Scott Drew reflects on Baylor’s National Championship run in 2020-21 season

The 2020-21 season was one to remember for the Baylor basketball program, as it compiled a 28-2 record and finished its season with a dominant 86-70 win over undefeated Gonzaga in the National Championship game.

Baylor head coach Scott Drew joined Gary Parrish on Tuesday’s “Grind City Media” podcast to reminisce on that team and its tumultuous road to the title.

“Earlier in the year, we were supposed to play Gonzaga in Indianapolis,” Drew said. “At the time, they were No. 1 and we were No. 2. It was a CBS game and that morning, one of the Gonzaga players had COVID and the game got canceled. I was joking with coach [Mark] Few because we were staying in the same hotel that we’ll just meet on the seventh floor in the ballroom and set up some baskets and get this thing done right here.”

“It’s amazing that we didn’t play in December, in Indianapolis, No. 1 vs No. 2, but that God worked it out for us to do it at the end of the year,” Drew continued. “That game going into it, you think back to Indiana in 1976, was the last team to be undefeated. Obviously that Gonzaga team was tremendous, but that was one of those games we were excited to play in December but had to wait until the end of the year. Really the only two games we lost, we were coming off of COVID and again God works things out.”

‘That was a real special team,’ Drew said.

That Gonzaga team, which entered the NCAA Tournament with a 26-0 record, had absolutely blitzed its opponents until the Final Four. There, it used a game-winning half court shot from Jalen Suggs to down UCLA 93-90 and send the Bulldogs to the National Championship. Baylor however jumped out to a 47-37 halftime lead and never looked back to win its first title.

“That was a real special team at Baylor,” Drew said. “The year before, we had won 23 in a row and were set to be a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history. Everything got shut down with COVID so those guys had been through adversity and great success. But then, great sour not having a chance to be a No. 1 seed for the first time. And all season long going through and being unbeaten and the whole team basically was out. But after that we were ready to go, got the rust off and our focus fired up.”

“At the end of the day as you know, things happen a bit easier on the defensive end. We made shots, the defense was quick and it was a special game. But as a coach, you know that whenever you’re playing against a team like Gonzaga, there’s no let up. You’re dialed in for 40 until the last minute when the subs entered the game. That was when I knew we were going to be the first school in the state of Texas to win a National Championship since Texas Western in the movie ‘Glory Road.’ So that was exciting.”