Big 12 basketball tournaments this week
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics
Baylor’s men’s and women’s basketball teams converge on Kansas City this week for the 2008 Big 12 Conference tournaments.
The women’s tournament kicks off Tuesday, though the Lady Bears (led by first-team All-Big 12 selections Angela Tisdale and Rachel Allison) receive a bye as the conference’s No. 2 seed. Eighth-ranked Baylor will face either Texas or Texas Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m.; that game (and all Big 12 Tournament games past the first round) will be televised by Fox Sports Net.
The men, meanwhile, matched the program’s best finish ever in earning a No. 5 seed for this year’s conference tournament; the Bears’ 9-7 Big 12 record set a new program best. Baylor (led by first-team All-Big 12 honoree Curtis Jerrells) will face Colorado Thursday at 2 p.m.; that game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and regionally on ESPN Plus.
Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!
Geology chair elected president of international society
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Baylor 2012, Academics, Research, Honors
The chair of Baylor’s geology department, Dr. Steven Driese, can now add another title to his name. Driese was elected president of the Society for Sedimentary Geology, an international organization “dedicated to the dissemination of scientific information” in various geological fields.
Driese has been an active member of the organization for over 30 years, most of that time as a professor at the University of Tennessee before coming to Baylor as chair in 2004. He has published more than 75 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has served as associate editor for two of the Society’s journals.
Part of Baylor’s Vision 2012 is “developing a world-class faculty;” the explanation under that imperative describes professors who are “recognized as leaders in their respective disciplines.” I think being elected president by your peers fits that description, don’t you?
Sic ’em, Dr. Driese!
Baylor alum moved from Waco to White House
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni
In keeping with our refrigerator door analogy, from time to time Baylor Proud will share the accomplishments of alumni who are doing interesting things across a variety of fields — members of the Baylor family of whom we can all be proud.
Alumna Jane Hampton Cook has worn a lot of different hats since graduating from Baylor in 1992 with a music degree. After earning her masters degree at Texas A&M in education administration, she went to work for then Governor George W. Bush.
She spent three years in the governor’s office before following Bush to Washington, D.C., where she worked for five years. During that time, she redesigned whitehouse.gov and created the first separate White House website for children, whitehousekids.gov.
Today, Cook is an author and public speaker, making appearances across the country, including many Baylor Network events. (The Baylor Network sponsors get-togethers for alumni across Texas and in select cities nationwide; for more, visit www.baylor.edu/network.)
Sic ’em, Jane Hampton Cook!
Basketball seniors honored Baylor with excellence and class
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics
Listening to the Baylor men’s basketball team’s three seniors speak after the team’s final home game last night, I realized how proud I was to have watched Richard Hurd, Mark Shepherd and Aaron Bruce wear the green and gold for the past four seasons.
Hurd and Shepherd were both walk-ons who contributed far more than most non-scholarship players. As a freshman in 2004-05, Hurd played in every game (including 10 starts) for a team that returned just one scholarship player from the year before. Shepherd, a five-time Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll honoree, has become known for his gritty style of play and has worked his way into the starting lineup this season.
Bruce was head coach Scott Drew’s first big-name recruit, choosing Baylor over several better-known programs at a time when that choice led plenty of his friends to ask, “Why Baylor?” Over the past four years, as Baylor has developed into an NCAA Tournament-caliber program, Bruce has been able to tell them, “This is why.” A three-time All-Big 12 selection, the Australia native became the first in a line of top high school players to buy into Drew’s plan for rebuilding the program, and those results are bearing fruit this season.
All three players have represented Baylor with class–excelling both on the court and in the classroom, and humbly redirecting praise back to God and Baylor for the opportunities they’ve been given here. The Bear Pit inducted the trio into its group following last night’s game, and I’m sure all three will be back in the Ferrell Center from time to time after graduation to root on the program they’ve helped establish.
A program-record 10,545 fans filled the arena to send off the seniors last night, and the Lady Bears will need that kind of support again tonight as they play in their final game of the regular season. No. 8 Baylor hosts No. 20 Oklahoma State tonight at 7 p.m.; a Lady Bear win would give the program its second conference championship in four years. Also, tonight’s match-up will be the final home game for senior Angela Tisdale, arguably the best point guard in program history. So come send out Tisdale and the Lady Bears with a Big 12 title!
Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!
BusinessWeek again names Hankamer among nation’s best b-schools
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Honors
Recognized yet again for its quality teachers, Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business has moved up two spots in BusinessWeek’s ranking of the top undergraduate business schools to No. 36 in the nation.
Baylor is one of only three Big 12 schools to make the top 50, and Baylor led the conference in the academic quality and faculty/student ratio, according to BusinessWeek. Baylor’s quality of teaching, facilities and services each earned “A” grades from students, something only 27 other schools in the nation could claim.
Sic ’em, Baylor b-school students and professors!
Baylor’s new buildings, 1960s edition
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Photo Galleries, Just for Fun
Students at Baylor have benefited from a rush of new campus buildings over the past decade or so, but did you realize there was a similar “building boom” in the 1950s and 1960s? Click here for a photo gallery of artists’ renderings of some familiar campus landmarks, followed by pictures of what those buildings look like today. Try to guess the building based on the rendering; if you get stumped, click “Captions” at the bottom right of the page and the building’s name will appear on the slide.
Look for more on the opportunities Baylor’s recent “growing season” has given students in the new issue of Baylor Magazine, arriving in homes this week.
Sic ’em, Baylor building beneficiaries!
NCAA hopes on the line for men’s hoops Wednesday vs. Texas A&M
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics
Big 12 Player of the Week Kevin Rogers helped lead the Baylor men’s basketball team over Missouri Saturday, improving the Bears’ record to 20-8 on the season and marking Baylor’s first 20-win season since 1987-88–the last time Baylor made the NCAA Tournament.
Next up is the Bears’ final home game of the season, as Baylor hosts Texas A&M Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Ferrell Center, the first time the teams have met since the Bears’ epic five-overtime win over the Aggies. Both teams will have their NCAA Tournament hopes on the line, and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, so a good crowd will be key. Get your tickets now!
Leading up to the game, ESPN Classic will air the five-overtime Baylor win in its entirety starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Bear fans, set your DVRs and VCRs for that game and head out to the Ferrell Center to support Baylor!
Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!
