Daily Bears Report 12/13

Lady Bears’ Basketball

Baylor Lady Bear freshman Natalie Chou earned the first Big 12 Freshman of the Week award of her career Monday afternoon. From Baylor Bears dot com.

Chou came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points in Baylor’s 10th win of the season against Texas State last week. She tied for the team-high in scoring, while logging a career-high 24 minutes in the contest. It was her first time leading the team in scoring and third time scoring in double figures in her young career.

All 15 of the 6-1 guard’s points came via the three-point shot, as she netted 5-of-6 (.833). Chou’s five three-pointers made are a career-high, besting her previous mark of two three-pointers made against Mississippi Valley State.

The Lady Bears conclude their nonconference schedule on Thursday, Dec. 15 against Winthrop. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. (CT) inside the Ferrell Center. Baylor opens Big 12 action at home on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m., against Kansas State.

Man Bears’ Basketball

• The top 11 teams remained the same from last week, with UCLA (10-0) coming in at second with three first-place votes. From ESPN.

Florida dropped out from 21st after losing to Duke and Florida State. Iowa State, which was 25th, lost to Iowa last week and also dropped out of the rankings. The Cyclones had been ranked for 61 consecutive polls, the third-longest active streak behind Kansas (148) and Arizona (84).

Kansas was third, followed by Baylor (8-0) -- which got the other six first-place votes -- Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Indiana, Creighton and Louisville.

• My AP basketball top-25 ballot (Baylor remains No. 1, Villanova rises). Story by Jon Wilner of the Mercury News.

Highlights from the ballot …

Not many games of significance, not much movement on the ballot.

Only six teams lost, and the closest we came to a major duel was … what? … Villanova-Notre Dame?

That will change this week (although not as much as I’d like) with North Carolina-Kentucky and Butler-Indiana.

*** Baylor was idle but held the No. 1 position for the third consecutive week based on a resume that, even with nothing added, remains the strongest in the land.

Soccer

Baylor soccer added midfielder Emily Bunnell (Cottage Grove, Minnesota) and goalkeeper Jen Wandt (Brookfield, Wisconsin), head coach Paul Jobson announced Thursday. From Baylor Bears dot com.

"We are very happy to bring in Emily and Jen early," said Jobson. "It would be nice if all of our recruits could have the chance to adjust to college life in the spring, on and off the field, before the intense fall season. It's a great opportunity for these two and shows their commitment to make an impact on this program by graduating early from high school to come to Baylor this spring."

Each player graduated high school early to get a head start on preparing for the 2017 fall season. Profiles for each signee are below.

EMILY BUNNELL | MF | 5-5 | FR | MINNESOTA THUNDER ACADEMY | EAST RIDGE H.S. | COTTAGE GROVE, MN

High School: Three-year letterwinner at East Ridge High School for Coach Mark Abboud ... All-conference in 2014-2016 ... Team captain in 2015-16 ... Minnesota Ms. Soccer finalist in 2016 ... All-metro team in 2016 ... Selected to all-state team in 2016 ... Pioneer Press Player of the Year Finalist in 2016 ... Excel Award Finalist in 2016 ... Triple Impact Award winner in 2016 ... Scored 12 goals and had four assists as senior ... Notched three goals and five assists as junior ... Posted six goals and six assists as sophomore ... Also participated in cross country and track and field as freshman, advancing to state meet in both sports ... 2014 academic all-state selection. Personal: Born Dec. 5, 1998 ... Daughter of William and Mary Bunnell ... Four-year honor roll student.

JEN WANDT | GK | 5-10 | FR | | FC WISCONSIN ECLIPSE | BROOKFIELD EAST H.S. | BROOKFIELD, WI

High School: Three-year letterwinner at Brookfield East High School for Coach Christian Lavers ... 2016 Midwest Player to Watch ... 2016 ECNL Training Camp selection ... Player Development Program member from 2014-2016 ... Played in North American Cup finals in 2014 ... Also played basketball under head coach Michael Goodman ... Played guard, compiling all-conference accolades all three seasons ... Named team captain in 2014-15.

Personal: Born Dec. 2, 1998 ... Daughter of Hugo and Debra Wandt ... Four-year honor roll student ... Spanish Honors Society member ... National Honors Society member ... Plans to major in engineering.

Cory Coleman

Browns receiver Corey Coleman is down about his splintered season despite the fact he missed six games with a broken hand. Cleveland dot com has the complete story.

"It's hard when you're playing with different quarterbacks and stuff like that, getting in the groove,'' he said. "We're going to be better. I'm going to be better. I feel like I let a lot of people down, so I know what I have to do -- finish these last three games really strong and the offseason, now I know what to expect from the NFL. I'll be a lot better coming back.''

This year's No. 15 overall pick out of Baylor was targeted 11 times during Sunday's 23-10 loss the Bengals, but caught only three passes for 26 yards. In his seven games this season, he's been targeted 55 times, and has caught only 23 passes for 334 yards and three TDs. His receptions rank sixth on the team and his yardage is fourth.

Baylor Board of Regents Thumb Nose at Bears for Leadership Reform Group

Baylor University regents say an internal review by a special committee appointed in October “found no reasonable grounds to question the independent law firm investigation of the school’s handling of reports of sexual assaults involving athletes. From KWTX TV 10.

Regents met in executive session Sunday and the review conducted by Regents Joel Allison, Dan Chapman, Jerry Clements and J. Cary Gray.

“Our review found no reasonable grounds to question Pepper Hamilton's investigation or the Board's decisions that were made in reliance on their report to us. Our conclusion was that the law firm had been complete, fair and accurate," Clements said.

"If anything, our second look at the law firm's investigation only strengthened the Board's conclusion that Pepper Hamilton did a thorough and professional job in fulfilling its agreed-upon scope of work."

Board members voted unanimously not to hire another firm to review the investigation.

A group of donors dubbed “Bears for Leadership Reform” last week called for an independent investigation that would focus on the actions of regents and administrators. From WacoTrib.

Prominent member John Eddie Williams, after whom the football field at McLane Stadium and law school library are named, said the investigation would look into lack of Title IX implementation, real or perceived conflicts of interests on the board and regents’ personnel decisions.

Williams said the group is “extremely disappointed” by the board’s Monday announcement.

“For months, Baylor regents have stonewalled and deflected blame, ignoring the voices of thousands of members of the Baylor Family who seek the truth about this unconscionable scandal,” Williams said in a statement. “Today’s decision by the Board only reinforces BLR’s belief that this scandal is the result of a failure of culture that has its roots in a failure of leadership.”

Shortly after the Baylor statement was posted online, the Bears for Leadership Reform group scheduled a press conference for Tuesday morning in Waco, where boosters will discuss “a new analysis” showing that the scandal could cost Baylor hundreds of millions of dollars.

Williams, has said he knows of others who have withheld donations because of the scandal, including one person who removed a $25 million donation to the school from his will. Williams said he is “wrestling” with financial commitments he has already made to Baylor.

Famous OBF Quote: “I’ve added emphasis above to note the different focus of the two groups.”

From Daily Bears Report 12/6: “Scandal Ain’t Going Away”

“Let’s see what the true facts are and let the chips fall where they may,” said Houston attorney John Eddie Williams, who has donated millions to the school. “We hope the board will join us in supporting an independent investigation so that we can let all the facts be known, hear from all parties involved and then let the healing process begin. We emphasize to the regents that this issue is not going away. The distrust that many of the alumni have of the board is not going away.” From The Austin American-Statesman.

A group of powerful Baylor alums demanded Monday that the school’s board of regents hire a new firm to open an independent investigation of what happened when sexual assault charges were made against football players and other students.

The group also wants the investigation to focus on the conduct of the regents and the school administrators as well as speak to athletes who weren’t interviewed when another firm studied the issue for nine months. After the Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton issued recommendations from its report this May, the regents fired school president Ken Starr, football coach Art Briles and reprimanded athletics director Ian McCaw, who eventually resigned.

The reform group also wants answers as to how much the school already has paid in settlements to victims. Williams said the group wants additional information on why others were fired and then given settlements, especially if they were terminated for cause. Briles agreed to a settlement worth millions.

The group says it will continue to make a public push. Otherwise, some may withhold money from the school. The football field is named for McLane. And the field is named for Williams.

“I’m in a very difficult situation,” Williams said. “I’ve made commitments to Baylor for the field at the football stadium, and it’s something I’m wrestling with at the moment. I hope the board will go forward with transparency and we’ll put all that behind us.”

After an almost 2 1/2-hour meeting between three Baylor regents and four members of Bears for Leadership Reform — a group of donors that has publicly criticized the board for its handling of the scandal — the benefactors hosted a press conference. From Waco Tribune-Herald.

Houston lawyer John Eddie Williams, a prominent member of the reform group, said he expects Baylor to pay for this independent investigation, and said he would also contribute to what he thinks would be a more than $1 million, third-party probe. He hopes investigators could be hired within the month.

Temple billionaire Drayton McLane, former Texas Gov. Mark White and former Regent Randy Ferguson also represented the reform group. Board Vice Chairman Joel Allison and regents Cary Gray and Jerry Clements represented the board.

After the meeting, Clements said the board will respond to the group’s suggestion of an investigation, which Williams said would include findings of why Title IX was not fully implemented, if there were real or perceived conflicts of interest regarding regents and if the board acted appropriately. Williams said he hopes that response will come within a week.

Williams said he was “stonewalled” after asking how much money the scandal has cost Baylor, including how much Baylor has paid Pepper Hamilton. He also said regents urged his group not to speak to the press.

“It is my impression that (regents) are somewhat inside of a bubble and don’t know the depth of the skepticism of the board,” he said. “We emphasized it very strongly today. This is not going away. This will not heal itself. This will not be solved with you making a few changes in governance. We were very emphatic about that. I did not get a sense from what they told us that they appreciate or understand the depth of the issue.”

On Monday (12/5/16), Bears for Leadership Reform asked three regents from Baylor University to consider an independent investigation into the institution's response to the sexual assault scandal and the Board of Regents actions. From KXXV News Channel 25.

During a press conference in Dallas, former Texas Gov. Mark White, Houston Attorney John Eddie Williams and former Baylor University Regent Randy Ferguson, who are part of the Bears for Leadership Board of Directors, spoke publicly about their discussion with regents James Gray, Joel Allison and Jerry K. Clements. The meeting initiated by the regents lasted two hours and 20 minutes.

"We left on good spirits on both sides. There was no acrimony in the sense of bitterness and meanness. I think everybody was there with a view of resolving the issues,” said Former Texas Governor and Board of Directors Member Mark White.

The group, which described the meeting as spirited, expects the BOR to give them a response on whether they would support an independent investigation.

“I think it's positive, they did hear our questions. They will take those back to the board and they agreed to get back to us, hopefully, fairly quickly,” said former BU regent and board of directors member Randy Ferguson. “At least having a communication channel open is positive. We will look at that as a positive thing and hope to get positive results.”

Attorney John Eddie Williams said the investigation would look at why the full implementation of Title IX was delayed. In addition, the group would like to learn the facts the BOR received that led to actions, such as the dismissal of head football coach Art Briles.

“If they have nothing to hide, then they should embrace an investigation, which will then document they have done the right thing,” Williams said.

According to Baylor Regent Jerry K. Clements, the proposal suggested at the meeting will be presented to the board for consideration.

"I think we need to think about that really carefully. I want to do what's in the best interest of Baylor and if we look at this and consider their suggestion and hear from others about their suggestions then we're going to do what's in the best interest for Baylor going forward,” Clements said.

Williams said the group recommended the independent investigation as a way for the BOR to regain the trust of the Baylor family.

“I hope they understand the problems here at Baylor with the alumni, students and faculty having distrust. Only full transparency will heal that,” Williams said.