'I WAS A PART OF THAT'

Banquet Registration

This is the eighth in a series of stories profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor, which will be posted every week at BaylorBears.com.

By Jerry Hill

Baylor Bear Insider

Ten years after his Baylor basketball career ended as the program's all-time leading scorer, LaceDarius Dunn was playing professionally overseas in Tel Aviv, Israel, when the Bears captured the 2021 national championship with a dominant win over Gonzaga.

But even eight time zones away, he "celebrated like I was part of the team."

"I stayed up all night, didn't go to sleep," said Dunn, who is now part of the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class that will be honored Nov. 14 with the Hall of Fame banquet. "It was early in the morning (in Israel), 5, 6 a.m., and I'm waking up people in America. It was an amazing feeling just to see that and know that I am a part of that. It was crazy."

Dunn, who finished with a then-Big 12-record 2,285 points (ranks No. 2 now), was part of a Baylor team that came close to a Final four berth in 2010.

Playing eventual national champion Duke before a Baylor-dominated crowd of 47,492 at Houston's Reliant Stadium, the Bears let a late lead slip away in a 78-71 loss to the Blue Devils. A 6-4 guard out of Monroe, La., Dunn scored 22 points and had eight rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals in the loss.

"I remember being so hyped about playing Duke, for one" Dunn said. "Of course, at the time, they had Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski), one of the legendary coaches in basketball history. . . . It was amazing seeing all that green and gold up there. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was warming up, and I couldn't really focus on warming up, because I'm too busy looking around at the crowd. I turned to Tweety (Carter) and said, 'Man, it's about to be crazy.'''

The day he was interviewed for this story, Dunn had just watched highlights from that game.

"I stay tapped into that game, for some reason, because I feel like that's the year we were supposed to have been competing for a national championship."

The highest-rated recruit in program history when he signed in November 2006, Lace was part of a Louisiana pipeline that included Carter, Rico Gathers and Jared Butler, an All-American on that 2021 national championship team.

"The pipeline started with Coach (Scott) Drew going to get Tweety," Dunn said. "Tweety and I battled against each other in high school. And he was on my back about coming to Baylor. If it wasn't for Tweety, no telling where I would have been, but he definitely reeled me in at Baylor."

Making an immediate impact, Lace averaged 13.8 points per game and knocked down 74 3-pointers, earning Freshman All-American and Big 12 All-Freshman honors for a Baylor team that made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years.

"Having a God-given talent, I was able to come in as a freshman and play right away," he said. "Most guys come in as freshman, and they have to redshirt or whatever. But in my situation, it was different. Right away, I was able to bring a little fight to the team. When I scored 38 (a program freshman and Big 12 record) at Texas Tech, after that, it was on."

Named the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year the next season, Lace averaged 15.7 points and hit a then-program-record 109 3-pointers as a sophomore in leading the Bears to a 24-win season and the 2009 NIT finals.

"The NIT was great," said Dunn, who was also named to the NIT all-tournament team. "We ended up playing in Madison Square Garden in New York (losing to Penn State, 69-63, in the final). That ended up being a great experience all around, especially me being new to the whole college experience."

Lace broke the school's single-season scoring record (704) and his own record with 116 made 3-pointers as a junior on that 2010 team, averaging a career-high 19.8 points per game and earning honorable mention All-America and second-team All-Big 12 honors.

While he earned consensus first-team All-Big 12 honors, as well as being named all-district, Lace's senior season ended in the disappointment of Baylor missing postseason play for the only time in the last 17 potential tournaments. He averaged 19.5 points per game and set school career records for 3-pointers made (388) and attempted (985) that may never be broken.

"Everything was pretty much 3-point (line) and out," he said. "I didn't take too many mid-range jumpers. By the grace of God, I had guys around me that I didn't have to do all that due to their penetration and making it so easy for me. All I had to do was catch and shoot. And I was like, 'Man, that's all you need me to do? I can do that.'''

Making a pro career out of playing overseas, Dunn has played four years in Israel, four years in Turkey, three years in Portugal, two years in Egypt and one in Qatar and plans to return to Egypt after the Hall of Fame banquet.

"Lace is somebody that has done an unbelievable job of coming back and giving back to the program – a lot of time, a lot of wisdom, to our current players," Drew said. "As a head coach, you're always excited for past players that love and care for the university like you do. The fact that he's so excited about (the Hall of Fame banquet), Tweety, his backcourt mate, will attest to just how much it means to him."

Lace has a son, Dillon Dunn, 18, who's a senior at Ouachita Prep High School in Louisiana; and he has been married for the last six-plus years to his wife, Lashandria.

"Getting this means everything to me. I really can't put it into words, to have my name go into that group with all the other greats that have come through Baylor," Lace said. "I can't wait till that night comes. I might shed a tear. I don't know what might happen that night. But I'm going to be in my feelings even more when that night comes."

Joining Dunn in the 2025 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame class are Bryce Petty, Cyril Richardson and Derek Turner from football, equestrian's Samantha Schaefer, Taylor Ormond from women's tennis, Hannah Burke from women's golf and baseball player Chris Durbin. Former football manager Dusty Sanderson will be added to the "B" Association Wall of Honor.

The 2025 Hall of Fame banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus. Registration, open until midnight Nov. 12, is available here.

Click here to read article