Is Stargell Love transferring a good sign for Baylor?

Baylor has the talent on their roster to be one of the best teams in the country next season. A Big 12 title is well within reach, and a Final Four is not out of the question.

Once Perry Jones -- a top five pick whenever he decides to leave -- made the decision to return to school, rejoining forces with Quincy Acy and Anthony Jones along Baylor's front line, the expectations for Scott Drew's team went through the roof. Throw in 6'8" small forward Quincy Miller and 6'4", high-flying guard Deuce Bello (who rank 5th and 49th, respectively, in our consensus recruiting rankings), and Baylor has as much raw talent as anyone this side of North Carolina and Kentucky.


But Baylor was in the same position a year ago, and they ended up 7-9 in the Big 12 in 2011 and missed the NCAA Tournament.

Much of that blame fell on the play of Baylor's point guards. AJ Walton, who started all 30 games that he played in, struggled with his decision making -- poor shot selection and turnover prone are attributes that you don't like to see in your point guard -- and freshman Stargell Love never found a rhythm before once he returned from a foot injury.

And now?

News has leaked that Love, a product of the same AAU program that produced Miller, Bello, and John Wall, is transferring out of Baylor and heading to a school closer to his North Carolina home.

At first glance, this appears to be bad news for the Bears, as it leaves them with just one point guard on the roster with any game experience under Drew.

Dig deeper, however, and it may end up being a good sign. Why? Because Scott Drew has brought in reinforcements at the point. Gary Franklin, a former top 100 recruit that spent the first half of last season at Cal, will be eligible for the Bears in December. Pierre Jackson, a JuCo all-american point guard a season ago at the College of Southern Idaho, will be eligible immediately. As will Boston College transfer Brady Heslip, who can play the point but made a name for himself playing off-the-ball on the same team as Cory Joseph.

Love transferred because he saw the writing on the wall. Not only was the guy that played 33 minutes per game at the point returning for his junior season, but Drew brought in three players that would have probably surpassed Love on the depth chart.

How good Baylor ends up being next season will likely be the result of how good their point guard play ends up being.

And having options never hurt anyone.