Baylor Basketball Updates 12/17- Gonzaga Game Status, K-State Preparation and More!

Scott Drew and Jared Butler met with the media at 3:30 today. Here are some takeaways:

*Per Scott Drew, Baylor-Gonzaga looks “bleak.” After the cancellation, the Bears and Bulldogs hoped to play. Drew mentioned, in response to a good question from Darby Brown of KWTX, that there are two reasons that rescheduling is tough.

First, the Big 12 does not want teams to add non-conference games after January 2nd. With the schedule packed, the Big 12 likely wants to have dates to move any cancellations.

Second, it was tough to find a window for CBS to show the game.

I asked Drew about Christmas break. He said the players were told by the administration they’d get to go home. I think that makes sense. Obviously there’s some risk with them seeing their families, but you can’t ask people to avoid seeing everyone they know for that long. They test and will make sure everyone is okay when they return.

*Drew said that they’ll release any players that are unavailable on Saturday. He listed concerns about student health for releasing players out with COVID-19 earlier. Having dealt with HIPPA as a prosecutor, that law is always difficult to navigate. But I do agree there’s a possible issue disclosing who has COVID-19 ahead of time, especially if a player can play in a game because they’ve met the CDC and Big 12 guidelines.

*Jared Butler is excited to return. I asked him about his work blocking shots this year. He said he worked on that, and he’s happy that improvement is getting noticed. He attributed that to his improved athleticism.

*I also started asking Butler about this great play against Louisiana, and he couldn’t remember it. If I could do something like this, I’d be talking about it at the Raising Cane’s 50 years from now. But I have never been as good at basketball as Butler:

And here is the video of the press conference: