NOTE: Longview 2015 running back JaMycal Hasty reconfirmed Thursday that he will be coming to Baylor and visit on Saturday. He wouldn't disclose anything specific, but he said there were still a few more things he needed to know about Baylor on this trip.
While there had been speculation that he was a Texas A&M lean, that talk might have cooled because the Aggies already have two running back commitments from Katy's Rodney Anderson and Splendora's Jay Bradford.
Hasty is a low-to-the-ground type of athlete who is very physical in his upper body. It's hard to say if he would commit to Baylor on this visit. If anything, the Bears coaching staff will continue to build equity. Don't count out the idea that if Hasty were to commit to Baylor, he could be a running back or athlete. He's that versatile.
Hasty did not attend last week's junior day because of a track meet. This is his second known visit to Baylor.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Football notes
Just to catch you up on some happenings as we wind toward the home stretch of the spring football season. Don't forget the controlled scrimmage (spring football game) is April 5 at the Highers Complex.
>Freshman WR Davion Hall (shoulder) likely won't return for the rest of the spring football season.
>LaQuan McGowan appears to be the starting left guard at this point. He's been in on most of the snaps with the first team. Obviously, there were high hopes for JUCO transfer Jarell Broxton to immediately step in and do it. But it sounds like we'll probably know where this is going when fall camp begins in August. Kyle Fuller still seems to have the inside track as the starting center.
>About DE Javonte Magee - the start San Antonio product has delivered a pretty good effort and his execution on plays has been pretty solid since the spring started. His attitude has been good. But that doesn't assure anything that he's back on the 2-deep. We'll just have to see how the final spring evaluations go before the roster is released. But he is on the right track.
>The word on JUCO college transfer LB Grant Campbell is that he's still dealing with a huge learning curve to the Division I game. But don't be alarmed by that. Remember, he's really spent only three weeks learning what his role is. By comparison, Eddie Lackey was in the same spot when he arrived two years ago. That seemed to work out fine.
>Is this the season where sophomore LB Aiavion Edwards takes his game to another level? Well, it would appear that Edwards, a native of Stephenville, has taken some very encouraging steps toward becoming an integral part of the defense. It's still a process but if his fall camp is even better than what he's showing in the spring (instincts, lateral movement) then he's on the right track.
>If the season were to start today, the secondary would comprise of Xavien Howard and Ryan Reid at corner and Terrence Singleton and Orion Stewart at safety. Remember Terrell Burt is out with a shoulder injury. Singleton has had an impressive camp so far. JUCO transfers Tion Wright and Chris Sanders are currently working second team. But given that Baylor likes to use a lot of players, those two will get plenty of playing time.
-SicEmSports
Baylor basketball: Time to reload
It's been said over and over again, but Scott Drew really performed a miracle turning the Baylor basketball team around. And I'm not talking about his first revival, the one he engineered after taking the Baylor job. It's the most recent one: Not giving up on his team after a 2-8 start to conference play, transforming the next-to-last place team in the Big 12 into the conference tournament runner-up and one of the final 16 teams alive in the NCAA tournament.
No matter what the preseason expectations were, the 2013-14 season should be considered a success. Just think about programs like Kansas, Duke and even Wichita State -- none of them made it as far as the Bears. Once given up for dead, the team found a way to right the ship, finish conference play 7-1, and play its best basketball in the month of March.
The ending against Wisconsin was anticlimactic, of course, but it shouldn't be the lasting image of this year's team.
But where does Drew go from here? He loses three seniors, two of them (Cory Jefferson and Brady Heslip) who have been key components for the program going back a few seasons. Sophomore Isaiah Austin also has a decision to make, and he'll most likely head to the NBA. Baylor has a four-deep 2014 class so far but is still looking at at least one more piece (more on that later). As for the roster, I see it shaping up like this:
PG: Kenny Chery, Lester Medford (JUCO signee)
SG: Royce O'Neale, Al Freeman (2013-14 redshirt), Damiyne Durham (2014 signee), Kobie Eubanks (2014 commitment)
SF: Taurean Prince, Ish Wainright
F: Rico Gathers, Chad Rhykhoek
F: Jonathan Motley (2013-14 redshirt), TJ Maston (2014 signee)
The backcourt has a ton of options. Gone is the shooting threat of Heslip, but there is a lot of athleticism and potential scoring from a young group of guards. Notice I have O'Neale moving to guard; I put him there because I think Prince will work his way into the lineup as well, and playing Prince at PF instead would give Baylor a very small front court. I see O'Neale and Prince potentially starting together, unless one of the young guards steps up and wins the SG job, pushing O'Neale to SF.
The front court will be the biggest challenge to replace, especially if Austin goes pro. If he doesn't, this team looks pretty good on paper, with Austin at center and Gathers at PF. But that seems unlikely, forcing Baylor to become a guard-oriented team.
The one thing that could really help the front court? Read below as Baylor is still looking for one more big for this class.
-Jake Shaw
Bears eyeing JUCO post
With a small, inexperienced front court confronting Baylor's 2014-15 season, the solution to this potential problem could come from the JUCO ranks. Specifically, it could come from Lee College's Deng Deng, a 6-8, 220-pound power forward whom the Bears have not offered but are expected to do so soon.
His head coach, Roy Champagne, confirmed the interest on Deng's part.
"Deng is one of the top recruits in the country and Baylor has shown interest in him from the get go," he said. "It's one of his top choices."
Champagne didn't want to talk about Deng's recruitment much -- who his leaders were, who he felt like was doing the best job -- but he was effusive in praising Deng, an Australian native.
"He's a special player," Champagne said. "A versatile player is best way to describe him. He's 6-8. You can call him a point forward or a post. He plays outside, he bangs inside. He's great above the rim. He's a great passer and loves to block shots. He might not be great in one thing, but he's unbelievably good at all things."
Champagne did say that he expects Deng to start the decision-making process after the Final Four. Baylor should get an official visit out of him. He said Baylor's track record with foreign players shouldn't have an impact. The school that gets him will be one "that understands his game and doesn't make him something he's not."
What a program will get, he said, was a player that just keeps getting better.
"European style players tend to not want to bang and they tend to want to hang around outside and shoot set shots, so that's something that we worked on with Deng," Champagne said. "The way it's played here is physical. You can't just shoot set shots. He's a hard worker and has a lot or pride in himself and has been very open to coaching."
-Jake Shaw
Making the journey to Waco - Part 1
Bossier City (LA) Parkway 2016 DB C.J. Morgan and his father Courtney visited Baylor on Tuesday and spent a few hours taking in the campus and visiting with the coaching staff.
"We spent most of the morning in Coach [Phil] Bennett's office,'' Courtney said. "He didn't know about the stadium but has been very aware of the school with its academic reputation. We were very impressed with what we saw. It's a really beautiful school.''
Viewed as a pressing corner, Morgan visited Texas A&M on Monday and checked in at 5-10, 180. His father said the biggest thing that his son has to deal with is letting his aggressiveness work against him.
Baylor hasn't offered, but the older Morgan said they believe an offer could be coming in the near future. That could be weeks or maybe in the spring. Baylor is expected to visit.
"Coach Bennett and coach Buckels really like him,'' Courtney said. "They've been keeping an eye on him since [the Marshall camp last June] and look at him as a corner all the way.''
Morgan has offers from UCLA, UL-Lafayette, Mississippi State and San Diego State.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Making the journey to Waco - Part 2
Morgan's teammate, 2015 offensive lineman Kameron Eloph (6-3, 275) joined him on the visit and met with offensive line coach Randy Clements and got the same tour of the campus and other athletic facilities.
Like Morgan, Baylor has not offered but will use the spring to evaluate Eloph even more to see how and if he could be an offer candidate.
"They really really like me,'' Eloph said. "I like the facilities and how fast they came to get to know me. They said they are coming to my spring practices.''
Eloph said he believes his agility and ability to get to the next level throughout an entire game is very important. But he said he said he needs to keep his hips a little more square when it comes to pass protection.
Eloph already has offers from Georgia Tech, Louisville, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Baseball Bears at West Virginia
Coming off a tough midweek 14-3 loss at UT-Arlington, the Bears make their first Big 12 roadtrip as they play at West Virginia with a 3-game series Friday-Sunday. All of the games are afternoon starts. Friday is at 1:00 p.m. Saturday is at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday (televised by FOX Sports 1) is at 12:30 p.m.
This will be West Virginia's (13-8) first Big 12 series. The Bears (13-11, 4-2 in Big 12) won the inaugural series in Waco last year two games to one.
Left-hander Brad Kuntz (4-0, 1.64 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday. Right-hander Austin Stone (3-1, 0.97) starts Saturday. Right-hander Dillon Newman (2-1, 2.86) will start Sunday.
For this team, it's always going to have to be about the pitching. Through the first 24 games, the leader in home runs is Sheppard Porter with two. The RBI leader is Mitch Price with 13.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the notebook
>Converse Judson 2015 3-star DB Keivon Ramsey said he was hoping to come up to Baylor and visit Saturday. The same is true for Manvel 2015 DB Gary Haynes (5-9, 159). Haynes said he has spoken a lot with Baylor but the staff has not been offered.
>While Baylor has secured 16 slips for sailgating near McLane Stadium none have been assigned yet, athletic director Ian McCaw said.
>South Grand Prairie athlete Tony Nicholson said earlier this week that Baylor remains very high on his list of schools he's considering.
>There were no known recruits visiting Thursday's practice.
>Don't forget the No. 2 seed Lady Bears (31-4) will take on No. 3 seed Kentucky (26-8) in the South Bend Regional Semifinal at 11:00 a.m. Saturday. The game will be on ESPN. Remember, these teams met Dec. 6 at Cowboys Stadium. Kentucky won the epic four overtime thriller, 133-130.
-SicEmSports
While there had been speculation that he was a Texas A&M lean, that talk might have cooled because the Aggies already have two running back commitments from Katy's Rodney Anderson and Splendora's Jay Bradford.
Hasty is a low-to-the-ground type of athlete who is very physical in his upper body. It's hard to say if he would commit to Baylor on this visit. If anything, the Bears coaching staff will continue to build equity. Don't count out the idea that if Hasty were to commit to Baylor, he could be a running back or athlete. He's that versatile.
Hasty did not attend last week's junior day because of a track meet. This is his second known visit to Baylor.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Football notes
Just to catch you up on some happenings as we wind toward the home stretch of the spring football season. Don't forget the controlled scrimmage (spring football game) is April 5 at the Highers Complex.
>Freshman WR Davion Hall (shoulder) likely won't return for the rest of the spring football season.
>LaQuan McGowan appears to be the starting left guard at this point. He's been in on most of the snaps with the first team. Obviously, there were high hopes for JUCO transfer Jarell Broxton to immediately step in and do it. But it sounds like we'll probably know where this is going when fall camp begins in August. Kyle Fuller still seems to have the inside track as the starting center.
>About DE Javonte Magee - the start San Antonio product has delivered a pretty good effort and his execution on plays has been pretty solid since the spring started. His attitude has been good. But that doesn't assure anything that he's back on the 2-deep. We'll just have to see how the final spring evaluations go before the roster is released. But he is on the right track.
>The word on JUCO college transfer LB Grant Campbell is that he's still dealing with a huge learning curve to the Division I game. But don't be alarmed by that. Remember, he's really spent only three weeks learning what his role is. By comparison, Eddie Lackey was in the same spot when he arrived two years ago. That seemed to work out fine.
>Is this the season where sophomore LB Aiavion Edwards takes his game to another level? Well, it would appear that Edwards, a native of Stephenville, has taken some very encouraging steps toward becoming an integral part of the defense. It's still a process but if his fall camp is even better than what he's showing in the spring (instincts, lateral movement) then he's on the right track.
>If the season were to start today, the secondary would comprise of Xavien Howard and Ryan Reid at corner and Terrence Singleton and Orion Stewart at safety. Remember Terrell Burt is out with a shoulder injury. Singleton has had an impressive camp so far. JUCO transfers Tion Wright and Chris Sanders are currently working second team. But given that Baylor likes to use a lot of players, those two will get plenty of playing time.
-SicEmSports
Baylor basketball: Time to reload
It's been said over and over again, but Scott Drew really performed a miracle turning the Baylor basketball team around. And I'm not talking about his first revival, the one he engineered after taking the Baylor job. It's the most recent one: Not giving up on his team after a 2-8 start to conference play, transforming the next-to-last place team in the Big 12 into the conference tournament runner-up and one of the final 16 teams alive in the NCAA tournament.
No matter what the preseason expectations were, the 2013-14 season should be considered a success. Just think about programs like Kansas, Duke and even Wichita State -- none of them made it as far as the Bears. Once given up for dead, the team found a way to right the ship, finish conference play 7-1, and play its best basketball in the month of March.
The ending against Wisconsin was anticlimactic, of course, but it shouldn't be the lasting image of this year's team.
But where does Drew go from here? He loses three seniors, two of them (Cory Jefferson and Brady Heslip) who have been key components for the program going back a few seasons. Sophomore Isaiah Austin also has a decision to make, and he'll most likely head to the NBA. Baylor has a four-deep 2014 class so far but is still looking at at least one more piece (more on that later). As for the roster, I see it shaping up like this:
PG: Kenny Chery, Lester Medford (JUCO signee)
SG: Royce O'Neale, Al Freeman (2013-14 redshirt), Damiyne Durham (2014 signee), Kobie Eubanks (2014 commitment)
SF: Taurean Prince, Ish Wainright
F: Rico Gathers, Chad Rhykhoek
F: Jonathan Motley (2013-14 redshirt), TJ Maston (2014 signee)
The backcourt has a ton of options. Gone is the shooting threat of Heslip, but there is a lot of athleticism and potential scoring from a young group of guards. Notice I have O'Neale moving to guard; I put him there because I think Prince will work his way into the lineup as well, and playing Prince at PF instead would give Baylor a very small front court. I see O'Neale and Prince potentially starting together, unless one of the young guards steps up and wins the SG job, pushing O'Neale to SF.
The front court will be the biggest challenge to replace, especially if Austin goes pro. If he doesn't, this team looks pretty good on paper, with Austin at center and Gathers at PF. But that seems unlikely, forcing Baylor to become a guard-oriented team.
The one thing that could really help the front court? Read below as Baylor is still looking for one more big for this class.
-Jake Shaw
Bears eyeing JUCO post
With a small, inexperienced front court confronting Baylor's 2014-15 season, the solution to this potential problem could come from the JUCO ranks. Specifically, it could come from Lee College's Deng Deng, a 6-8, 220-pound power forward whom the Bears have not offered but are expected to do so soon.
His head coach, Roy Champagne, confirmed the interest on Deng's part.
"Deng is one of the top recruits in the country and Baylor has shown interest in him from the get go," he said. "It's one of his top choices."
Champagne didn't want to talk about Deng's recruitment much -- who his leaders were, who he felt like was doing the best job -- but he was effusive in praising Deng, an Australian native.
"He's a special player," Champagne said. "A versatile player is best way to describe him. He's 6-8. You can call him a point forward or a post. He plays outside, he bangs inside. He's great above the rim. He's a great passer and loves to block shots. He might not be great in one thing, but he's unbelievably good at all things."
Champagne did say that he expects Deng to start the decision-making process after the Final Four. Baylor should get an official visit out of him. He said Baylor's track record with foreign players shouldn't have an impact. The school that gets him will be one "that understands his game and doesn't make him something he's not."
What a program will get, he said, was a player that just keeps getting better.
"European style players tend to not want to bang and they tend to want to hang around outside and shoot set shots, so that's something that we worked on with Deng," Champagne said. "The way it's played here is physical. You can't just shoot set shots. He's a hard worker and has a lot or pride in himself and has been very open to coaching."
-Jake Shaw
Making the journey to Waco - Part 1
Bossier City (LA) Parkway 2016 DB C.J. Morgan and his father Courtney visited Baylor on Tuesday and spent a few hours taking in the campus and visiting with the coaching staff.
"We spent most of the morning in Coach [Phil] Bennett's office,'' Courtney said. "He didn't know about the stadium but has been very aware of the school with its academic reputation. We were very impressed with what we saw. It's a really beautiful school.''
Viewed as a pressing corner, Morgan visited Texas A&M on Monday and checked in at 5-10, 180. His father said the biggest thing that his son has to deal with is letting his aggressiveness work against him.
Baylor hasn't offered, but the older Morgan said they believe an offer could be coming in the near future. That could be weeks or maybe in the spring. Baylor is expected to visit.
"Coach Bennett and coach Buckels really like him,'' Courtney said. "They've been keeping an eye on him since [the Marshall camp last June] and look at him as a corner all the way.''
Morgan has offers from UCLA, UL-Lafayette, Mississippi State and San Diego State.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Making the journey to Waco - Part 2
Morgan's teammate, 2015 offensive lineman Kameron Eloph (6-3, 275) joined him on the visit and met with offensive line coach Randy Clements and got the same tour of the campus and other athletic facilities.
Like Morgan, Baylor has not offered but will use the spring to evaluate Eloph even more to see how and if he could be an offer candidate.
"They really really like me,'' Eloph said. "I like the facilities and how fast they came to get to know me. They said they are coming to my spring practices.''
Eloph said he believes his agility and ability to get to the next level throughout an entire game is very important. But he said he said he needs to keep his hips a little more square when it comes to pass protection.
Eloph already has offers from Georgia Tech, Louisville, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Baseball Bears at West Virginia
Coming off a tough midweek 14-3 loss at UT-Arlington, the Bears make their first Big 12 roadtrip as they play at West Virginia with a 3-game series Friday-Sunday. All of the games are afternoon starts. Friday is at 1:00 p.m. Saturday is at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday (televised by FOX Sports 1) is at 12:30 p.m.
This will be West Virginia's (13-8) first Big 12 series. The Bears (13-11, 4-2 in Big 12) won the inaugural series in Waco last year two games to one.
Left-hander Brad Kuntz (4-0, 1.64 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday. Right-hander Austin Stone (3-1, 0.97) starts Saturday. Right-hander Dillon Newman (2-1, 2.86) will start Sunday.
For this team, it's always going to have to be about the pitching. Through the first 24 games, the leader in home runs is Sheppard Porter with two. The RBI leader is Mitch Price with 13.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the notebook
>Converse Judson 2015 3-star DB Keivon Ramsey said he was hoping to come up to Baylor and visit Saturday. The same is true for Manvel 2015 DB Gary Haynes (5-9, 159). Haynes said he has spoken a lot with Baylor but the staff has not been offered.
>While Baylor has secured 16 slips for sailgating near McLane Stadium none have been assigned yet, athletic director Ian McCaw said.
>South Grand Prairie athlete Tony Nicholson said earlier this week that Baylor remains very high on his list of schools he's considering.
>There were no known recruits visiting Thursday's practice.
>Don't forget the No. 2 seed Lady Bears (31-4) will take on No. 3 seed Kentucky (26-8) in the South Bend Regional Semifinal at 11:00 a.m. Saturday. The game will be on ESPN. Remember, these teams met Dec. 6 at Cowboys Stadium. Kentucky won the epic four overtime thriller, 133-130.
-SicEmSports
