Baylor Star Falls Out of Projected First Round in Latest 2026 NBA Mock Draft

Time will tell if Baylor loses both of its stars.

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Baylor's season isn't quite over yet, as the Bears will play in The Crown Tournament on Wednesday. Baylor will take on Minnesota in hopes of finishing its disappointing season on a high note, but either way, the Bears are already looking toward next season and how they are going to construct their roster.

Baylor had already inked guard Isaac Williams to a two-year deal, but the Bears will be waiting for word on both Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou to see what they decide to do. Both players have been projected first-round picks in recent mock drafts, but Yessoufou's stock appears to be dropping.

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Towards the end of the season, Yessoufou kept slipping in updated mock drafts and on CBS Sports' latest mock, he is nowhere to be seen. As for Carr, he is projected to go No. 22 overall to the Detroit Pistons. Carr is still raw, but he has shown elite traits of being able to create his own shot, along with his excellent athleticism.

All signs continue to point toward Carr leaving for the NBA — barring Baylor offering a big package to keep him in Waco for another season. But the lure of the NBA might be too hard to pass up. But as for Yessoufou, once the season is over and he goes through the draft process, he will have to weigh the pros and the cons.

Coach Drew speaks on draft decisions

On Friday, Scott Drew met with the media ahead of The Crown Tournament and he was asked about Carr and Yessoufou's draft decisions. Drew is thankful that Baylor is still competing and he hopes that the Bears play well enough to increase everyone's stock. But it's going to take some time before anyone makes a decision.

"So, what's great is as long as you're playing, now you control your destiny instead of someone else, how they play," Drew said of Carr and Yessoufou's draft decision. "So, there's a lot of people in the draft that are still playing in different tournaments. And with us, obviously, if you win, probably leaves a better taste in other people's eyes and mouth and opinion of our team and their players.

"So, we're more focused on, with Cam and Tounde in particular, just on them doing whatever they can to finish strong and help us win because that'll help them most. Second of all, once season's over, then that's when you can fill out the NBA paperwork to get the UAC advisory reports back and you can start to get some NBA feedback. From there, you can base and judge what you want to do as far as workouts, draft combines, declare or not declare.

"So, it's all a process and right now, the number one process is finish the season and hopefully win a championship, play well and improve everybody's stock."