe this could be a breakthrough year for the Bears, and Bliss -- who coached a team of Big 12 All-Stars, including Roberts, on a Scandanavian tour over the summer -- is a big reason for those who believe it. In his fourth year at Baylor, Bliss has most of his own players, the type he wants. They’re quick and athletic. His past two recruiting classes have been very good. "Lawrence Roberts, John Lucas and Kenny Taylor had terrific freshman seasons," Bliss said. "But I think the addition this season of junior college players Ellis Kidd, Terrance Thomas and Robert Hart will really help our experience that we lost." The only departed starter was forward Greg Davis, who averaged 7.1 points and 5.9 rebounds. He was the most productive of the departed lettermen. It’s not easy to make a big move in the Big 12, but the Bears probably won’t be sitting near the bottom for long. Bear fans have plenty of reasons to be excited about the future.
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