Baylor's chances of putting a competitive team on the court for the coming season continue to diminish, as sophomore guard Kenny Taylor announced Tuesday that he would transfer to Texas. This news comes on the heels of Monday's transfer of leading scorer and Wooden All-American Lawrence Roberts to Mississippi State.

Taylor, a junior guard, decided on Texas on Tuesday even though he doesn't know if he can play next season. Taylor's situation is a bit more precarious than Roberts' or incoming freshman Tyrone Nelson, who left for Prairie View A&M, since Taylor is transferring to a team within the Big 12.

Taylor, who was third on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game last season, would have to sit out one year and lose a season of eligibility under normal transfer rules within the conference. That would leave him with only one season of eligibility. Texas is waiting for a ruling from the Big 12 office to waive the one-year eligibility loss penalty. The Longhorns have a scholarship available for Taylor and will appeal on his behalf.

An NCAA spokesperson said Monday afternoon that the NCAA is waiting for Baylor's final report before ruling on the waiver, but that they want to act as quickly as possible. The spokesperson said the NCAA is aware of the sensitivity and immediacy needed in this case.

Baylor also expects to lose second-leading scorer John Lucas III, who is expected to visit Memphis, Georgia and Rutgers in the coming week. If Lucas III leaves, Baylor would be left with eight scholarship players, although more defections could occur.

Roberts told ESPN.com Monday night that he expects a number of players to leave.

"The seniors will probably stay but it's going to be tough,'' Roberts said. "It's going to be tough on them to make it through the season. I feel sorry for those seniors and anyone who does stay. It's going to be tough on them to make it through the first year.''

Roberts said he felt comfortable with the Mississippi State coaching staff and wanted to go to a place where he could be an impact player next season. He made his decision while in Starkville over the weekend. Both sets of his grandparents live close to Mississippi State. And he decided against visiting Arizona and Indiana this week because he was tired of the process and emotionally drained by the events at Baylor.

Roberts and all of the other Baylor players still need to obtain a waiver to avoid sitting out the one-year-in-residence penalty for transferring. Baylor submitted a blanket waiver last week for all of its players to play for other programs immediately after putting the Bears on a one-year postseason ban in 2004. Under NCAA rules, only seniors can transfer if the NCAA puts a program on a one-year postseason ban. The NCAA rules state that a player cannot transfer without sitting out the transfer residence requirement if the postseason ban exceeds or matches the players' remaining eligibility. The NCAA still has to rule on the matter, but Roberts didn't want to wait for the ruling and is prepared to sit out the coming season if necessary.

"I haven't thought about that,'' Roberts said. "I hope that doesn't happen where I have to sit out.''

Mississippi State, which has a scholarship available, starts fall classes Wednesday; Baylor starts on Aug. 25.

Cynthia Roberts said her son was holding out hope that the university would choose John Lucas to succeed former coach Dave Bliss, but Lucas reportedly is not interested in the job.

"I don't know how they can't have a coach right now,'' Roberts said. "I thought they would have done something but they haven't yet. I might have stayed if they had hired a good coach by now.'' Roberts is a 6-foot-9 junior with NBA potential but probably needs to play two more seasons to reach his full potential to be draftable. He could test the draft process if he has a banner season.

If Roberts had chosen to transfer to Arizona, he would have stepped in next to Channing Frye to form one of the nation's top frontlines. Arizona would have instantly become a Final Four favorite with Roberts in the lineup. Instead, he's a gain for Mississippi State, which is reeling up front after losing junior Mario Austin to the draft and losing out on incoming freshman Travis Outlaw, who declared and was drafted in the first round.

The Bulldogs are set on the perimeter with Timmy Bowers, freshman Gary Ervin and incoming Iowa State transfer Shane Power. But they lacked experience in the frontcourt with players like Ontario Harper, Winsome Frazier, Branden Vincent and Marcus Campbell. None of the four averaged more than 7.3 points a game last season. If Roberts is eligible, he'll immediately become the go-to player and would likely put up lofty numbers in the SEC.

"I'll be the center of that team after they lost two guys to the draft,'' Roberts said. "We talked about my personal goals and getting to the NBA. I'd like to be in a position to where I can do that after one

Nelson still has to request a release to play immediately from the NLI committee at the SEC office in Birmingham, Ala.

Seniors Matt Sayman and R.T. Guinn, who are both on the verge of graduating, have said they would stay at Baylor -- but each could still ultimately change their minds.

Incoming junior college transfer Harvey Thomas is also shopping his services. His mentor, Anthony Poole, has been calling around the country trying to find him another program.

Returning senior Terrance Thomas, as well as sophomores Tommy Swanson and Corey Herring, and juniors Ellis Kidd Jr. might all check out new destinations for this season.

Incoming freshman Carl Marshall has not yet indicated that he would not come to Baylor. Baylor and the Big 12 are adamant that the Bears will field a team for the 2003-04 season. They are pursuing a new coach, with Sam Houston State's Bob Marlin, Samford's Jimmy Tillette and Indiana assistant John Treloar as some who have expressed interest in the job. The committee conducting the search was supposed to meet late Monday or early Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Roberts is still trying to make sense of what has transpired at Baylor the last week. "I was extremely disappointed to hear all of that stuff," Roberts said of the tapes recording Bliss trying to orchestrate false statements to Baylor investigators by assistants and two players that would have indicted the late Patrick Dennehy as a drug dealer to cover his tuition payments. Bliss admitted to making the payments when he resigned Aug. 8.

"Coach Bliss and I had a cool relationship and throughout Patrick missing he gave me words of encouragement,'' Roberts said. "But this takes the wind out of you. It hurts knowing that he did something like that. I talked to him a few days after he resigned and everything was still positive and he said he was going to stay in Waco and go to games and see me play. But then those tapes came out. It's a whole new can of worms.''

Roberts said he only met assistant Abar Rouse twice since Rouse was hired June 1. Rouse made the tapes in meetings with Bliss July 30-Aug. 1. Roberts plans on going to Waco Tuesday to gather his possessions for his move to Starkville later this week. But he hopes the coverage of the Baylor tragedy would end.

"They're just beating a dead horse,'' Roberts said. "It's as negative as it's going to get. I can't believe everybody would be coming out with more stories. Let it rest. It just keeps bringing more bad attention to the school. I loved that campus and the school.''

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.