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Today’s Events
Track, vs Rod McCravy Memorial, All Day
Track & Field
For the fourth-straight year, Baylor's track and field teams will compete at the University of Kentucky's Rod McCravy Memorial meet on Friday and Saturday at Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky. From Baylor Bears dot com.
Along with the Baylor men and women, Kentucky (No. 8 women) will host athletes from Central Florida, Clemson, Harvard, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Miami (No. 14 women), Mississippi (No. 21 women), Penn State (No. 20 men), Purdue (No. 10 women), USC (No. 6 men, No. 4 women) and Texas (No. 7 men, No. 5 women). In total, Baylor has 42 athletes slated to compete with 22 women and 20 men on the first plane trip of the year.
Multi-events will start the days off on both Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m. CT. Field events will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday, and at 10 a.m. on Saturday. On Friday the running events will get under way at 5:10 p.m., while on Saturday they will start at 11 a.m.
Tennis
Joey Scrivano had only been the Baylor women’s tennis coach for a few years when he found his way to a tournament at the Waco Regional Tennis Center, something not at all out of the ordinary. From BearsExtra.
That particular day sticks with him for one reason alone — because that was the first time he ever saw Baylor senior Blair Shankle play.
“I’ll never forget it, because my friend came over and told me there was something I had to go take a look at,” said Scrivano, who is now in his 15th season. “And so I go over to where the younger kids are playing and there’s this kid, maybe 12 years old, with this huge hat and this big, slicing backhand that she still has to this day … just carving people up, even back then. And it was Blair Shankle.
“So I made a mental note, and didn’t see her again for years. But I’ll never forget that moment because you definitely knew, even though she was younger, that she was good and that she had something.”
Man Bears Basketball
Baylor coach Scott Drew sure can coach ’em up. From USA Today.
That sentence doesn’t jibe with the image you see of him as simply an aggressive recruiter. It doesn’t fit with the (unfounded) criticism you still hear of his in-game coaching.
But consider the number of top-50 recruits on this year’s roster: Zero.
The number of times Baylor has been ranked No. 1 in the country? One.
And, for good measure, the number of times Baylor had ever been ranked No. 1 prior to this season? Zero.
That speaks to player development, cohesiveness and chemistry. It speaks to leadership, which this team has. And most of all it speaks to the coach who has orchestrated one of the greatest turnarounds in all of college basketball during his 14-year tenure in Waco. Often times, with little-known players who developed into future pros.
Football
Head coach Matt Rhule and the Baylor football team added two more players to the 2017 class. From BearsExtra.
The Bears picked up commitments from LB Ashton Logan and LB Terrel Bernard, giving them 14 for the class.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Logan, a local product from Temple, originally committed to the University of Central Arkansas and Arizona State before eventually picking the Bears.
Bernard, a La Porte product who was pledged to Houston, finished his senior season with 201 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five sacks and four forced fumbles. Bernard held offers from Texas Tech, Colorado, Kansas State, Missouri and Washington.
Lady Bears Basketball
Baylor women's basketball is the only Big 12 Conference program to have players recognized in the Wooden Award Midseason 25. From Baylor Bears dot com.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced this week that senior forward Nina Davis and redshirt senior guard Alexis Jones are in consideration for the 41st John R. Wooden Award, which honors the most outstanding basketball player of the year.
Davis has been a finalist for the Wooden Award twice in 2015 and 2016, while Jones is making her first appearance on the prestigious list. Baylor women's basketball has had one winner of the Wooden Award in Brittney Griner who did it twice, once in 2012 and again in 2013.
A two-time consensus All-American, Davis has been a mainstay in the Baylor lineup with 126 starts in her career. She became the sixth Lady Bear to score more than 2,000 points this season and has climbed steadily since with 12 double-double figure scoring efforts, bringing her total to 2,189 through 19 games this season. As a senior, Davis is averaging 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. She is also shooting an efficient 57.9 percent from the floor and 74.5 from the free throw line.
Davis, a three time All-Big 12 first team selection, was named the 2017 Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year and to the Preseason All-Big 12 first team. She has also been included on the 2017 Wade Trophy and 2017 Naismith Trophy watch lists this year.
In her second year with the program, Jones has increased her production to lead the Lady Bears in scoring with 15.3 points per game. She has scored in double figures in 12 of 16 games played this year. Jones is second on the team in assists, averaging 5.0 per contest, and has recorded an average of 4.9 rebounds per game. She is third in the Big 12 and 21st nationally in three-point field goal percentage (44.0) and is shooting 43.6 percent from the floor overall.
Jones, who was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Big 12 first team in 2016, was a 2017 Preseason All-Big 12 first team pick. She has also been included on 2017 Wade Trophy, 2017 Naismith Trophy and 2017 Leiberman Award watch lists this season.
Leading candidates for the 2017 Wooden Award will be cut to 20 players in early February. Fifteen finalists will be submitted to voters on the final ballot before the NCAA Tournament. Voters, comprised of national college basketball experts, cast their ballots following first and second rounds to determine the ten-player Wooden Award All-American Team, which will be announced the week of the Elite Eight.
Sexual Assault Scandal Heating Up
- A second former Title IX officer at Baylor University has filed complaints with federal officials saying she faced discriminatory treatment and intimidation while she tried to investigate sexual assault cases -- especially those involving football players -- during her seven months at the university. From ABC 7, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose.
Gabrielle Lyons told Outside the Lines this week that she left Baylor in November 2015 after senior administrators ignored her and other investigators' complaints that they were short-staffed and needed mental health services to cope with the emotional stress of having to hear so many stories of abuse.
Last spring, Lyons reached out to a campus sexual assault advocacy group called End Rape on Campus to file a Title IX complaint against Baylor on her behalf to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. She worked with the group rather than file her own complaint because at the time, she feared retaliation and hoped to remain anonymous.
The filing, on April 27, 2016, came about a month before Baylor released top-line findings from an internal investigation by Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton that revealed failures to implement Title IX and other laws pertaining to the university's handling of sexual assault and other sexual violence cases, including violations specific to the school's football program.
The Baylor Board of Regents fired head football coach Art Briles, demoted President Ken Starr and sanctioned athletic director Ian McCaw; Starr and McCaw would later leave the university. In December 2016, Briles sued three regents and a top Baylor administrator for libel and conspiracy in keeping him from getting another coaching job.
- This story was first reported by ESPN's “Outside the Lines.” Phillip Ericksen has more on this at WacoTrib dot com.
Gabrielle Lyons, who left Baylor in November 2015 after seven months, said she has voiced her claims in a Title IX complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Lyons echoes Patty Crawford, the former Title IX coordinator who resigned in October and has said she never had authority, resources or independence to do her job. Crawford filed a similar complaint, which gave reason for the OCR to launch a federal investigation in October.
- The complaint filed by Gabrille Lyons essentially mirrors the complaints made by former Baylor Title IX Administrator Patty Crawford, under whom Lyons worked. Crawford filed a similar complaint alleging discrimination and intimidation before resigning her position in October. From KWTX TV 10.
According to Lyons’ attorney Rogge Dunn, Baylor administrators including COO Reagan Ramsower ignored complaints that Baylor’s Title IX office was understaffed, and that the numerous allegations of rape the office was handling was causing emotional stress for employees.
"I was having nightmares about rape, so was the rest of my team," said Lyons.
Scandal News Clippings
Former Title IX officer accuses Baylor of discrimination, intimidation, Baylor is already facing a Title IX investigation by the Department of Education.
Report: Additional ex-Title IX officer at Baylor filed federal complaints vs. school, Gabrielle Lyons resigned from Baylor in the fall of 2015. Another former member of Baylor’s Title IX department has accused the school of wrongdoing. According to ESPN’s Outside the Lines, Gabrielle Lyons — who worked with former Title IX coordinator Patty Crawford at the school — initially filed a
ESPN: 2nd Former Baylor Title IX Officer Accuses School Of Intimidation :: OSG Sports, First, let's go back to the largest revelations when former Baylor Title IX investigator Patty Crawford and other former Baylor coaches came forward (along with current employees) to be interviewed by Armen Keteyian about the pervasive culture involving sexual assaults in Waco. It's a must-watch half-hour...