Cape Girardeau natives with ties to Baylor celebrate Bears' national title

The Baylor Bears won the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, and those in Cape Girardeau with ties to the university are in celebration mode.

The Bears came out swinging early in Monday's championship game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, starting the game on an 11-1 run and never allowing the lead to dip below double digits in an 86-70 victory. The victory clinched the Bears' first-ever national championship.

"There's no substitute for great leadership, and not only do we have great leadership in Scott Drew, who is in his 18th year there, we had great leadership from our own players," Dr. Ross Bennett, owner of Bennett Family Dentistry in Cape Girardeau and Baylor alumnus, said. "You can see that throughout the tournament. Anytime that things tied up, we'd go to one of our two experienced guards and they would make a play and it would shut the other team's run down."

Bennett, a Cape Girardeau native, attended four of the Bears' six tournament games, including Monday's championship tilt against Gonzaga.

"Each game had that extra level of excitement with it, culminating in last night," Bennett said Tuesday. "Even though there were limitations with seating and COVID, the atmosphere was electric. With Gonzaga and Baylor, you had two teams that have never won a title. Both schools showed up in force. They filled the arena as much as they would allow us with COVID, and it was just electric."

Dr. Ross Bennett, right, and his 8-year-old son John pose for a photo outside of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis prior to Monday's NCAA men's basketball national championship game.Submitted

Following his graduation from Cape Girardeau Central High School, Bennett was selected with the 11th pick in the 42nd round of the 1998 MLB Draft by the Montreal Expos -- now the Washington Nationals -- but turned down the opportunity to play professional baseball, as well as several scholarship offers from other schools, to walk on at Baylor.

"I had gotten scholarship offers from Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and several large schools, but I knew as a person, Baylor is the place that I needed to be for personal growth," Bennett said. "Unfortunately, Baylor had a great team coming back and had no scholarships available, so I went from your turning down a professional contract to becoming a walk-on within two weeks of each other."

Bennett was a four-year letterman on the Bears' baseball team. During his tenure, he earned several honors including being named a first-team academic All-American in 2003, a first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection in 2000, 2002 and 2003 and twice being named to the coaches' All-Big 12 team in 2002 and 2003. He graduated in 2003 with a degree in biochemistry/pre-dental and was one of 29 male student athletes to receive a $6,900 postgraduate scholarship from the NCAA.

Mark Anderson, pastor of Lynwood Baptist Church Submitted

Pastor Mark Anderson of Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau attended Baylor from 1977-1981, majoring in religion. He spent Monday night watching the game with family in North Carolina.

"Baylor Nation is very, very excited," Anderson said. "I'm extremely excited. I stayed up and watched the whole game. In fact, I'm on the east coast now visiting my daughter and her family in North Carolina, and I thought, 'Man, I've got to watch the game,' so, we stayed up. It's an incredible win for Baylor."

Anderson played football for one year at Baylor as a walk-on, and his father played in the 1957 Sugar Bowl for the Bears against the Tennessee Volunteers.

"It was just a great, great experience," Anderson said. "Of course, the biggest thing was meeting my wife there."

Cape Girardeau has another major tie to the Baylor basketball team in Kelly Drew, formerly Kelly Schwab and daughter of Jerry and Phyllis Schwab, who married Baylor coach Scott Drew in 2000 when he was still an assistant coach at Valpraiso. Scott Drew became Baylor's head coach in 2003, inheriting a program that had been investigated and punished for several infractions after former player Carlton Dotson was found guilty for murdering his teammate Patrick Dennehy.

"It took so long to rebuild, but he was faithful, had a vision and executed that vision in a way that got to this point," Anderson said. "Nobody has questioned his character, his integrity or the programs since he's been in it. You know Baylor had other issues with the football program several years ago, but not Scott Drew, and not his program. He's got class guys that are playing for him as well. They're men of faith, and, you know, just class guys all the way around."

Dr. Ross Bennett, right, poses with Kelly Drew, Cape Girardeau native and wife of Baylor coach Scott Drew, prior to the Bears' NCAA men's basketball national championship game Monday.Submitted

With Baylor's victory Monday night, alumni from Cape Girardeau have even more reason to celebrate their alma mater.

"Baylor is just such a special place," Bennett said. "We've got all kinds of family friends who had kids. I had two sisters who went down there. ... It's an amazing tight-knit community, just an awesome place."