Plenty of excellent news for Baylor basketball. The 5,000+ word season preview will be out next weekend.

No. 1 Ranking:

The Bears open the season No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. That’s the highest preseason ranking in program history.

Baylor is ranked No. 2 and one point behind Gonzaga in the AP poll. That’s also the program’s highest preseason ranking.

KenPom has the Bears ranked No. 1 to begin the campaign.

Jared Butler Named First Team All-American:

Jared Butler, the Big 12’s Preseason Player of the Year, earned preseason First Team All-American honors:

Top Five Recruiting Class:

Baylor signed all three of their blue chip recruits. The Bears landed their first 5-star prospect since 2012 (Isaiah Austin) with Kendall Brown.

From Baylor’s press release:

Kendall Brown, 6-8, 205, 5-star

Cottage Grove, Minn. (Sunrise Christian – Bel Aire, Kan.)

National Ranking: No. 12 (247Sports)

Position Ranking: No. 3 (247Sports)

Langston Love, 6-4, 190, 4-star

Universal City, Texas (Montverde Academy – Montverde, Fla.)

National Ranking: No. 23 (ESPN)

Position Ranking: No. 5 (ESPN)

Jeremy Sochan, 6-8, 215, 4-star

Southampton, United Kingdom (Orange Academy – Ulm, Germany)

National Ranking: No. 40 (247Sports)

Position Ranking: No. 11 (247Sports)