Baylor Sells Out

Back in January, I gleefully commented on the resurgence of Baylor Bears hoops. After the Patrick Dennehy murder and Dave Bliss fiasco left the program in shambles, it was nice to see Homer Drew's golden son, Scott, turning things around seemingly the right, squeaky clean way. The running and gunning, stop-and-pop Bears made the NCAA Tournament last year, before losing to Purdue in the first round.

So it comes with disappointment to report Drew and the Bears hired Dwon Clifton as director of player development Friday. Clifton is the AAU coach for John Wall, arguably the #1 recruit in the class of '09. Wall has struck comparisons with Derrick Rose, and the school that hired Wall immediately became the heavy favorite for Wall's services. You can connect the dots.

Baylor's hiring of Clifton is not illegal or unique to big-time D-I college hoops. Larry Brown hired Danny Manning's father. Bob Huggins hired Dalonte 420K. Bill Self hired Mario Chalmers father. Kelvin Sampson hired Eric Gordon's AAU coach. The list is lengthy...

It is disappointing Baylor, a feel good story last year, decided to "grow up" to big boy status so fast, and in doing so made a deal with the devil of college recruiting tactics. So it will be with a little less glee that I will view LaceDarius, Tweety and the rest of the Bears this coming season. Baylor sold out.