NOTE: The content on the Baylor Blitz is solely meant for the subscribers of SicEmSports. Let's all please make sure that whatever is written here stays here. We appreciate you all helping us with this. Now, let's all take a look at Baylor recruiting and what else is going on involving the Bears.
Note I: We're going to have weekend story on 5-star Prime Prep Emmanuel Mudiay who earlier this week narrowed his five finalists to Baylor, Kentucky, SMU, Kansas and Oklahoma State. We talked exclusively with his brother Stephane who is helping his younger brother go through the process.
While we won't spill all of it, but Stephane said the family won't decide about setting up its visits - official or unofficial - to those five schools until Emmanuel has returned from the 2013 Elite 24 Aug. 24 at Brooklyn's Tabacco Warehouse. The game can be seen at 6:00 p.m. CDT on ESPNU.
And while there has been a fuss about Emmanuel going to Kentucky's midnight madness event in October, keep in mind he attended Baylor's midnight madness event last October.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Note: II: We'll try to have a little more from 2015 Fort Bend Marshall DB Kendall Sheffield who is expected to visit Baylor Saturday morning for the team's first scrimmage. He will then visit Texas A&M in the afternoon.
Sheffield visited Texas this past Wednesday and took in a practice. He currently holds 11 offers but has said he does not have any leaders and is going to take his time with this process. Sheffield is the top rated defensive back in Texas.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Making sense of Adams
Usually, when you see me write something about a commitment, I include the line "verbal commitments are non-binding'' And that's what we saw with Allen DB Chad Adams.
Adams appeared very content with his commitment to Baylor until two or three weeks ago. If you remember, when we did the commitment update, we mentioned he was one of the ones where it wasn't really clear what was going on but that it was good.
Well, a trip to Tempe, AZ. to visit Arizona State had thrown everything into flux. What we heard was that he was only visiting because he wanted to tag along with Christian Sam. Of course, the angle is that former Allen head coach Todd Graham is the head coach at Arizona State plays a role.
Obviously, it wasn't just a tag along. Something changed to where it became more and more apparent that he and Sam wanted to play at the same place. Adams has denied that to me but the timing of Sam's commitment last week and now Adams' switch just makes too much sense.
"I just had to make the best decision that was for me,'' he said. "It was just that the ASU situation was better.''
Well, this de-commitment ? the first of the 2014 recruiting class ? actually gives Baylor some flexibility. Really, you could look at Baylor with 20 commitments because of the Greg Roberts situation. If he does the grey shirt ? which I really think is where this is going ? then Baylor has five spots to work with.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Making sense of Williams
As if Adams' departure was annoying enough, you have another Texas school pursuing Ennis' Terence Williams.
Williams left for Lubbock with Jah'Shawn Johnson on Thursday. The two will be in the South Plains through Saturday.
Now, those familiar with the situation don't feel like there is anything to be worried about when it comes to Williams staying with Baylor. Still, there's always going to be a little uneasiness when it comes to committed players visiting other campuses. Baylor already went through this in July when Davion Hall visited Alabama. He remains committed to the Bears.
Baylor and Texas Tech have always found themselves in the middle of several recruiting wars. The most recent was when the Beard lured Fort Bend Marshall OL Mo Porter away from the Red Raiders this past February this past Saturday.
Of course, he told us last week that "everything was great" with Baylor. And if you remember he had the brief 24-hour out-of-body experience when he supposedly de-committed from Baylor because Texas A&M was making a push.
There's always the case for somebody to look at something different to see if they missed out on anything. And you always wonder about the early commitments ? Williams committed Feb. 2 ? and if they sense regret for pulling the trigger too early.
With Williams, this is going to be a situation where Baylor constantly massaging this relationship a little more than others will be necessary.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Crookshank intrigued by Baylor
The 2015 Texas running back class is filled with possibilities. Although Katy's Rodney Anderson committed to Texas A&M, Fort Bend Marshall's Davon Crookshank is only now beginning to appreciate the process.
Baylor and assistant Carlton Buckels offered Crookshank in June right after they saw him go through some spring workouts.
"It was a little unexpected,'' Crookshank said. "They came to the school and watched me in track but when I found it was pretty cool.''
Of course, Baylor is always attracted to anyone who has speed. Crookshank runs a leg in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays. He said next spring he wants to add running in the sprint events. Good idea because he's been fast for a long time. When he was tested in the 40-yard dash in the 7th grade, he clocked in a 4.7. Ridiculous.
Baylor is his only offer to this point, and the contact has been a little here and there. Don't be surprised if that picks up. It appears that Texas and Houston are starting to make their presence felt. They are seriously looking at him. And there's a pretty good chance more schools will get involved with that they see this fall.
"I think I'm a power back, but I do a pretty good job of reading the field,'' Crookshank said. "I just want to do a better job of reading the field and seeing how everybody is lined up. I want to study more film and get to the whole quicker. If I stay healthy, I want to rush for 2,000 yards. I'm not going to worry about the TDs.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Ramsey evaluates Baylor
It's been two months since Converse Judson 2015 defensive back Kevion Ramsey attended Baylor's June 2 camp on the university's campus.
But the pointers he picked up from the coaching staff have stayed with him.
"I learned a lot from them,'' he said. "I figured out how to keep the receiver inside and stemming the receiver. They also kept telling me to move my arms as I was moving back. Usually, I kept them still.''
Ramsey (6-1, 165) picked up an offer from Texas Tech, while Baylor continues to evaluate. He said he's very open to other schools looking at him. He only wished that when he was in Waco, he could have spent more time getting to know the coaches.
"I talked to them but didn't get a lot of time with them,'' he said. "I'm just taking my time with everything. I could see myself in that nickel back or bear role. The next time I go to Baylor, I want to really get a feel for the coaches.''
Judson began fall workouts this past Monday because it didn't have spring ball. The Rockets will have two scrimmages against San Antonio Brandeis and Austin Bowie before the seasons starts.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Townsend has been busy
Missouri City Ridge Point 2015 linebacker Cameron Townsend (6-1, 195) spent last weekend in Norman, OK. visiting OU. However, he said that doesn't make the Sooners a leader.
Rather, he's still in the early evaluation mode and is looking at Baylor, which was one of the first schools to offer him. The contact with Baylor has been sporadic. But that's not a major concern at this point. After all, he has two years of high school football in front of him. He has a little time. Besides, he already has a pretty decent early impression of Baylor. He attended the May 30 camp in Cy Falls and went to the Baylor controlled scrimmage on April 6.
While some schools are looking at him as an outside linebacker, Baylor may have other plans for him in its 4-2-5.
"I do think I would fit in as their bear (nickel back) in their defense,'' he said. "I like the way they use him. They mix it up. He can be close to the box or way off the line of scrimmage. I want to be the kind of versatile player who can affect a game.''
Townsend is hoping he hasn't finished growing. With his father at 6-2, he's hoping he can get to 6-3, 215 by the time he signs his national letter of intent.
"We'll see,'' Townsend said. "I think I have another round of growing in me.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Kethchum may be a backup plan?
Baylor was one of the first to offer Fort Bend Marshall 2015 dual-threat quarterback J.W. Kethchum.
But the Bears haven't spoken with him as of late, he said. That might be because they have other plans with this 2015 class. Of course, they have the commitment from Temple's Chad President and are heavily pursuing Stephenville's Jarrett Stidham and Troup's Blake Lynch.
"You can tell Baylor is doing a lot to make itself into a better program,'' Ketchum said. "They just aren't out there. I believe they're trying to be great.''
But with offers from Texas A&M, Texas and LSU and with Baylor moving the way it is, we'll just have to see where this relationship goes ? if anywhere.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Mahon and Platt on Campus
Coppell tight end Blake Mahon and Willis WR Chris Platt , two of Baylor's 2014 commitments, took in Wednesday's practice on the Baylor campus. While Platt has seen the Bears go through their work, Mahon has not. Remember Mahon committed to Baylor on May 24 and had not seen the Bears go through any of their spring workouts.
Of course, Baylor did not offer until mid-May because it wanted to be sure about him. Well, when he got to the practice Mahon came away impressed with what he saw when they were in pads.
"Everything was great,'' he said. "I really liked the way the practice works. I thought the tight ends were incredible. Everything was pretty fast. That was the best part.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
2013-14 Basketball Schedule Observations
>The Nov. 8 opener against Colorado - Baylor just can't get away from the Buffaloes - should be a dandy at the American Airlines Center. Colorado, which went to the NIT last year, is projected to be a Top 25 team. So is Baylor.
>As we mentioned last week, the home opener (Nov. 12) is against South Carolina. Former Kansas State boss Frank Martin is trying to rebuild that program.
>The Bears do not play a true non-conference road game. All of their games away from the Ferrell Center are neutral site contests. They have the Colorado game, the Maui Invitational Nov. 25-27 and Dec. 6 against Kentucky at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
>This is a great balance because Baylor will have its share of softer games. The only non-conference game where they need to be ready is Dec. 30 against Oral Roberts. The Titans, coached by Scott Sutton, consistently win 20 games and are playing in the postseason, be it the NIT or CBI or CIT. In 2012-13, they went 20-15 and were in the CIT.
Emptying the Notebook
>Football season ticket sales are at approximately 22,000. That's a single-season school record. But there are hopes within the athletic department that the number will surpass 40,000 before the Aug. 31 opener against Wofford.
>The hardship waiver appeals for basketball transfer Royce O'Neale and football transfer Sam Ukwuachu remain in process. Baylor doesn't know the results yet. While the odds would favor O'Neale receiving his and Ukwuachu not receiving his, it would be a huge lift for the football program if somehow Ukwuachu was cleared.
>2014 five-star big man Myles Turner of Euless Trinity, No. 6 is the Rivals 150, narrowed his finalists to eight: Kansas, Duke, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Texas and Arizona. That's a little surprising Baylor didn't make it because the Bears were the first to offer and had one of the first in-home visits. But that's recruiting.
>Baylor actually talked with Ennis DB Jah'Shawn Johnson earlier in the week. But when asked if it was a matter of finding out whether he was still interested in the Bears, Johnson said, "I honestly don't know.'' That response was bizarre. It's been reported that Johnson's top three are TCU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
-Kevin Lonnquist
