Scott Drew did more than revive a broken basketball program. At Baylor, he built a Christ-centered culture that pursued excellence, shaped character, and reminded players that the most important victory is the one that honors God.
Update (March 16, 2026): Scott Drew is still proving why this story matters. Baylor says he entered the 2025 to ’26 season in his 23rd year as head coach, with a school record 464 wins at Baylor, and he recorded his 500th career victory on March 7, 2026. On March 16th, Baylor announced that the Bears would continue postseason play in the 2026 College Basketball Crown. The book referenced in this article, The Road to J.O.Y., was published on May 3, 2022, and Drew has continued to describe Baylor’s program as Christ-centered.
Original (May 4, 2022): As March Madness stirs the country once again, Scott Drew’s story still stands out. The Baylor coach led the Bears to the 2021 NCAA championship after rebuilding one of college basketball’s most scandal-scarred programs, and in his 2022 book, The Road to J.O.Y., he explains how that transformation began by centering the program on God, character, and purpose.
It is a feat many have described as one of the greatest rebuilds in college basketball history.
Drew took over at Baylor’s men’s basketball team at an unenviable time. In 2003, before Drew came on board, one of Baylor’s players, Carlton Dotson, murdered a teammate, Patrick Dennehy. The ensuing investigation revealed a number of egregious violations by the former coach, Dave Bliss. These included that Bliss had encouraged players to say that Dennehy was a drug dealer to cover up the fact that the coach had violated NCAA rules against paying Dennehy’s tuition and providing illegal cash payments to other players.
Soon thereafter, Drew was hired as the new head coach and immediately began building a Christ-centered culture. Even though Baylor faced severe sanctions and a postseason ban after the scandal, Drew did not treat the job as hopeless. He embraced the challenge and believed Baylor could one day compete at the highest level. Less than two decades later, Drew fulfilled that vision, leading Baylor to an 86 to 70 win over previously unbeaten Gonzaga to capture the program’s first national title in 2021.
For all the praise attached to Baylor’s rise, Drew has consistently pointed the credit back to God. “Everything we do around the program is Christ-centered,” he stated in an interview with CBN. “The great thing is we can prepare champions for life. And that’s a spiritual, academic, character formation in athletics. So for us to be able to incorporate the spiritual part has been so key and paramount to all our success and He’s blessed us.”
Joy isn’t just a feeling, it’s an action
Drew’s 2022 book, The Road to J.O.Y.: Leading with Faith, Playing with Purpose, Leaving a Legacy, lays out the priorities he says shaped Baylor’s rise: Jesus, Others, Yourself, always in that order. Drew says he and the team succeeded because they didn’t just find joy in winning but in applying the priorities of “J.O.Y.”—Jesus, Others, and Yourself, and always in that order.
Drew’s argument is bigger than basketball. He says life works better when people order their priorities around Christ and others, and that this kind of living opens doors to influence people for the Gospel whether they lead a team, a business, a family, or simply their own daily sphere of responsibility. “If you’re living life for Jesus and for others, you’re going to have lots of opportunities to influence people [for Christ],” he recently told John Morris, broadcaster for the Baylor Bears.
Taking Baylor from a broken program in 2003 to national champion in 2021 required more than talent development. It required spiritual healing, steady character formation, and a culture built on something deeper than basketball. That’s where the J.O.Y. priorities came in. Drew used them to build a new Christ-focused culture, and he applies them to every aspect of his coaching. Practices begin and end with prayer. Players are invited into Bible study. Chapel services are held before games, with the team chaplain and staff helping keep the program’s spiritual life active alongside its competitive goals. The impact has shown up off the court as well, from baptisms within the program to players like Jared Butler publicly living out their faith beyond basketball.
Drew has emphasized that this kind of culture only lasts when the entire staff embraces it, not just the head coach. Drew says real leadership begins with love: “Players don’t care what you know, until they know how much you care. We love them and try to get the best for them.”
Drew has also said that while coaches naturally want control, lasting peace comes from recognizing that God is sovereign. That is why he and his staff have tried to surround the program with prayer day after day.
Even a national championship did not change Drew’s ultimate measure of success. As he has explained, God will not ask for a coaching record or a trophy count.
None of that means Baylor stopped pursuing excellence. Drew and his players still try to win at the highest level, but they treat sports as a platform for glorifying God rather than an end in itself. “Thank goodness, God sent Jesus for us and hopefully we win the game of life, which is more important than the trophy, a tournament, the championship. It’s God’s platform, and I just wanted to honor Him.”
Where Faith and Competition Meet
Baylor has also tried to reinforce that same vision institutionally, not just through one coach or one team. The school’s Faith and Sports Institute, for example, provides spiritual assistance to Christian athletes. Josh Ehambe, a graduate student and assistant chaplain, said, “I was so one-dimensional, but when I came to Baylor and got into the grad program, it taught me how to focus on every dimension of my life and how to be a holistic person, and how to bring sports and faith together.”
He thinks that what he’s learned would have made him a better athlete. “Absolutely, I think I would not be so focused on performing and just play freely out there.”
He added, “The scripture tells us that perfect love casts away all fear and I think that because I didn’t love myself and because I wasn’t receiving the love from my coaches that I think I wanted and from home…. I think if I would have had these things, I think the sky would have been the limit for me on the field.”
Cindy White, program director and co-founder of the Institute, said, “We really just want to come alongside parents, pastors, coaches and athletic directors and just be a source of encouragement for them and equip them.”
White continued, “We really believe that if we can get sports right and walk in our Christian tradition then we can get life right.”
These believers are showing that they are using their opportunity to play and compete as national-level athletes for God and for others. Part of that is pursuing excellence in sports but more of it is about pursuing a walk with God and training up disciples.
Scott Drew helped rebuild Baylor basketball by leading with conviction, love, and a visible commitment to Christ. That does not guarantee a trophy every season, but it does shape players who understand that excellence matters, character matters more, and the purpose God gives them will outlast any final score.
