Casting the Baylor basketball movie with the ideal Hollywood cast

The Baylor Bears are national champions and according to head coach Scott Drew a movie could be on the way.

In 2003, Scott Drew took over a plagued and scandal-ridden Baylor Bears basketball program. Now, in 2021, after nearly two decades of building, Drew’s Bears have hoisted the national championship trophy as his team dominated the previously undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs from tip to buzzer. Truly a journey Hollywood films are made of.

Via the USBWA press conferences, prior to the start of the Final Four, Drew initially let the cat out the bag: if the Baylor Bears bring the National Championship back to Waco, Texas, movie director and Baylor graduate John Lee Hancock, who produced The Blindside, The Rookie, and more, will transform the incredible journey from life to film.

Drew later notified the sports world in the trophy presentation with Jim Nantz.

“John Lee Hancock promised us, when we won a national championship, we were getting a movie,” the head coach screamed.

How exactly would the Baylor Bears movie plot play out?

The Baylor University basketball scandal arose in 2003. Lightly put, the program was stained and devoid of anything positive. Patrick Dennehy, a junior forward in 2003, was murdered by his own teammate, Carlton Dotson, after an argument arose. Dotson pled guilty to homicide and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

On top of the murder, the Bears basketball program led by David Bliss was also exposed for improper payment to players, widespread drug and alcohol use within the program and recruiting violations. Baylor was hit with countless penalties like probation till 2010, scholarship reduction, and the team was not permitted to play non-conference games in the 2005-06 season resulting in just a 17-game season.

in 2003, Drew came on the scene to accept the daunting task of taking over a horribly stained program. A job no coach wanted, except Drew.

Along the way to a 2021 national championship, Baylor experienced four straight losing seasons in Drew’s first four years. The program did not capture a tourney victory till his 7th season. Tournament upsets to Yale and Georgia State took place. NIT losses, Big 12 tournament losses, the adversity just piled up.

Up from the ashes the Baylor Bears rose and into the movie theaters they ride.

Let’s accomplish John Lee Hancock’s work and set the cast for Baylor’s film.

There is one man for the Scott Drew job and that man is Emmy-winning actor Kyle Chandler, most widely known for his role in Friday Night Lights as coach Eric Taylor. Chandler was masterful in FNL and there should be no doubt he is capable of handling Drew’s incredibly exuberant personality throughout the film.

Setting the stage for Drew’s impeccable rebuild, David Bliss would have to play a small part in the film. This actor is no stranger to the limelight of sports films, and very well could be the greatest actor of all time in the sports genre, however in this film, he would depart just as fast as he arrived: Kevin Costner.

Behind every good man, you can usually find an even better woman and within this film we are sure to see the behind the scenes work of Kelly Drew, Scott’s wife. Lisa Kudrow, one of the many stars in the legendary sitcom Friends, would fit nicely by Chandler’s side playing Kelly.

Now, let’s set our starting five for Baylor.

Listed as a forward and standing nearly 7-feet tall is Flo Thamba. As Baylor’s big man, Thamba does not score much, but most of his work can be found beyond the bounds of the scorebook. Playing Thamba in the film should be The Way Back star Melvin Gregg. Gregg, who portrays a high school basketball phenom in The Way Back, is not nearly as tall as Thamba, but Hollywood graphics can really accomplish anything these days.

Portraying junior guard Jared Butler should be Trevor Jackson, star in Grown-ish and Eureka.  Butler posted monster numbers in the championship game leading all scorers with 22 points, a task rising star Jackson should be able to handle.

In the role of Davion Mitchell is multitalented actor LaKeith Stanfeld. Stanfeld burst onto the scene in Hollywood with his incredible performances in Get Out and Atlanta. Simply put, Stanfield is one of those actors viewers can always count on to deliver, no matter the assignment, task or role.

MaCio Teague had an incredible shooting night against the Zags as he posted 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting. Actor Marcus Scribner, star in Black-ish, fits the bill of Teague to perfection.

Finally, rounding out our starting five for Hollywood’s Baylor Bears is Ray Fisher, DC Extended Universe’s Cyborg, as Mark Vital. Fisher has been tasked with filling the bulky shoes of Cyborg and he would be able to portray Vital’s role down low in the paint to perfection.

March Madness is over but Baylor’s legacy will live on.

In an unprecedented college basketball season, after years of disorder, and nearly two decades of building, the Baylor Bears have reached the pinnacle of college sports. No Baylor basketball program has boasted this magnitude of success and Scott Drew is the author of that.

With a star-studded lineup aforementioned, the Baylor Bears basketball movie would be phenomenal. Nowadays, movies seem to be produced from any spark of interest, but this Baylor story is just not any narrative. It is a story of resilience, patience, and a blueprint on how to turn turmoil into a trophy.