Senior Status

For the last four years, Curtis (C. J.) Jerrells has been the face of the Baylor men's basketball program. When the program hit rock bottom after one of the worst scandals in NCAA history, Jerrells was among the few players willing to take a chance on rebuilding the team.

Signing Jerrells has paid off handsomely. He and Michael Williams are the only players in school history to finish their careers with more than 1,000 points, 400 assists, and 100 steals.

"C. J. has been a staple for this program since he arrived," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "He's a guy who cares about his teammates, and they respond to him. He's always had a humble attitude and was never a guy with a silver spoon in his mouth."

As a junior, Jerrells joined Terry Black (2001) as the only Baylor players to make first-team all-Big 12. Averaging a team-high 15.3 points and 3.8 assists, the six-foot-one point guard was instrumental in leading the Bears to their first NCAA tournament appearance in twenty years.

Following last year's success, this season has been a disappointment to all the Bears as they finished with a losing Big 12 record. But Jerrells did everything he could to keep his teammates motivated.

"It’s been a little tough, but I keep smiling every day," Jerrells said. "I know things can be a lot worse in life. Sometimes things don't always go your way, but we're still having fun."

Jerrells has always been a handful for Big 12 defenders because of his versatility. Not only can he knock down three-pointers, but he’s got the strength to drive inside and take on bigger defenders.

"Jerrells makes plays when the game is on the line," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "He’s so tough and strong with the ball. He’s good off the dribble, or he can put a dagger in you with the three."

Jerrells had the game of his life against the Aggies last year when he scored a career-high thirty-six points in the Bears’ epic 116-110 five-overtime win in College Station.  Even though he played fifty-three minutes, he had enough energy to score eleven points in the fifth overtime.

But that wasn't the only time he burned the Aggies. After the Bears lost six straight games this season, Jerrells sealed a 72-68 win over Texas A&M at the Ferrell Center on February 14 when he made a tough drive to the basket with 12.6 seconds remaining.

"It makes a big difference when your teammates are confident with the decisions you make," Jerrells said. "I know they trust me to make the right decision. We all support each other, and it doesn't matter who scores."

A four-year starter at Del Valle High School, Jerrells was a Top 100 national recruit who could have gone a lot of places. But he felt he could get immediate playing time at Baylor after the program sunk to a new low after the highly publicized scandal on former coach Dave Bliss's watch. The program was placed on probation for widespread NCAA rules violations under Bliss.

"I had a friend say, 'Are you really going to Baylor?'" Jerrells said. "He told me someone got murdered there. But I knew that was in the past, and they only had a few scholarship players and I would get the opportunity to play. I’m a competitor, and I love challenges."

After Jerrells verbally committed to the Bears in 2004, highly rated recruits Henry Dugat and Kevin Rogers followed him. Soon after the trio arrived on campus, the Bears received another blow when the NCAA wiped out their entire nonconference schedule in 2005.

"Coach Drew called a team meeting, and he started to cry," Jerrells said. "He told us the NCAA wouldn't allow us to play nonconference games. Kevin, Henry, and I got together and talked about it, but we never had any discussion about leaving. We had made a commitment to be here. Actually, that situation brought us closer together as a team."

Without the benefit of nonconference play, Jerrells still led the Bears with a 13.5 scoring average as a freshman in 2006. He put up even better numbers as a sophomore, averaging fifteen points and 3.8 assists.

Jerrells continued to put up big numbers during the last two seasons of his career. But winning was always the most important thing to Jerrells, and that’s why the Bears’ breakthrough 2008 NCAA tournament appearance was so important to him.

He's certainly left a lasting impression in the Big 12.

"Curtis is as close to unguardable as there is," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "You can't take the ball from him, and you can't rush him. When you play against point guards, you try to get them to play at a different tempo than they want to play. But when he gets the speed going that he wants to play at, you can't get him out of it. He's strong enough to succeed at a high level in the Big 12."