RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s a given these days, but Baylor’s 2025-26 roster will look a lot different than this year’s lineup did.
Baylor’s players weren’t talking much about the future following the Bears’ 89-66 loss to No. 1-seeded Duke in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday. The sting of the defeat and seeing their season dwindle away was still too fresh, too raw.
Scott Drew and the rest of the Baylor coaching staff don’t really have that luxury. The offseason starts quickly for them. The NCAA’s transfer portal opens Monday, and teams will have a mere 30 days to sign any players out of the portal for next season.
What has proven to be painfully clear to Drew this season is that Baylor must get deeper. That’s easier said than done in the NIL era, when there are only so many dollars to be thrown around. But the Bears learned the hard way this year, as injuries mounted, that it’s vital to possess quality depth beyond the top seven or eight players in one’s rotation.
“I think this is a transition period for a lot of coaches and staffs trying to figure out just how to implement and run the best program with the current climate and rules,” Drew said. “Obviously, with us, our depth hurt us this year. That's something that you definitely always want to have more of rather than less.
That would be probably first and foremost.” Four seniors on Baylor’s 2024-25 roster will depart, having exhausted their eligibility. They are guards Jayden Nunn.
