Honors « Baylor Proud

Points of Pride — Honors

Apr

2013

Men’s hoops to play for NIT championship!

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors

Isaiah Austin Baylor fans will get to enjoy watching seniors Pierre Jackson and A.J. Walton in the green and gold for one more game.

Jackson’s 24 points and 10 assists led Baylor men’s basketball past BYU Tuesday night, 76-70, in the NIT semifinals. [See photos from Baylor Photography and the AP.] The Bears will now face Iowa for the 2013 NIT championship Thursday night (8 p.m. CT, ESPN).

Head coach Scott Drew’s squad is in the NIT title game for the second time in five years; Baylor lost in the 2009 championship game to Penn State, 69-63; that game was the last at Baylor for Curtis Jerrells, Kevin Rogers, Henry Dugat and Mamadou Diene. But it also featured freshmen Quincy Acy and Anthony Jones and sophomore LaceDarius Dunn, players who would lead the Bears to two NCAA Elite Eights in the following three years.

[Want to show your support for the Bears as they aim for the NIT title? Back the Bears with a gift of $5, $15 or $50 to the Baylor Bear Foundation Endowed Athletic Scholarship Fund!]

Overall, the last five years under Drew have seen the Bears reach two NCAA Elite Eights and two NIT championship games. The Bears’ postseason record in that time is 14-3.

Baylor fans in Dallas (Christie’s, 2811 McKinney Ave.), Houston (Champps Americana, 1121 Uptown Park Blvd.) and other cities can gather with other Bears for watch parties Thursday night; to find out if there’s a gathering in your town, contact the Baylor Alumni Network.

Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!

Mar

2013

Men’s hoops headed to NYC, Madison Square Garden and NIT Final Four

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries

Cory Jefferson vs. Providence For the second straight year, Baylor is the last Texas team standing in both men’s and women’s basketball.

One night after the Lady Bears won at home to advance to the NCAA’s Sweet 16, head coach Scott Drew’s men defeated Providence in the Ferrell Center, 79-68, to move on to the NIT semifinals. The Bears will face BYU on Tuesday, April 2, in Madison Square Garden (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2), with the winner playing for the title two days later.

As has been the case so many times this season, Wednesday’s win was keyed by senior guard Pierre Jackson (20 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds, 0 turnovers) and junior forward Cory Jefferson (26 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks). Freshman Rico Gathers added a tough 8 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and played a season-high 27 minutes. [See pictures from Baylor Photography and the Associated Press.]

[Want to show your support for the Bears and Lady Bears during their postseason runs? Back the Bears with a gift of $5, $15 or $50 to the Baylor Bear Foundation Endowed Athletic Scholarship Fund!]

Baylor has a limited number of tickets available for the games in New York City; fans can also purchase tickets through Ticketmaster. Fans in NYC can join the Baylor Alumni Network for sendoff parties at the team hotel (the Marriott Marquis) 90 minutes prior to each game; fans at each sendoff party will also receive a free t-shirt (while supplies last).

NOTES: The Bears’ three NIT wins so far have improved their record to 21-14, marking the fifth time in the last six years that Baylor has won 20-plus games. In the previous 101 years of Baylor basketball, the Bears had just three 20-win seasons. … Baylor has already faced BYU once this season; the Bears beat the Cougars 79-64 in Waco back in December behind double-doubles from Jefferson (13 points, 16 rebounds) and freshman Isaiah Austin (14 points, 10 rebounds).

Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!

Mar

2013

Griner’s 3 dunks lead top-ranked Lady Bears to fifth straight Sweet 16

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries, Videos

Brittney Griner waves to fans after final game in Waco

From the outset Tuesday night, it was clear that Brittney Griner wanted to put on a show in her final game in the Ferrell Center — especially after learning there was a special guest in the house.

With former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, in attendance, Griner scored 33 points, pulled down 22 rebounds, and became the first woman in NCAA history to dunk three times in a game as the No. 1-seeded Baylor women’s basketball team beat Florida State, 85-47.

With this victory and the Lady Bears’ opening round win over Prairie View A&M, Baylor advanced to a fifth straight Sweet 16 (the eighth in Kim Mulkey’s 13 years at Baylor).

[LINKS: Highlights from ESPN, including Griner's 3 dunks || Photos from Baylor Photography and the AP || Griner & Mulkey reflect on the seniors' final home game || President Obama picks Baylor to win it all || Players do their best Mulkey impersonations || Jalen Rose on Brittney Griner's numbers || Griner's 15th career dunk || Baylor/Sweet 16 t-shirt available from the Baylor Bookstore]

Over the last four years, Baylor’s senior class of Griner, Nae-Nae Hayden, Jordan Madden, Brooklyn Pope and Destiny Williams led the Lady Bears to an astounding 72-2 record in the Ferrell Center. But their final goal still awaits; they hope to leave with back-to-back national championships — something only three other schools have ever accomplished (Southern Cal, Tennessee and UConn).

Next up for the Lady Bears: 16th-ranked Louisville on Sunday in Oklahoma City, with the winner of that game facing either Tennessee or Oklahoma Tuesday in OKC. Baylor has sold-out of its allotment of tickets for the regional, but fans may purchase seats directly from the Chesapeake Energy Arena web site. Gameday bus trips from Waco to OKC and back are also available for both games from Anthony Travel.

In Oklahoma City, Baylor fans can join the Baylor Alumni Network for send-off parties at the team hotel (the Skirvin Hilton) 90 minutes prior to each game, as well as a pep rally at the hotel from 8-9 p.m. April 1 if the women advance to the Elite Eight.

Sic ’em, Lady Bears!

Mar

2013

Top-ranked programs helping Baylor prepare tomorrow’s healthcare industry leaders

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Alumni, Honors, Student life

Hilary Griffin From individual honors to national rankings, Baylor continues to make its name known among universities preparing tomorrow’s healthcare industry leaders.

Just this month, Baylor MBA candidate Hilary Griffin placed second in the 2013 Richard J. Stull Student Essay Competition in Healthcare Management, sponsored by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Her essay outlines a possible solution to obstacles that hinder more than 11 million children with chronic conditions from getting the medical care they need.

Griffin (pictured) is a graduate student in the Robbins MBA Healthcare Program in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, which ranked 25th nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent graduate school ranking of healthcare management programs. Another Baylor graduate offering, the Baylor-U.S. Army master’s program in health administration, was ranked No. 11 in the nation by U.S.News.

Of course, Baylor isn’t only preparing tomorrow’s healthcare industry leaders — they’ve also prepared many of today’s, including the CEOs of both Baylor Health Care System and Scott & White Healthcare, the president of a leading network of rehabilitation and long-term care providers, and a top Army medical reserve commander.

Sic ’em, Bears in healthcare!

Mar

2013

Men’s hoops continues postseason roll into NIT quarterfinals

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors

Men's basketball postgame prayer

If you’ve been following Baylor men’s basketball the last few years, you’ve probably picked up on two things.

One, the Bears have an interesting pattern going. 2008, 2010, 2012 — NCAA tournament appearances. 2009 (NIT), 2011 (nothing, following Perry Jones’ suspect suspension), 2013 (NIT) — elsewhere.

Secondly, head coach Scott Drew’s team has a pretty impressive record in the postseason. Over the past five seasons (including this year), Baylor has a combined NCAA/NIT record of 12-3, including two NCAA Elite Eight finishes (2010, 2012) and a run to the NIT championship game (2009). And you’ll have to go back to 2008 to find the last time the men were knocked out of the postseason by a team that didn’t end up winning the tournament.

The Bears are working on another such run, having defeated Big West Conference regular season champ Long Beach State (112-66!) and Pac-12 at-large bid Arizona State (89-86) in the first two rounds of the 2013 NIT. Baylor will host ~~the winner of tonight’s Robert Morris/~~Providence ~~game on~~ at 8 p.m. Wednesday night. [Check out BaylorBears.com's digital postseason guide for a pretty sweet preview, complete with video links and more.]

Win or lose, that will be the final game in the Ferrell Center for seniors Pierre Jackson, A.J. Walton and Jacob Neubert; the loser of that quarterfinal match will go home, while the winner will move on to New York City and Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals and finals, April 2-4.

Got your tickets? Got your gear? Then I’ll see you at the Ferrell Center Wednesday night!

Sic ’em, Bears!

Mar

2013

Alum named director of White House faith-based office

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Faith, Honors

Melissa Rogers When President Barack Obama went looking for a new director for the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, it seems only natural that he would find a Baylor Bear.

Melissa Rogers, BA ’88, was named earlier this month to replace one of President Obama’s longest-serving aides as the top White House official on religious issues. Rogers joins the Executive Branch from Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity, where she has led the Center for Religion and Public Affairs since 2004; prior to that, she served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and as general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

[MEDIA COVERAGE: Huffington Post || Christianity Today || New York Times || Associated Baptist Press || Washington Post || Relevant Magazine]

An expert on church-state relations and lifelong Baptist, Rogers earned Phi Beta Kappa honors and a bachelor’s degree in history from Baylor before graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Sic ’em, Melissa!

Mar

2013

Lady Bears named NCAA tourney’s No.1 overall seed for second straight year

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Videos

Lady Bears named No. 1 seed

Big 12 regular season champs.
Big 12 tournament champs.
The unanimous No. 1 team in the country.
The nation’s No. 1 seed entering the NCAA tournament.

That was the formula the Baylor Lady Bears followed on the way to the national championship a year ago, and it’s the path head coach Kim Mulkey’s squad has charted again this year, having been named a No. 1 seed yet again when the NCAA bracket was announced Monday night on ESPN.

[LINKS: Full NCAA bracket || ESPN experts each pick Baylor to win it all || ESPN analyzes Baylor's region || Griner's live ESPN interview || Pictures from the selection show gathering]

The Lady Bears will host first- and second-round action in the Ferrell Center March 24 and 26. Baylor will play SWAC tournament champion Prairie View A&M on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2; the winner of that game will face the winner of Florida State and Princeton on Tuesday the 26th at 8:30 p.m. CT.

Mulkey’s team enters the tournament at 32-1, having claimed both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles for the third straight year. Baylor also swept Big 12 Coach (Mulkey) and Player (Brittney Griner) of the Year honors for the third year in a row; led by that pair, the Lady Bears have gone an astounding 106-4 over the past three seasons.

Are you ready for March Madness? Tickets are on sale now, as is Lady Bear Big 12 Champion gear from the Baylor Bookstore.

Sic ’em, Lady Bears!

Mar

2013

Men’s basketball headed to postseason for 5th time in 6 years following NIT bid

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors

Pierre Jackson For the fifth time since 2008, Baylor men’s basketball is headed to the postseason.

The Bears are a No. 2 seed in the NIT and will host Big West Conference regular season champ Long Beach State in first-round action Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are on sale now; season ticket holders can reserve their same seats between now and Monday at 2 p.m., and like in the regular season, students get in for free. If you can’t make it to Waco, you can watch on ESPN2.

The bracket is lined up such that, if the higher seeds win as expected, the Bears would have a rematch with Kentucky in the quarterfinals; Baylor beat UK in December in Lexington to end the Wildcats’ 54-game home winning streak.

Head coach Scott Drew’s squad made a valiant late-season push for the NCAA tournament, pounding No. 3-ranked Kansas and playing both No. 13 Kansas State and No. 14 Oklahoma State close. (Both BaylorBears.com and ESPN.com made outstanding arguments why Baylor deserved strong consideration.) But in the end, gut-wrenching losses to those two squads (with 1 second to go vs. KSU and 2 seconds left vs. OSU) kept the Bears from making the NCAA’s field of 68.

Instead, Baylor is headed to the NIT for the first time since 2009, when Tweety Carter, LaceDarius Dunn, Curtis Jerrells, Josh Lomers and Kevin Rogers (with Quincy Acy, Henry Dugat, Mamadou Diene and Anthony Jones coming off the bench) led the No. 3 seed Bears to the NIT Championship Game at Madison Square Garden.

The postseason bid continues the program’s longest period of sustained success. Before Drew’s arrival in Waco, the Bears had reached the postseason just seven times in 101 years (4 NCAA bids, 3 NIT). In the past six years, Baylor has now advanced to postseason play five times (3 NCAA, 2 NIT).

Next up: the No. 1-ranked Baylor Lady Bears, who will learn the path they must take to a second straight national title Monday night. The NCAA women’s basketball selection show airs at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN; join the team for a watch party in the Ferrell Center’s Stone Room.

Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!

Mar

2013

Robert Griffin III Day at Texas Capitol culminates in RG3 Scholarship announcement

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries, Videos

Robert Griffin III in Austin

Tuesday was “RG3 Day” in Austin, as the former Baylor All-American and current Washington Redskin was honored on the floor of both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate. Senate Resolution 314 and House Concurrent Resolution 10 commended Robert Griffin III, BA ’10, for his outstanding representation of the state of Texas.

[LINKS: Video from Baylor Athletics || Pictures from Baylor Photography || Texas Monthly: "RG3: A Gentleman and a Scholar" || Houston Chronicle: "Could RG3 soon be a Texas lawmaker?"]

Senator Watson had the honor of announcing the establishment of the Robert Griffin III (RG3) Quarterback Scholarship at Baylor. To participate in this effort that honors RG3′s legacy at Baylor, visit www.baylor.edu/nation/rg3.

The events were just part of a busy week for Griffin around Central Texas that also included visiting Baylor football practice last week (along with former teammates and fellow NFL players Kendall Wright and Danny Watkins), having a street named in his honor (“Robert Griffin III Blvd.“) in his hometown of Copperas Cove, and taking in Baylor men’s basketball’s big win over Kansas (complete with pregame pep talk and his own No. 10 “electricity” jersey).

If you were ever worried about RG3 hitting the big time and forgetting about where he came from… I think you can stop fretting.

Sic ’em, RG3!

Mar

2013

Lady Bears sweep Big 12 regular season, tournament titles for third straight year

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries, Videos

Baylor Lady Bears Big 12 Tournament champs

Across all 23 sports, in the history of the Big 12 Conference, just four teams have managed to sweep both the regular season and tournament conference titles three years running. Three of those four are from Baylor.

Baylor women’s basketball became the latest team to accomplish the feat, beating Iowa State Monday night to win the 2013 Big 12 tournament, the program’s fifth postseason conference title.

[LINKS: Video from Baylor Athletics || Photos from Baylor Photography and the AP || ESPN: "Baylor's ready for the Big Dance"]

For those keeping track, here’s what head coach Kim Mulkey’s resume now looks like:

5 national titles (two as a player, one as an assistant coach, two as Baylor’s head coach)
5-time Big 12 coach of the year
14 Final Fours (four as player, seven as assistant, three at Baylor)
24 Sweet 16s (four as player, 13 as assistant, seven at Baylor)
9 Big 12 championships (four regular season, five tournament)

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. We’re blessed to have one of the best here at Baylor.

[Get your Lady Bears gear here, including 2013 Big 12 Champion t-shirts.]

The Lady Bears now have to wait until Monday night (6 p.m. CT, ESPN) to learn what their NCAA tournament bracket will look like. This we do know: Baylor University will host the first and second rounds in Waco March 24-26; tickets are available now.

Sic ’em, Lady Bears!

[In case you were wondering, the four teams to sweep both Big 12 titles three straight years: Texas women's tennis (1997-98-99-00), Baylor men's tennis (2002-03-04-05), Baylor women's tennis (2008-09-10-11) and Baylor women's basketball (2011-12-13).]

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