The Baylor Bears have become a Big 12 power under Scott Drew. However, since winning the 2021 national title, the Bears have come up surprisingly short in the NCAA Tournament.
Baylor went 24-11, including 11-7 in the Big 12, to finish third in the conference this past season. It was the third straight season that the Bears won at least 23 games in the last three seasons. The Bears also earned a top 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. However, they were knocked out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive time.
In 21 years under Drew, Baylor has posted a 446-244 record. The Bears have claimed two Big 12 regular-season titles, both of which came over the last four seasons. The Bears have reached the NCAA Tournament 12 times, including five straight. They have also reached one Final Four and one national title.
Baylor Gets Huge Boost After 2 “Super Seniors” Withdraw From NBA Draft
Baylor will look to extend their streak of winning at least 19 games overall and 10 Big 12 wins to 11 straight years. The Bears got a huge boost yesterday afternoon with Norchad Omier and Jeremy Roach withdrawing from the 2024 NBA draft, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. Roach and Omier committed to the Bears earlier this spring. Both players have one year of eligibility left.
The Beats still have three underclassmen in the NBA draft: Ja’Kobe Walter, Yves Missi, and Jalen Bridges. Walter and Missi are staying in the NBA draft, while Bridges could still return.
Jeremy Roach
Roach entered college as a top-20 prospect and spent four seasons at Duke. While Raoch produced a career season in 2o23-24, his career with the Blue Devils was mixed. He earned 2022 NCAA Tournament All-Region honors, 2023-24 All-ACC third-team accolades, and 2023-24 All-ACC Tourney first-team accolades.
Roach averaged 14.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists while shooting .468/.429/.844 this past season. He scored in double-figures 26 times, topping the 20-point mark on four occasions.
Roach is slated to take over the Bears’ starting point guard duties for RayJ Dennis, who is out of eligibility. Roach, better known for his pesky defense, can score when he gets hot. He has improved his 3-point shooting and cut down on his turnovers throughout his collegiate career, but he does need to improve as a distributor.
Here is what 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein said about Roach:
A four-year player who started 108 of his 130 games at Duke, and was the team captain as both a junior and a senior, Jeremy Roach arrived in Durham after an equally decorated high school career. He was known as one of the best point guards in the class right away as a freshman, and ranked among the top 25 prospects in the national class from start to finish, despite an ACL injury that cost him his final year of grassroots basketball.
At Duke, he evolved into more of a scoring guard, who played both on and off the ball. He’s had a knack for playing pick-and-roll since he was younger, and ranked in the 86th percentile as a ball-handler in that action as a senior, while also converting 53% around the rim as a lay-up maker per Pivot Analysis. The biggest area of growth in his game over the years has been his shooting. He made just 31% of his threes and 68% of his free-throw as a freshman, but improved in both categories with each passing year, finishing at 43% and 84% respectively this year. He also ranked in the 98th percentile in spot-up situations, showing his enhanced gravity when off the ball. Duke even began to run Roach off screens away from the ball, where his versatile scoring ability coupled by his playmaking made him dangerous.
Defensively, he has a reputation for being adequate but sometimes inconsistent, although the metrics are much more favorable. Duke was nearly 12 points per possession better defensively when he was on the floor this season, per Pivot Analysis, as he made good progress on-the-ball, despite still having some lapses away from it.
Norchad Omier
Omier, who transferred from Miami after spending the last two seasons with the Hurricanes, is an impact player and a much-needed frontcourt piece for the Bears. With the departure of Missi and Jonathan Tchamwa-Tchatchoua, whose eligibility is up, Omier is pretty efficient around the rim and an outstanding rebounder. However, the 6-7 forward is not a great rim protector.
The 2023-24 All-ACC second selection tallied 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals while shooting .552/.353/.750. He produced 15 double-doubles and reached the 20-point plateau 12 times, scoring 33 points against Notre Dame.
Baylor’s 2024 Recruiting Class
The Bears have 13 players on scholarship for the upcoming season, including the three players still “testing the NBA waters.” If all three players do indeed leave, Drew will have some work to do on his 2024 recruiting class, which is ranked fourth in the nation by 247Sports and 17th by 247Sports Composite.
In addition to Roach and Omier, Drew brought in Cal transfer John Celestine and signed three freshmen: VJ Edgecombe, Rob Wright, and Jason Asemota. Edgecombe is a consensus top-10 prospect, while Wright is ranked No. 21 by 247Sports.
