Baylor men’s basketball coach Scott Drew shares how their “Christ-centered program” helped them with their first NCAA championship.
Baylor University Bears
On April 5, the Baylor University Bears won their first NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1950. In an interview following the national championship, Baylor head coach Scott Drew shared credited their “Christ-centered program” for their victory.
The Baylor men’s basketball team plays with a “culture of J.O.Y.,” which stands for “Jesus, Others and then Yourself.” Their motto is the key to how the team seeks to honor God and love others.
“J.O.Y., it’s pretty simple, ‘Jesus, Others, Yourself. [Its] very easy to remember and yet so hard to do. But at the end of the day, we want to make sure we always honor and give credit to Jesus first, and our teammates and others second, and talk about ourselves third,” Scott explained.
Coach Scott Drew
The 50-year-old coach emphasized what prioritizing God first can do to a team.
“As coaches, your mission and goal for any team are to put your teammates in front of yourself,” he said. “Obviously, the only person you would want before others would be God. So if you could keep that priority, then obviously you’re playing selfless, you’re playing for others, you don’t have the pressure on yourself to perform.”
Christ-Centered Program
Baylor being a Christian university, the team has many ways to deepen their faith. They even integrate their faith in their practices. At every team’s practice, they start and end it with a prayer. They also do Bible studies and hold game-day chapel services.
“So basically, everything we do is intertwined with being a Christ-centered program,” he said.
Aside from having the goal of winning, coach Scott also wanted to touch the lives of each player. He aims to help them in growing their faith in God.
“Everyone comes into college spiritually at a different stage of life, and that’s the beauty of working at Baylor,” Drew said. “We’re trying to prepare champions for life. So, it’s a four-prong attack. It’s not only on the basketball court, but it’s also spiritual development, academic development, and then character formation. So, what you’re trying to do is to touch and affect every part of their life. Obviously, winning in the game of life is most important and that would be the spiritual part.”
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Reference: The Christian Post