On Tuesday, in downtown Waco, crews were hoisting speakers and lights on a stage with a banner Baylor Men’s Basketball 2021 National Champions. A pallet of brand-new traffic cones with the City of Waco logo sat in the corner of Heritage Square, ready to be placed along Austin Avenue for the parade celebrating the Baylor Men’s Basketball team.
About an hour before the parade, families were beginning to find their spot along Austin Avenue. Green and Gold flags and banners lined the streets.
Carrie Johnson, owner of a wine bar and restaurant on Austin Avenue was excited about the parade and decided to open on a day they are normally closed.
“So, I’m hoping we will have a pretty good crowd, you know, tonight. I think there will be a lot of people coming in and out. So, we chose to open tonight anticipating that we might get quite a few people through here.
Mark Frazier and his friends and family set up their watch area on the patio of a local brewery, and he’s wanted this moment for a long time.
“I mean I’m a lifelong Wacoan, I’ve lived here almost my whole life. And so, I’ve attended a lot of Basketball games, a lot of Baylor sporting events. Never thought I would see this day. I knew we would see this day under Scott Drew, but I didn’t know when. So, it’s just an amazing, amazing day.”
There were signs that lined Austin Avenue with the reminder that we are still in a pandemic, asking fans to wear their masks and to social distance themselves.
Ruthie Davis came to the parade with her husband and three kids, she didn’t think we would get back to something that felt normal so quickly.
“No, no, I didn’t think we would be here period. I think it’s great though that we’re able to do it. I think it’s great that the City of Waco made it happen, and Baylor. And really happy that we are able to honestly.”
As more and more fans were gathering downtown, several people were taking advantage of a make shift Baylor T-shirt stand.
Trent Weaver owns a local promotions company that has the license to print Baylor gear, and he says he was ready.
“We started the presses with about two minutes before the end of the game, cause we felt the game was in hand, and probably before that.”
The Baylor Bear Men’s basketball team was poised to be a number one seed in the 2020 season for the final four, and then the pandemic happened. In 2021, Baylor finished the season with a record of 28 and two overall. Head coach Scott Drew has been with Baylor for 18 seasons, and coached the Bears to their first National Championship with a win over Gonzaga 86 to 70.
Theparadewas held to honor the Baylor Bears National Championship victory.