More homebuyers are appearing as we move into the hot spring selling season. Demand for purchase mortgages rose for the second week in a row—up 7.1% for the week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Good news for buyers. Realtor.com reports the median listing price last week came in lower than it did in the same period a year ago. That marked the first week of year-over-year price declines since July of last year.
Inventory is clearly picking up. There were 21% more single-family homes actively for sale in the week ending March 8!
"Bottom became the solid foundation on which I built my life." — J.K. Rowling
On August 22, 2003, he took the head coaching position of the men's team at the University after the resignation of the prior coach due to a scandal. This was unusually late for a coaching change; practice was only two months away and the season opener was only three months away.
He had never played varsity on a college basketball team, and had only 1 year head coaching experience, however, he was willing to take over a program left in a shambles as a result of the scandal, something other coaches were not interested in doing. Nearly every top player from the 2002–03 season had transferred after school officials granted a full release to every player on the team. Thus, he led a decimated roster to an 8–21 record in his first season.
The NCAA imposed further sanctions in 2005, extending the probation until 2010. With these handicaps, the new coach led them to a 9–19 in the 2004–05 season.
In the 2007–08 season, he turned around his team to finish with a 21–9 regular-season record. They finished fourth in their conference, one of the toughest in the country. The 21 wins and 9 conference wins were their best since 1996. It was enough to make the NCAA tournament for only the fifth time in school history and the first time since 1988.
At the end of the regular season, when he made an appearance on the sports show ”Pardon the Interruption”, host Tony Kornheiser suggested on the air that the coach be voted "unanimous coach of the year." After the season, he signed a 10-year contract extension to remain as head coach. Was that a good decision for that University? Well, you decide.
In 2010, he took his team to an NCAA Sweet 16 berth, making him and his father one of the few father and son coaches to accomplish such feat. The team then made it to the Elite 8 before losing to the national championship-winning Duke Blue Devils.
In 2011 they started the season 17–0 and rose to third in the AP Poll and the coaches' poll—the highest weekly rankings in school history at that time. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Kentucky… the loss marked the second time in three seasons that the Bears' season ended at the hands of the eventual national champions.
In 2013 In 2012-14 he won his 202nd game, becoming the winningest coach in school history. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a 6 seed. In the tournament, making it to the Sweet Sixteen.
The next 2 years saw 22 wins and 24 wins but early losses in the Tournament.
In 2016 they again began the season with an incredible streak of 15–0 and led to a No. 1 in the country for the first time in school history! They were a #3-seed to the NCAA tournament, losing in the Sweet 16.
More good seasons were followed by a 2020 team that won the school's first regular season conference title, and first regular season conference title for the school since 1950.
They spent most of the season 2nd in the country in the AP Poll! They then met the #1 team in the country in the 2021 NCAA Tournament Championship game where they won 86–70 over a previously undefeated team for their first ever national championship.
You have probably figured out by now that this article refers to Coach Scott Drew and the Baylor Bears.
You may have known some of this, but how many of you knew how decimated his team really was and the hard climb out of that predicament? And how many of you realize how truly challenging it was to take a rarely successful program even before the scandal to national prominence? Great success story for sports and for life!
Nikki Craft
Lucerne Valley Properties, Inc
760-912-2103
CraftyNikki12@gmail.com