Jan. 11, 2006
The date of Jan. 11 has been circled on the calendars in Waco, Texas, for quite a while. Yes, the Baylor men's basketball team makes its season debut Wednesday night in Lubbock, Texas, against the Texas Tech and coach Bob Knight (ESPN Full Court, 8 p.m ET).
That's right, Baylor has not played a regular-season game yet in the 2005-06 season. That was part of the punishment by the NCAA for violations which occurred during the prior coaching regime. The Bears were not allowed to play any nonconference games, meaning the season opener is occurring almost two months after many schools hit the court.
To me, it is ludicrous and absurd to penalize innocent kids. Look at senior forward Tommy Swanson Jr.. Did he deserve to play just 16 games this season? I know the decision to take away nonconference games hurt Baylor. It cost revenue that would have come in with more preconference home games than road trips. The bottom line is, the innocent kids, coach Scott Drew and his staff, and the fans were unfairly damaged by this decision.
Why couldn't the university have just written a big check as punishment for past actions? It was not right to punish the current players because they did nothing wrong. Sophomore guard Aaron Bruce is one of the top returning guards in the Big 12. Shouldn't he have had the opportunity to get important game experience prior to the Big 12 season?
Now Baylor has something to prove. Wouldn't it be amazing if the Bears played well in Big 12 play and the conference tournament, making the NCAA selection committee think about this program as a member of the Big Dance?
At least Drew and the Baylor players have been working out, trying to develop. It is just so difficult to learn and evaluate your players without actual game performance. It will be intriguing to see what happens against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Wednesday night.
I know some fans are rooting for Baylor to bounce back strong. It is an interesting story, though I feel the players were treated unfairly by this ruling. They should have been on the court playing games back in November.
Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in 1979. Send a question for Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.
