NOTE: We have learned through channels that Baylor will have a mini junior day on Saturday and will host a smaller group of players vs. the players who we have reported will be attending on Sunday. Baylor will still have its junior day on Sunday. While it's not clear exactly who will attend, we have every reason to believe that some of the 2015 recruits listed will be coming. That may be to get some of the recruits who would have chosen to go to Texas A&M the chance to come to Waco.
Should be a busy weekend to know what all occurred between both days.
Junior Day Visitors List
This isn't a complete list, of course. But here is who SicEmSports has learned will be attending Sunday's junior day event on the Baylor campus.
>Blake Lynch*, Ath, Troup (Baylor commit)
>Chris Warren*, RB, Rockwall (Baylor offer)
>Ronnie Major, OL, Huntsville (Baylor commit)
>James Lockhart*, DE, Ennis (Baylor offer)
>Ronald Jones II, RB, North McKinney (Baylor offer)
>James Proche, WR, Dallas Prime Prep (Baylor recruit)
>Richard Moore, LB, Cedar Hill (Baylor offer)
>Chad President*, QB, Temple (Baylor commit)
>Cameron Townsend*, LB, Fort Bend Ridge Point (Baylor offer)
>Morie Evans, ATH, Huntsville (Baylor recruit)
>Jarret Stidham*, QB, Stephenville (Baylor offer)
>Holton Hill, DB, Houston Lamar (Baylor offer)
>Jaelan Austin, WR, South Grand Prairie (Baylor recruit)
>Prentice McKinney, DB, South Oak Cliff (Baylor recruit)
>Jamile Johnson, DB, South Oak Cliff (Baylor recruit)
>Darrion Daniels*, DT, Dallas Bishop Dunne (Baylor offer)
>Anthony Wheeler*, LB, Dallas Skyline (Baylor offer)
>Keaton Sutherland*, OL, Flower Mound Marcus (Baylor offer)
>Aca'cedric Ware, RB, Cedar Hill (Baylor recruit)
>Bryce Wilds, OL, Brazosport Freeport (Baylor recruit)
>Charles Omenihu, DE, Rowlett (Baylor recruit)
>Devin Smith, Ath, Ennis (Baylor recruit)
>Donta Thompson, WR/TE, Ennis (Baylor recruit)
>Tipa Galeai, DE, Euless Trinity (Baylor recruit)
>Patrick Vahe*, OL, Euless Trinity (Baylor offer)
>Soso Jamabo*, RB, Plano West (Baylor offer)
>Kahlil Haughton, DB, Waco Midway (Baylor offer)
>Devontre Stricklin, WR, Waco Midway (Baylor offer)
>Lenoy Jones, LB, Waco Midway (Baylor recruit)
>Kingsley Keke, DE, Richmond George Ranch (Baylor recruit)
>Tony Nicholson, ATH, South Grand Prairie (Baylor recruit)
*- Ranked in the Rivals 2015 250
Analysis: Baylor netted three commitments from the 2013 junior day in Terence Williams, Davion Hall and Chris Platt. In the last 3-4 years, Baylor has usually come away with two commitments. With three commitments for 2015, you can expect the Bears to add to the class this weekend.
The best guess for the recruits to commit could be Waco Midway WR Devontre Stricklin and Cedar Hill LB Richard Moore. For Stricklin, he picked up his offer over the summer and attended every Baylor home game in 2013. There just appears to be a real comfort there between him and the Baylor coaching staff.
Baylor offered Moore in November but there seems to be a strong bond between him and the coaching staff. We spoke with Moore earlier in the week who called his discussion with the coaches very positive. Remember, Art and Kendal Briles, Jim Gush and Jeff Lebby were on campus earlier in the week.
It's not much of a secret that Baylor is making a hard push for Stephenville QB Jarret Stidham. Whether it will push for a commitment seems iffy. Stidham is a wanted commodity and the coaching staff may not want to be overbearing to lose out too early in the process.
The same goes for Ennis DE James Lockhart. He recently called Baylor his leader but it's believed Texas may be making up some ground, especially with new coach Charlie Strong in place. Still, I think Baylor is in the lead here. You'll see in Jake's piece on Blake Lynch what he thinks.
Of course, there could be the commitment from out of nowhere, which is basically what we had in 2013 with Willis WR Chris Platt.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Commitment-turned-recruiter
As we recently saw from the dead period, coaches must work around the NCAA's recruiting calendar. But filling in those gaps in time when communication is limited is Troup ATH Blake Lynch, the 4-star who committed to Baylor last summer. Lynch will be in Waco this weekend for Baylor's junior day. His trip almost seems to be as much about business as it will be for pleasure.
"Right now, to get around the other 2015 recruits, we're going to have small class, so we want to get the best of the best," Lynch told me on Thursday night. "We have some top players coming there for the junior day, so for me to be there, it will be a big deal for me to talk to them."
Lynch said his primary targets (among a few others) are Aledo ATH Ryan Newsome, Stephenville QB Jarrett Stidham, Ennis DL James Lockhart and Prime Prep WR James Proche. He said all of them like Baylor and have the Bears among the top schools, but he really thinks something could go down with Lockhart this weekend.
He's hoping history -- former Ennis RB Terence Williams, a spring 2014 early enrollee, committed to Baylor this time last year -- repeats itself.
"He has a lot of offers, but Baylor is his favorite right now," Lynch said. "I hope he can come to Baylor with me. We can be roommates and teamates. Hopefully this junior day he'll commit. Last year his teammate, Terence Williams, committed at the junior day, so hopefully he'll commit too."
I'll have a bit more soon on Lynch soon, talking more about how dedicated he is to recruiting for Baylor for this upcoming 2015 class.
-Jake Shaw
Official visitors
This is the second of the official visit weekends for Baylor. Here is who SicEmSports has confirmed will be visiting Waco. We're still trying to get some confirmation on Wylie's T'Kevian Rockwell and Rockdale's James David. All but one is a Baylor commit.
>Jamie Jacobs, DE/LB, Waco Midway
>Xavier Jones, DE, Magnolia West
>Patrick Lawrence, OL, Waxahachie
>Ira Lewis, DT, Houston Lamar
>Greg Roberts, DE, Nacogdoches
>Devonte Jones, OL, Houston Bellaire
>John Bonney, S, Houston Lamar (Texas commit)
Analysis: With Jah'Shawn Johnson canceling his visit that probably doesn't come as a surprise. Baylor worked hard at trying to get him into the fold. But there just never seemed to be a connection that clicked.
But Baylor appears to making one last attempt to get Bonney to change his commitment from Texas. Bonney visited Baylor in mid-August and watched a fall workout and then all of the sudden went to Texas the next day and wound up committing the Longhorns. The Bears really appeared to have the lead.
With the coaching change from Mack Brown to Charlie Strong, Bonney is looking at his options. Bonney was recruited by former Texas DBs coach Duane Akina. Bonney's Auburn visit last week probably was likely done out of courtesy. That said, he knows Baylor, has been to the campus several times and developed a good relationship with the coaches. Should this visit come off, time will tell if it will be enough for Baylor to convince him to change.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Wilds wants to know more
Brazosport Freeport presents an interesting offensive tackle in 2015's Bryce Wilds. At 6-7, 305 Wilds is planning on attending junior day on Sunday.
He's heard from the Bears, Texas Tech, Arkansas and Oklahoma. While there are no offers, Wilds definitely has the size to play at the Division I level. What schools probably want to know is how that frame looks in person and later see how well he moves his feet. Baylor gets the first chance Sunday to see if it will extend an offer.
"I think I had a good season,'' Wilds said. "I played a lot of left and right tackle and got a lot of pancake blocks and pulled a lot. Throughout the season, I picked up my and got a little more comfortable picked up where the linebacker was. I think I played pretty physical last year.''
Wilds attended Baylor's summer camp last May at Cy Falls and also attended Texas and Oklahoma camps. He definitely noticed a difference.
"Baylor really worked on you as a player and on your fundamentals,'' Wilds said. "I thought the Texas camp was too diluted and you really couldn't do as much I really like watching Baylor and how physical their linemen play.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Ennis duo can make an impression
Ennis went to the Class 4A Division II state semifinals and had plenty of talent. Overlooked behind running back Terence Williams and defensive end James Lockhart was quarterback Devin Smith (5-10, 160) and wide receiver Donta Thompson (6-6, 210).
The two will be visiting Baylor on junior day along with Lockhart. The two are very raw but intriguing. It's probably a longshot that either will get an offer but it's clear Baylor wants to know a little bit more about each's story.
Smith threw for 2,075 yards and 20 scores and rushed for 481 yards and six TDs. But he is more of an athlete and admits he will play slot receiver in college. He accepts that.
"I'm cool with it,'' Smith said. "I can do mostly anything. I just want to be coached to get the most out of everything. I just want to keep improving.''
Thompson's size is imposing but he's probably more of a late bloomer. One Ennis coach I talked with believed he could have a huge 2014 season. Thompson caught 19 passes for 404 yards but averaged a team-leading 21.3 yards per catch. He could also be viewed as a tight end in college.
"There are a lot of opportunities for me,'' he said. "I know my size gives me a great advantage over receivers. I just need to work on my speed.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
McLane Stadium Update
Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said Thursday the construction of Baylor's new home for football is more than 60 percent complete and that everything remains on schedule for the work to be completed in early August.
The $260 stadium is not yet fully funded but McCaw said efforts continue to move at a very positive pace.
In other items relative to the stadium:
>Nothing has formally been determined in terms of the number of slips that will be available in front of stadium on Brazos River, McCaw said.
>Baylor had more than 25,000 season tickets for 2013 ? a school record ? and McCaw said because of obligations for students (about 8,000) and visiting teams (4,000), the most Baylor can have for season ticket holders is about 28,000-29,000. McCaw said an exact number has not been determined.
>In case you're wondering, the Grant Teaff statue has been removed from Floyd Casey Stadium and is in storage.
>While the Hall of Fame will be ready in 2014, the events center is not expected until 2015. It will be located on the east side of the stadium.
Now as for unrelated items:
>McCaw said architects are working on final plans for the Beauchamp Athletics Nutrition Center. While no groundbreaking date has been said, there is optimism that the $6 million facility will be completed by the end of 2014. It is fully funded.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Horne waiting on the call
After getting an official invitation from the Baylor coaching staff to attend the Iowa State game this past fall, Baylor's been on the mind of 2015 Houston Westside DT Ethan Horne. A lot. If he had to make a list of favorites, "Baylor would be at the top," he said. "By far."
Horne had kept in touch with the staff -- primarily DL coach Chris Achuff -- but he admitted he's unsure if he can just show up for this weekend's junior day or if he needs another invitation from the staff. He said wants to get in touch with Achuff tomorrow to try to work it out.
"When I met him coach Achuff at the Iowa State game, we actually sat down and talked for a little bit," he said. "He talked to me about the importance of making junior days and especially spring practices and getting a feel of what practices are like."
I'll have more in a story about Horne over the weekend. We'll see over the next few days and weeks how interested Baylor is in him. But we know for a fact he likes Baylor.
"I'd be on my way to the junior day right now," he said, "if I knew for sure I was invited."
-Jake Shaw
Linebacker commitments in state of flux
Though Rivals has Baylor listed with three commitments from high school linebackers, will there be none in the end? I don't want to alarm anyone, but it's something that must be explored a bit more.
The three commitments in question: Midway's Jamie Jacobs, Wylie's T'Kevian Rockwell, and James David of Rockdale. The first one, Jacobs, will make it in to Waco for sure. But the asterisk with him is that coaches might move him to defensive end. At 6-4, he has the frame to add weight to his 215 pounds and grow into a pass-rushing role.
The other two, meanwhile, have less certainty. As Kevin reported a couple of weeks ago, Rockwell has explored double signing with a junior college in case he doesn't get the necessary standardized test score. From what we've heard lately, there's belief he will eventually qualify. It might result in Rockwell enrolling after the summer. But nothing is guaranteed.
David, on the other hand, will most likely double sign with Navarro College, giving him a backup plan if he doesn't qualify to get in Baylor. No kid likes to answer these questions, but I did ask him two questions in a recent text -- Are you taking an official? Will you arrive in the summer? -- but he replied back with "I don't know".
This happens with every class. Baylor had three recruits fail to qualify last year (Darius Moore, Maurice Porter and Kyle Fulks). Porter looks like he'll make it back, as should Fulks (both in the 2015 class). Moore's ship has sailed.
So it's not negative thinking to expect some recruits to fail to make it in with this class. It just so happens that the two most likely candidates are at the same position, while another LB (Jacobs) appears to be headed to the defensive line.
Baylor has addressed this, of course, with JUCO signee Grant Campbell. And of the seven players on Baylor's roster listed at OLB or MLB, six are sophomores or younger. So while it would hurt to lose talented players like David and Rockwell to grades, Baylor appears to be prepared, just in case.
And one more thing to remember -- the legal situation with former commit Cordell Dorsey remains unresolved. He graduated in December from Abilene Cooper, so he'd be ready to enroll if/when his off field problem is finalized. But don't expect him until Waco a minute before that happens.
-Jake Shaw
Big 12 Power Ratings - Basketball
The ratings are starting to look the same as past years: Kansas on top, with a host of teams fighting for the next spots. As always, SicEmSports ranks the Big 12 teams heading into the weekend.
1. Kansas (14-4/5-0) - All five of KU's conference wins have come against teams currently ranked in the top 25.
2. Kansas State (14-5/4-2) - Coming off a buzzer-beating loss at Texas, the Wildcats have to rebound at slumping Iowa State.
3. Oklahoma State (15-2/3-2) - The Cowboys have had a week off to stew over the effort at Kansas that came two points short of a comeback.
4. Texas (15-4/4-2) - The surprise team of the Big 12 is tied for second in the standings, yet is one of the four Big 12 teams not in the top 25.
5. Iowa State (14-3/2-3) - Like Baylor, Iowa State has a must-win on Saturday at home against a tough opponent.
6. Oklahoma (13-4/2-2) - The Sooners have won two straight -- and go for three in a row at Tech Saturday -- since cracking the top 25.
7. Baylor (13-5/1-4) - The Bears get the benefit of the doubt for now (in terms of the power ratings), but the season is on the line with the Texas game this weekend.
8. West Virginia (11-8/3-3) - After scoring two points against KSU, guard Terry Henderson exploded for 28 to help WVU hold off Tech on Wednesday night.
9. Texas Tech (10-9/2-4) - Texas Tech came just short of a third straight conference win -- which would've matched last year's total Big 12 wins.
10. TCU (9-9/0-6) - Think Kansas will overlook the Frogs in Fort Worth this time around? Not hardly.
-Jake Shaw
Emptying the Notebook
>Let's close with the fact that we have been told that Baylor has made up some ground with Cedar Hill WR Damarkus Lodge. When we asked one source if the Bears were definitely in this recruiting battle, the answer was yes. We're told that Baylor made a good impression earlier this week when the four coaches were on the Cedar Hill campus Tuesday. It appears that Lodge is attending Texas A&M's junior day on Sunday. The early thinking is that a commitment by Lodge to the school he chooses could be coming within a month.
-SicEmSports
Should be a busy weekend to know what all occurred between both days.
Junior Day Visitors List
This isn't a complete list, of course. But here is who SicEmSports has learned will be attending Sunday's junior day event on the Baylor campus.
>Blake Lynch*, Ath, Troup (Baylor commit)
>Chris Warren*, RB, Rockwall (Baylor offer)
>Ronnie Major, OL, Huntsville (Baylor commit)
>James Lockhart*, DE, Ennis (Baylor offer)
>Ronald Jones II, RB, North McKinney (Baylor offer)
>James Proche, WR, Dallas Prime Prep (Baylor recruit)
>Richard Moore, LB, Cedar Hill (Baylor offer)
>Chad President*, QB, Temple (Baylor commit)
>Cameron Townsend*, LB, Fort Bend Ridge Point (Baylor offer)
>Morie Evans, ATH, Huntsville (Baylor recruit)
>Jarret Stidham*, QB, Stephenville (Baylor offer)
>Holton Hill, DB, Houston Lamar (Baylor offer)
>Jaelan Austin, WR, South Grand Prairie (Baylor recruit)
>Prentice McKinney, DB, South Oak Cliff (Baylor recruit)
>Jamile Johnson, DB, South Oak Cliff (Baylor recruit)
>Darrion Daniels*, DT, Dallas Bishop Dunne (Baylor offer)
>Anthony Wheeler*, LB, Dallas Skyline (Baylor offer)
>Keaton Sutherland*, OL, Flower Mound Marcus (Baylor offer)
>Aca'cedric Ware, RB, Cedar Hill (Baylor recruit)
>Bryce Wilds, OL, Brazosport Freeport (Baylor recruit)
>Charles Omenihu, DE, Rowlett (Baylor recruit)
>Devin Smith, Ath, Ennis (Baylor recruit)
>Donta Thompson, WR/TE, Ennis (Baylor recruit)
>Tipa Galeai, DE, Euless Trinity (Baylor recruit)
>Patrick Vahe*, OL, Euless Trinity (Baylor offer)
>Soso Jamabo*, RB, Plano West (Baylor offer)
>Kahlil Haughton, DB, Waco Midway (Baylor offer)
>Devontre Stricklin, WR, Waco Midway (Baylor offer)
>Lenoy Jones, LB, Waco Midway (Baylor recruit)
>Kingsley Keke, DE, Richmond George Ranch (Baylor recruit)
>Tony Nicholson, ATH, South Grand Prairie (Baylor recruit)
*- Ranked in the Rivals 2015 250
Analysis: Baylor netted three commitments from the 2013 junior day in Terence Williams, Davion Hall and Chris Platt. In the last 3-4 years, Baylor has usually come away with two commitments. With three commitments for 2015, you can expect the Bears to add to the class this weekend.
The best guess for the recruits to commit could be Waco Midway WR Devontre Stricklin and Cedar Hill LB Richard Moore. For Stricklin, he picked up his offer over the summer and attended every Baylor home game in 2013. There just appears to be a real comfort there between him and the Baylor coaching staff.
Baylor offered Moore in November but there seems to be a strong bond between him and the coaching staff. We spoke with Moore earlier in the week who called his discussion with the coaches very positive. Remember, Art and Kendal Briles, Jim Gush and Jeff Lebby were on campus earlier in the week.
It's not much of a secret that Baylor is making a hard push for Stephenville QB Jarret Stidham. Whether it will push for a commitment seems iffy. Stidham is a wanted commodity and the coaching staff may not want to be overbearing to lose out too early in the process.
The same goes for Ennis DE James Lockhart. He recently called Baylor his leader but it's believed Texas may be making up some ground, especially with new coach Charlie Strong in place. Still, I think Baylor is in the lead here. You'll see in Jake's piece on Blake Lynch what he thinks.
Of course, there could be the commitment from out of nowhere, which is basically what we had in 2013 with Willis WR Chris Platt.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Commitment-turned-recruiter
As we recently saw from the dead period, coaches must work around the NCAA's recruiting calendar. But filling in those gaps in time when communication is limited is Troup ATH Blake Lynch, the 4-star who committed to Baylor last summer. Lynch will be in Waco this weekend for Baylor's junior day. His trip almost seems to be as much about business as it will be for pleasure.
"Right now, to get around the other 2015 recruits, we're going to have small class, so we want to get the best of the best," Lynch told me on Thursday night. "We have some top players coming there for the junior day, so for me to be there, it will be a big deal for me to talk to them."
Lynch said his primary targets (among a few others) are Aledo ATH Ryan Newsome, Stephenville QB Jarrett Stidham, Ennis DL James Lockhart and Prime Prep WR James Proche. He said all of them like Baylor and have the Bears among the top schools, but he really thinks something could go down with Lockhart this weekend.
He's hoping history -- former Ennis RB Terence Williams, a spring 2014 early enrollee, committed to Baylor this time last year -- repeats itself.
"He has a lot of offers, but Baylor is his favorite right now," Lynch said. "I hope he can come to Baylor with me. We can be roommates and teamates. Hopefully this junior day he'll commit. Last year his teammate, Terence Williams, committed at the junior day, so hopefully he'll commit too."
I'll have a bit more soon on Lynch soon, talking more about how dedicated he is to recruiting for Baylor for this upcoming 2015 class.
-Jake Shaw
Official visitors
This is the second of the official visit weekends for Baylor. Here is who SicEmSports has confirmed will be visiting Waco. We're still trying to get some confirmation on Wylie's T'Kevian Rockwell and Rockdale's James David. All but one is a Baylor commit.
>Jamie Jacobs, DE/LB, Waco Midway
>Xavier Jones, DE, Magnolia West
>Patrick Lawrence, OL, Waxahachie
>Ira Lewis, DT, Houston Lamar
>Greg Roberts, DE, Nacogdoches
>Devonte Jones, OL, Houston Bellaire
>John Bonney, S, Houston Lamar (Texas commit)
Analysis: With Jah'Shawn Johnson canceling his visit that probably doesn't come as a surprise. Baylor worked hard at trying to get him into the fold. But there just never seemed to be a connection that clicked.
But Baylor appears to making one last attempt to get Bonney to change his commitment from Texas. Bonney visited Baylor in mid-August and watched a fall workout and then all of the sudden went to Texas the next day and wound up committing the Longhorns. The Bears really appeared to have the lead.
With the coaching change from Mack Brown to Charlie Strong, Bonney is looking at his options. Bonney was recruited by former Texas DBs coach Duane Akina. Bonney's Auburn visit last week probably was likely done out of courtesy. That said, he knows Baylor, has been to the campus several times and developed a good relationship with the coaches. Should this visit come off, time will tell if it will be enough for Baylor to convince him to change.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Wilds wants to know more
Brazosport Freeport presents an interesting offensive tackle in 2015's Bryce Wilds. At 6-7, 305 Wilds is planning on attending junior day on Sunday.
He's heard from the Bears, Texas Tech, Arkansas and Oklahoma. While there are no offers, Wilds definitely has the size to play at the Division I level. What schools probably want to know is how that frame looks in person and later see how well he moves his feet. Baylor gets the first chance Sunday to see if it will extend an offer.
"I think I had a good season,'' Wilds said. "I played a lot of left and right tackle and got a lot of pancake blocks and pulled a lot. Throughout the season, I picked up my and got a little more comfortable picked up where the linebacker was. I think I played pretty physical last year.''
Wilds attended Baylor's summer camp last May at Cy Falls and also attended Texas and Oklahoma camps. He definitely noticed a difference.
"Baylor really worked on you as a player and on your fundamentals,'' Wilds said. "I thought the Texas camp was too diluted and you really couldn't do as much I really like watching Baylor and how physical their linemen play.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Ennis duo can make an impression
Ennis went to the Class 4A Division II state semifinals and had plenty of talent. Overlooked behind running back Terence Williams and defensive end James Lockhart was quarterback Devin Smith (5-10, 160) and wide receiver Donta Thompson (6-6, 210).
The two will be visiting Baylor on junior day along with Lockhart. The two are very raw but intriguing. It's probably a longshot that either will get an offer but it's clear Baylor wants to know a little bit more about each's story.
Smith threw for 2,075 yards and 20 scores and rushed for 481 yards and six TDs. But he is more of an athlete and admits he will play slot receiver in college. He accepts that.
"I'm cool with it,'' Smith said. "I can do mostly anything. I just want to be coached to get the most out of everything. I just want to keep improving.''
Thompson's size is imposing but he's probably more of a late bloomer. One Ennis coach I talked with believed he could have a huge 2014 season. Thompson caught 19 passes for 404 yards but averaged a team-leading 21.3 yards per catch. He could also be viewed as a tight end in college.
"There are a lot of opportunities for me,'' he said. "I know my size gives me a great advantage over receivers. I just need to work on my speed.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
McLane Stadium Update
Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said Thursday the construction of Baylor's new home for football is more than 60 percent complete and that everything remains on schedule for the work to be completed in early August.
The $260 stadium is not yet fully funded but McCaw said efforts continue to move at a very positive pace.
In other items relative to the stadium:
>Nothing has formally been determined in terms of the number of slips that will be available in front of stadium on Brazos River, McCaw said.
>Baylor had more than 25,000 season tickets for 2013 ? a school record ? and McCaw said because of obligations for students (about 8,000) and visiting teams (4,000), the most Baylor can have for season ticket holders is about 28,000-29,000. McCaw said an exact number has not been determined.
>In case you're wondering, the Grant Teaff statue has been removed from Floyd Casey Stadium and is in storage.
>While the Hall of Fame will be ready in 2014, the events center is not expected until 2015. It will be located on the east side of the stadium.
Now as for unrelated items:
>McCaw said architects are working on final plans for the Beauchamp Athletics Nutrition Center. While no groundbreaking date has been said, there is optimism that the $6 million facility will be completed by the end of 2014. It is fully funded.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Horne waiting on the call
After getting an official invitation from the Baylor coaching staff to attend the Iowa State game this past fall, Baylor's been on the mind of 2015 Houston Westside DT Ethan Horne. A lot. If he had to make a list of favorites, "Baylor would be at the top," he said. "By far."
Horne had kept in touch with the staff -- primarily DL coach Chris Achuff -- but he admitted he's unsure if he can just show up for this weekend's junior day or if he needs another invitation from the staff. He said wants to get in touch with Achuff tomorrow to try to work it out.
"When I met him coach Achuff at the Iowa State game, we actually sat down and talked for a little bit," he said. "He talked to me about the importance of making junior days and especially spring practices and getting a feel of what practices are like."
I'll have more in a story about Horne over the weekend. We'll see over the next few days and weeks how interested Baylor is in him. But we know for a fact he likes Baylor.
"I'd be on my way to the junior day right now," he said, "if I knew for sure I was invited."
-Jake Shaw
Linebacker commitments in state of flux
Though Rivals has Baylor listed with three commitments from high school linebackers, will there be none in the end? I don't want to alarm anyone, but it's something that must be explored a bit more.
The three commitments in question: Midway's Jamie Jacobs, Wylie's T'Kevian Rockwell, and James David of Rockdale. The first one, Jacobs, will make it in to Waco for sure. But the asterisk with him is that coaches might move him to defensive end. At 6-4, he has the frame to add weight to his 215 pounds and grow into a pass-rushing role.
The other two, meanwhile, have less certainty. As Kevin reported a couple of weeks ago, Rockwell has explored double signing with a junior college in case he doesn't get the necessary standardized test score. From what we've heard lately, there's belief he will eventually qualify. It might result in Rockwell enrolling after the summer. But nothing is guaranteed.
David, on the other hand, will most likely double sign with Navarro College, giving him a backup plan if he doesn't qualify to get in Baylor. No kid likes to answer these questions, but I did ask him two questions in a recent text -- Are you taking an official? Will you arrive in the summer? -- but he replied back with "I don't know".
This happens with every class. Baylor had three recruits fail to qualify last year (Darius Moore, Maurice Porter and Kyle Fulks). Porter looks like he'll make it back, as should Fulks (both in the 2015 class). Moore's ship has sailed.
So it's not negative thinking to expect some recruits to fail to make it in with this class. It just so happens that the two most likely candidates are at the same position, while another LB (Jacobs) appears to be headed to the defensive line.
Baylor has addressed this, of course, with JUCO signee Grant Campbell. And of the seven players on Baylor's roster listed at OLB or MLB, six are sophomores or younger. So while it would hurt to lose talented players like David and Rockwell to grades, Baylor appears to be prepared, just in case.
And one more thing to remember -- the legal situation with former commit Cordell Dorsey remains unresolved. He graduated in December from Abilene Cooper, so he'd be ready to enroll if/when his off field problem is finalized. But don't expect him until Waco a minute before that happens.
-Jake Shaw
Big 12 Power Ratings - Basketball
The ratings are starting to look the same as past years: Kansas on top, with a host of teams fighting for the next spots. As always, SicEmSports ranks the Big 12 teams heading into the weekend.
1. Kansas (14-4/5-0) - All five of KU's conference wins have come against teams currently ranked in the top 25.
2. Kansas State (14-5/4-2) - Coming off a buzzer-beating loss at Texas, the Wildcats have to rebound at slumping Iowa State.
3. Oklahoma State (15-2/3-2) - The Cowboys have had a week off to stew over the effort at Kansas that came two points short of a comeback.
4. Texas (15-4/4-2) - The surprise team of the Big 12 is tied for second in the standings, yet is one of the four Big 12 teams not in the top 25.
5. Iowa State (14-3/2-3) - Like Baylor, Iowa State has a must-win on Saturday at home against a tough opponent.
6. Oklahoma (13-4/2-2) - The Sooners have won two straight -- and go for three in a row at Tech Saturday -- since cracking the top 25.
7. Baylor (13-5/1-4) - The Bears get the benefit of the doubt for now (in terms of the power ratings), but the season is on the line with the Texas game this weekend.
8. West Virginia (11-8/3-3) - After scoring two points against KSU, guard Terry Henderson exploded for 28 to help WVU hold off Tech on Wednesday night.
9. Texas Tech (10-9/2-4) - Texas Tech came just short of a third straight conference win -- which would've matched last year's total Big 12 wins.
10. TCU (9-9/0-6) - Think Kansas will overlook the Frogs in Fort Worth this time around? Not hardly.
-Jake Shaw
Emptying the Notebook
>Let's close with the fact that we have been told that Baylor has made up some ground with Cedar Hill WR Damarkus Lodge. When we asked one source if the Bears were definitely in this recruiting battle, the answer was yes. We're told that Baylor made a good impression earlier this week when the four coaches were on the Cedar Hill campus Tuesday. It appears that Lodge is attending Texas A&M's junior day on Sunday. The early thinking is that a commitment by Lodge to the school he chooses could be coming within a month.
-SicEmSports
