College Basketball Changes Could Lead to Scott Drew’s Exit From Baylor
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The college basketball world has never been surrounded with more uncertainty. NIL and the transfer portal are off the charts, NBA draftees are returning to school, and the NCAA tournament is on the verge of expanding.
In the current landscape of the sport, the most decorated coaches across the nation are speaking out against the challenges that are being added to the already difficult job of a high-major head coach. Arkansas’ John Calipari, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Kansas’ Bill Self, and Saint John’s Rick Pitino all have vocalized their distaste for the path that college basketball is currently traveling down.
As the best coaches in the nation voice their distaste of constant NCAA rule changes, reigning national champion Dusty May just set a standard for coaches who are against the direction of the sport. May, this past week, left Michigan to become the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks and noted the wears of the sport on a head coach as his driving reason to jump to the highest level.
With the direction NIL and the transfer portal are heading, it may not be long until Baylor head coach Scott Drew looks down the same road as May.
Why Would Drew Leave for the NBA
Drew has faced the worst of the turmoil that is the NCAA’s mismanagement of college basketball when compared to other national championship winning coaches. The 2025-26 season alone forced Drew’s hand to adapt to the world around him.
The roster turnover from the 2024-25 season, as the Bears brought 0% of their scoring into the offseason, proved to be one of the biggest tests of Drew’s career. Despite still producing a first round draft pick in Cameron Carr, this past season still ended with a sour taste in Drew’s mouth.
Coming off a season where it seemed experiment after experiment failed, the question is raised about how long Drew will keep being so willing to adapt to the landscape of the sport.
A jump to the NBA for Drew would place the Hall of Fame coach in a place where basketball is what matters most, and also a league where his analytics-driven approach would thrive.
Drew is notorious for prioritizing high-percentage shots and basing his five on the floor on plus/minus distribution of value. The way Drew has managed and coached Baylor for the past two decades is a style that is currently dominating at the highest level.
Most notably, the 2023 Denver Nuggets, the 2024 Boston Celtics, the 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder all won NBA championships on the back of play styles that Drew has been producing at the college level his whole career.
Why Drew Will Stay at Baylor
At the end of the day Baylor basketball does not exist without Scott Drew.
We have seen Drew get offers to leave before, most notoriously with Kentucky in 2024 and North Carolina in 2026. Time and time again, Drew has doubled down and stayed committed to winning at Baylor.
While the world of college basketball gets messier every day, Drew has proven time and time again his willingness to adapt to change.
While it was not what Drew and his staff nor Baylor fans were hoping for, the James Nnaji experiment this past season is proof of that. Baylor’s NBA draftee experiment, while a flaming failure, should be looked back on as a moment of reassurance.
Drew’s willingness to stay in Waco despite other offers, openly give a professional player a shot, and openly request more NIL to build a competitive roster should keep Baylor fans believing.
Baylor is far from done competing for conference and national titles, and Drew is far from done with Baylor. As the shape of college basketball continues to shift, Baylor’s captain at the helm is ready to weather whatever storm may come.
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Dylan is a class of '26 graduate from Baylor and is now pursuing his JD at the University of Massachusetts School of Law. A born and raised Baylor fan, Dylan served as a sportswriter for the Baylor Lariat from 2025-2026, where he won the TIPA award for second-best sports story of 2025. His favorite writing memory was getting the chance to interview both Darryn Peterson and Bill Self at Allen Fieldhouse. In his free time, Dylan can almost always be found playing pickup basketball.
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