Baylor Basketball 2015-16 Season Preview

Despite a solid 2014-15 campaign, the Baylor Bears were one of the biggest disappointments of the 2015 NCAA tournament. Not only did they lose to a Georgia State Panthers team that was a major underdog, but the last second, game-winning shot by R.J. Hunter will be shown over and over for years to come. Baylor will be hungry to prove that last season was just a fluke, and they boast the talent to do so.

Kenny Cherry and Royce O’Neal are gone, but the two leading scorers from last season, Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince, return for their senior years. Combined, these two players averaged 25.5 points, 17.2 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.9 blocks per game during the Bears’ 2014-15 campaign, making Gathers and Prince one of the best frontcourts in all of college basketball.

Prince and Gathers will be helped out by players like Johnathan Motley, Al Freeman and Lester Medford, with Medford and Freeman being the two players on this roster who need to step up the most in the absence of O’Neal and Cherry. The Bears also snagged a four-star SG in King McClure, who should immediately make an impact on a squad desperate for points from the perimeter.

Playing in arguably the most difficult from top to bottom conference in college basketball, Baylor will have to perform well in non-conference play in order to get an upper hand heading into Big 12 play. A trip to Eugene to face off with the Oregon Ducks should give us a taste of how good this team actually is, but the real tests will come against SEC opposition. The Vanderbilt Commodores and Texas A&M Aggies both make an argument to be included in the preseason top 25 and should prove major tests for the Bears that could shape their entire season.

Although on paper several other teams look to be better than the Bears once it comes to conference play, Baylor is right in the thick of things with the elite teams in the Big 12. The Bears’ defense could be considered borderline elite, and it will take a massive effort from opponents to contain Gathers and Prince.

Watch for Baylor to surprise many with their performance in 2015-16, while easily sliding into the 2016 NCAA tournament as most already expect.

Taylor Sturm is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.