According to CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein, Baylor has agreed to play Yale in a non-conference game for the 2026-27 basketball season.
Of course, on the surface, what makes the matchup interesting is that the Bears landed one of Yale’s top players from last season. Forward Isaac Celiscar entered the transfer portal, and is now going to play for the Bears next season, battling for a starting role.
Celiscar played two seasons at Yale, seeing extensive playing time in both. His freshman season, Celiscar played in 30 games for the Bulldogs, averaging just over seven points and grabbing five rebounds.
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It was this last season where Celiscar came into his own. Earning All-Ivy League honors, the 6’6″ forward averaged over 13 points, while grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game. Celiscar shot over 40% from three this past season, and ranked 27th in the nation on KenPom for offensive rating.
Coming to Baylor, the Bears could use Celiscar in two different ways. He could play a wing, or come off the bench as a wing. But an area that might make better sense would be starting as a stretch ‘4’. Celiscar is a strong rebounder and can make the three. It would space the floor out for Juslin Bodo Bodo to do work at center.
Hopefully Baylor grabs more rebounds than Yale
Baylor and Yale have met just one time and it was a nightmare for the Bears. The No. 5 seeded Baylor Bears drew a first-round matchup against the No. 12 Bulldogs in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
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Yale would take down Baylor, 79-75, and earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
The biggest takeaway after the game was that Baylor allowed Yale to out-rebound the Bears, 36-32. And after the game, Taurean Prince was asked how a program like Yale – that didn’t have any NCAA Tournament success at that point – could out-rebound the Bears.
“You go up and grab the ball off the rim when it comes off,” Prince said, “and then you grab it with two hands, and you come down with it, and that’s considered a rebound. So they got more of those than we did.”
Prince scored a team-high 28 points in the loss. And Yale’s Makai Mason went scorching hot to score a game-high 31 points.
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Looking ahead, rebounding shouldn’t be an issue for Scott Drew’s team. With Bodo Bodo returning, he should gobble up his fair share of boards, and UAB transfer Evan Chatman is an elite rebounder.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/baylor as Baylor Basketball to Give Transfer Isaac Celiscar a Dream Matchup for 2026-27 Season.
