ST. LOUIS - [/B]Baylor men's basketball head coach Scott Drew was named District VII Coach of the Year, and Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince were named to the All-District team, as announced Tuesday by the USBWA.
Drew picked up the award for the second time in his career - he was also honored in 2008, when the Bears made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. Prince and Gathers each picked up their first career All-District honor.
Also on Wednesday, Drew was named Big 12 Coach of the Year by NBCSports.com. The same publication named Gathers second-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12, and it placed Kenny Chery and Prince on the All-Big 12 second team.
Drew, who is Baylor's all-time lead with 227 victories at the school, had led the Bears to a 23-8 record and No. 16 national ranking in 2014-15. It's the seventh time in the last eight seasons Drew has led the Bears to 20 wins, more than doubling the three 20-win seasons BU had prior to his arrival.
Gathers leads the Big 12 with 362 rebounds, 116 more than any other league player. He also leads the league with 16 double-doubles, which are twice as many as anyone else in the league, 152 offensive rebounds and 210 defensive rebounds. He ranks third nationally with 11.7 rebounds per game, and with 11.6 points per game, he's one of two high-major players nationally averaging a double-double this season.
Prince's team-leading 14.0 points per game ranks second nationally among all reserves (less than 10 starts). He's also shooting .474 from the field and .407 from 3-point range, while posting 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks in 26.3 minutes per game. He ranks fourth in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage, fifth in field goal percentage, seventh in scoring, seventh in steals, 14th in rebounding and 16th in blocks. His scoring jumped to 15.6 points per game in conference play, good for third in the league.
Baylor entered the year unheralded, receiving just one vote in the AP preseason Top 25 and picked to finish tied for sixth in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll. The Bears went 11-7 in conference play to finish in fourth place, and BU has been ranked for 11 consecutive weeks.
The Bears are also one of only two teams nationally to lead by at least six points in every game this season, joining undefeated and No. 1-ranked Kentucky as the only teams to make that claim, and the Bears are one of four teams nationally to hold every opponent under 75 points.
This year's Baylor squad is expected to receive an NCAA Tournament bid, which would mark the first time BU has ever gone to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. Drew has led Baylor to three Sweet 16 appearances in the last five seasons, making him the youngest of 11 coaches nationally to lead his current team to at least three Sweet 16s since 2010. The Bears' 17-4 postseason record since 2009 is the nation's second-best, trailing only Connecticut at 17-3.
2015 BIG 12 POSTSEASON HONORS
Kenny Chery[/B]
All-Big 12, Second Team (coaches)
All-Big 12, honorable mention (media)
Scott Drew
USBWA District VII Coach of the Year
Big 12 Coach of the Year (NBCSports.com)
Rico Gathers
All-America, Second Team (NBCSports.com)
All-Big 12, First Team (coaches, media)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team (coaches)
All-Glue Team captain (SI.com)
Taurean Prince
National Sixth Man of the Year (Bleacher Report)
Big 12 Sixth Man Award (coaches)
All-Big 12, Second Team (coaches, media)
Drew picked up the award for the second time in his career - he was also honored in 2008, when the Bears made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. Prince and Gathers each picked up their first career All-District honor.
Also on Wednesday, Drew was named Big 12 Coach of the Year by NBCSports.com. The same publication named Gathers second-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12, and it placed Kenny Chery and Prince on the All-Big 12 second team.
Drew, who is Baylor's all-time lead with 227 victories at the school, had led the Bears to a 23-8 record and No. 16 national ranking in 2014-15. It's the seventh time in the last eight seasons Drew has led the Bears to 20 wins, more than doubling the three 20-win seasons BU had prior to his arrival.
Gathers leads the Big 12 with 362 rebounds, 116 more than any other league player. He also leads the league with 16 double-doubles, which are twice as many as anyone else in the league, 152 offensive rebounds and 210 defensive rebounds. He ranks third nationally with 11.7 rebounds per game, and with 11.6 points per game, he's one of two high-major players nationally averaging a double-double this season.
Prince's team-leading 14.0 points per game ranks second nationally among all reserves (less than 10 starts). He's also shooting .474 from the field and .407 from 3-point range, while posting 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks in 26.3 minutes per game. He ranks fourth in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage, fifth in field goal percentage, seventh in scoring, seventh in steals, 14th in rebounding and 16th in blocks. His scoring jumped to 15.6 points per game in conference play, good for third in the league.
Baylor entered the year unheralded, receiving just one vote in the AP preseason Top 25 and picked to finish tied for sixth in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll. The Bears went 11-7 in conference play to finish in fourth place, and BU has been ranked for 11 consecutive weeks.
The Bears are also one of only two teams nationally to lead by at least six points in every game this season, joining undefeated and No. 1-ranked Kentucky as the only teams to make that claim, and the Bears are one of four teams nationally to hold every opponent under 75 points.
This year's Baylor squad is expected to receive an NCAA Tournament bid, which would mark the first time BU has ever gone to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. Drew has led Baylor to three Sweet 16 appearances in the last five seasons, making him the youngest of 11 coaches nationally to lead his current team to at least three Sweet 16s since 2010. The Bears' 17-4 postseason record since 2009 is the nation's second-best, trailing only Connecticut at 17-3.
2015 BIG 12 POSTSEASON HONORS
Kenny Chery[/B]
All-Big 12, Second Team (coaches)
All-Big 12, honorable mention (media)
Scott Drew
USBWA District VII Coach of the Year
Big 12 Coach of the Year (NBCSports.com)
Rico Gathers
All-America, Second Team (NBCSports.com)
All-Big 12, First Team (coaches, media)
Big 12 All-Defensive Team (coaches)
All-Glue Team captain (SI.com)
Taurean Prince
National Sixth Man of the Year (Bleacher Report)
Big 12 Sixth Man Award (coaches)
All-Big 12, Second Team (coaches, media)
