Sept. 26, 2008

WACO, Texas - Baylor head men's basketball coach Scott Drew and his team welcomed an old face back to the program in former BU and NBA star David Wesley, who has been hired as a student manager, while completing his undergraduate degree.

"We are extremely excited to have David come back to Baylor," Drew said. "It speaks volumes that he is coming back to finish his education, while giving back to the BU basketball program.

"He is a solid role model to our players and he will be a tremendous addition to our program."

Wesley returns to Baylor after a successful 14-year NBA career. He scored 11,842 points and dished out 4,159 assists in 949 career games. He is one of only two undrafted players in NBA history to score 11,000 points. Wesley spent his rookie season with the New Jersey Nets in 1993-94 after signing as an undrafted free agent. From there, Wesley spent three seasons with the Boston Celtics, seven with the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets, two with Houston and one with Cleveland. In what turned out to be his final NBA season, Wesley and the Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference championship and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time.

In three seasons for the Bears, the 6-foot-1 Wesley averaged 17 points and 4.4 assists in 72 games. He was named the Southwest Conference's Most Valuable Player in 1992 after averaging 20.6 points. The Longview, Texas, native currently ranks 10th all-time in scoring at Baylor with 1,224 points.

He helped lead the Bears to the first round of the 1990 National Invitation Tournament at Mississippi State. Wesley scored 17 points to go with four rebounds and three assists, but the Bears would lose to the Bulldogs, 84-75.

When he left Baylor in 1993, Wesley was 33 hours short of a degree in physical education. Now, he returns to the Waco campus with the goal of finishing his degree.

"It's fun being back at Baylor," Wesley said. "It's good to be around the guys. It brings back a lot of good memories from when I played here.