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.
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NOTE I: We’re aware of a reported offer for 2016 Texarkana (AR) defensive tackle Nick McCann. We hope to have something very soon from either McCann or the Texarkana staff as soon as possible.
NOTE II: Baylor’s first summer session begins on Monday June 1. Basketball and football recruits expect to be on campus around May 28. By the way, the athletes are apparently going to be staying in some dorms for the summer while the athletic apartments are being renovated. However, the renovations should be completed in time for the fall semester in August.
State Track & Field Preview
The University Interscholastic League’s State Track & Field Meet at the University of Texas Mike A. Myers Stadium began Thursday and runs through Saturday night. There are several Baylor targets participating.
Here’s a list of those 2016 and 2017 recruits where Baylor either has offered or has expressed interest.
5A Triple Jump – Thursday, 5 p.m.
Devwah Whaley – Beaumont Central (Baylor offer but the Bears are taking only 1 RB in 2016)
5A 4x100m – Friday, 6 p.m.
Kenan Ivy – Lancaster (2016 Baylor commit)
5A 110m Hurdles – Friday, 6:45 p.m.
Tyrell Alexander – Lancaster (2016 Baylor offer; Oklahoma State commit)
5A 4x200m – Friday, 7:45 p.m.
Davion Curtis – Temple (2016 Baylor interest)
Kenan Ivy – Lancaster (2016 Baylor commit)
5A 300m Hurdles – Friday, 8:45 p.m.
Jeremy Smith – Fort Bend Marshall (2016 Baylor interest)
5A 4x400m – Friday, 10:15 p.m.
Jeremy Smith – Fort Bend Marshall (2016 Baylor interest)
6A High Jump – Saturday 8 a.m.
Brandon Bowen – Trophy Club Byron Nelson (2016 Baylor offer)
3A 100m – Saturday, 1:05 p.m.
Grayland Arnold – Kountze (2016 Baylor commit)
6A 4x100m – Saturday, 6 p.m.
Kameron Martin – Port Arthur Memorial ((2016 Baylor commit)
Devin Duvernay – Sachse (2016 Baylor offer)
Donovan Duvernay – Sachse (2016 Baylor offer)
D’Eriq King – Manvel (2016 Baylor offer; TCU commit)
Deontay Anderson – Manvel (2016 Baylor offer)
K.D. Nixon – DeSoto (2017 Baylor interest)
Tyrie Cleveland – Houston Westfield (2016 Baylor offer)
4A 4x100m – Saturday, 6 p.m.
Hezekiah Jones – Houston Stafford (2017 Baylor offer)
6A 4x200m – Saturday, 6:20 p.m.
D’Eriq King – Manvel (2016 Baylor offer; TCU commit)
Deontay Anderson – Manvel (2016 Baylor offer)
Kameron Martin – Port Arthur Memorial (Baylor 2016 Baylor commit)
6A 100m – Saturday, 7:05 p.m.
Devin Duvernay – Sachse (2016 Baylor offer)
4A 100m – Saturday, 7:05 p.m.
J.K. Dobbins – La Grange (2017 Baylor interest)
4A 4x200m – Saturday, 7:25 p.m.
Hezekiah Jones – Houston Stafford (2017 Baylor offer)
Charles Oliver – Fairfield (2016 Baylor offer)
6A 200m – Saturday, 8:25 p.m.
Deontay Anderson – Manvel (2016 Baylor offer)
4A 200m – Saturday, 8:25 p.m.
Charles Oliver – Fairfield (2016 Baylor offer)
Hezekiah Jones – Houston Stafford (2017 Baylor offer)
6A 4x400m – Saturday, 9:15 p.m.
Deontay Anderson – Manvel (2016 Baylor offer)
Ivy talks Relays
Lancaster safety Kenan Ivy is looking forward to helping the Tigers bring in state championships in both aforementioned relay events.
Ivy, whose recruiting stock continues to grow by adding recent offers from Missouri and Colorado, said the track season has helped with the football fundamentals of coming out of his break and closing. He’s running the anchor leg in both events. His personal record splits are 10.2 in 100 and 20.4 in the 200.
“I’m running fourth because if we get the lead – and even if we don’t get the lead – I believe I can get us the win.’’
Once the weekend concludes, Ivy is expected to return to spring workouts. Of course, he committed to Baylor on March 3.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Keeping up with the Joneses
Houston Stafford’s Hezekiah Jones will be busy running a leg in both the 4x100 and 4x200 relay events as well as the 200 at the 4A meet.
Jones, who is running the anchor leg for the both relay events, said he has been comfortable running in that position. Well, yeah. His best split in the 4x100 is 9.9 and in the 4x200 is 20.3. The coveted Baylor 2017 target is hoping to set a personal mark in the 200 of 21.0. His personal record is 21.3. These disciplines are productive for the athlete in more ways than one.
“It’s made me more mature in the game,’’ he said. “I’ve learned to be more polished than last year. I think coming off the turn has helped in jut the little things especially in the way I run. The coaching staff believes in me that I can get the job done.’’
There is incentive for these relay teams to take home gold medals. The 4x200 finished third at state in 2014. The 4x100 didn’t even qualify.
In the meantime, Stafford isn’t truly going through spring football because it’s a smaller classification school. However, Jones is going through 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills as well as individual drills to help the younger players. At this point Jones is planning on attending the June 1 camp in Cy Falls. But schedules do tend to change. Regardless, it hasn’t impacted his relationship with the Baylor coaching staff.
“Me and coach [Kendal Briles] and [Tate] Wallis have been really strong,’’ Jones said. “I talk to them more than any other coaches that I talk with.’’
-Kevin Lonnquist
Monroe: The follow-up
We posted the video of North Shore (TX) Rivals100 safety Eric Monroe earlier this week, but wanted to add some commentary he shared before and after the interview. During the interview, Monroe seemed very upbeat when speaking about Baylor corners Coach Carlton Buckles.
"He's just easy to talk with," Monroe said. "Coach Buckles has experience in the NFL and has a plan for what he wants to bring to the defense at Baylor. He is always talking about having aggressive defensive backs to play great coverage, but also being able to come down into the box and hit someone.
"I would say that Baylor, Texas A&M and LSU are some of my top schools right now. There are still coaches coming in with new interest, Alabama was here today, but those are the coaches that I have connected with the most."
Thoughts: I have always gotten the impression that Monroe is a lean to LSU, but after speaking with him this time around, I can honestly say that he is pretty much down to the three schools mentioned and seemed to be very open about that. The coaches simply need to continue aggressively recruiting Monroe and make sure that he gets onto campus again for one of the games this fall. From there, I believe the Bears have a legitimate shot at landing a player like Monroe.
-Matt Clare
Make the call
He emerged in the fall as a recruit where Division I programs needed to track. Now, 2017 Plain Dealing, LA athlete Keldrick Carper has seen the attention explode.
He holds offers from Mississippi State, Tennessee, Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Lafayette. Baylor could be next. Carper visited with Baylor offensive line coach Randy Clements on Wednesday. Despite a brief discussion, Carper called it valuable. Baylor is a program that Carper (6-3, 184, 4.58 40) has eyed for the last two years.
“Actually, [Clements] came across like family, like my uncle,’’ Carper said. “That was the best thing about it. When we talked about my game, he said everything they saw [on film] was outstanding. He was going to talk to the coaches about an offer. He wanted me to call him on Monday [May 18] and we’ll see what happens.’’
Should an offer come, that’s probably going to be as a wide receiver. But schools are looking at him in different spots. Both Mississippi State and Tennessee view Carper as a wide receiver, Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Lafayette view him as a free safety.
Plain Dealing finished its spring season on Thursday. With its starting quarterback unavailable, Carper said he operated the offense out of the Wildcat formation and scored twice.
A Baylor summer visit is unknown at this time. During the first week of June, Carper is scheduled to camp at Alabama (June 2) and Ole Miss (June 6). But he wants to come.
“When I asked Clements what I was being recruited as and he said safety, I was pretty excited,’’ Carper said. “I want to up and down the field. That offense can do it.’’
-Kevin Lonnquist
Basketball quick hits
The NIKE EYBL circuit has plenty of Baylor 2016 and 2017 prospects. The circuit is off this week before it finishes next weekend in Minneapolis. A couple of 2017 highly touted recruits gave their assessment of the Baylor’s program.
Trae Young, Norman, OK (No. 30 in the 2017 150): “I talk to coach [Scott] Drew and [Grant] McCasland a lot. I probably talk to them once or twice a week. They keep talking to me about they want me to play for their school. It’s a great program.
Jarred Vanderbilt, Houston Victory Prep (No. 4 in the 2017 150): “It’s been going pretty OK with Baylor. They offered me my freshman year. I’m considering them.’’
In an unrelated note, the Under Armour event – that features 2016 commit and No. 49 Mark Vital and No. 9 2017 prospect in Billy Preston – will be in a tournament in Dallas Friday-Sunday.
Stricklin ready
He’s the only wide receiver in the 2015 class. But Waco Midway product Devontre Stricklin is ready to walk into a program that has plenty of receiver options.
Ever since he signed with Baylor on Feb. 4, Stricklin has been working through the suggested conditioning program that Kaz Kazadi presented. While that’s been going fine, Stricklin has also had to recover from a right hamstring injury strain he suffered last month.
Stricklin said he incurred the injury at the area track meet in the triple jump. He said he is recovering from it but he’s not 100 percent yet.
“It means a lot to be chasing down my dream and living it out,’’ Stricklin said. “The [Baylor] coaches message to me was when I arrived [June 1] was to just come ready to work for a spot. If that means I get a chance to play, then I’ll play. But if I have to redshirt, then that’s just something that will happen.’’
Before the injury, Stricklin had been experiencing a pretty good track season. He won the District 12-6A meet in both long and triple jumps. He set a personal record in the long of 23-5 and then a 47-1 in the triple.
Every event has its purpose. Stricklin enjoyed a big senior year – 67-1,338 12 TD – and credits those events for helping him reach a P5 opportunity.
“Being explosive out of the break is big,’’ he said. “They’ve just taught me to run through the ball and maintain. They’ve also helped me with my footwork.’’
In case you’re wondering Stricklin will be roommates with Longview running back JaMycal Hasty.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Hasty update
JaMycal Hasty was well enough to finish the 2014 football season, play in the Semper Fi All-Star game in January and go through a portion of the track & field season with the lingering effects of a back injury he suffered last fall.
“I wish I could say yes [when asked if he was 100 percent] with full confidence, but it’s close,’’ Hasty said. “It still bothers me every now and then. But other than that it’s good.’’
The Longview 2015 signee goes through a heat, ice and stretching routine a couple of times per week. But said he’s able to do just about everything. Expect Baylor’s training staff to monitor that and continue the rehab/treatment once Hasty arrives.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Baseball: vs. Texas
Baylor (20-28, 8-13) plays for its Big 12 postseason tournament lives this weekend when it plays host to underachieving Texas (24-24, 9-12) at Baylor Ballpark. It’s also the final games of the 2015 regular season.
Currently, the Bears are tied with Kansas State for eighth place (if the season ended today Kansas State would earn the No. 7 seed because it won the series in Waco) and lead Kansas (7-13) by a half game. Kansas and Kansas State are playing each other this weekend.
No. 6 seed West Virginia (8-12) plays host to Texas Tech this weekend. Baylor’s series doesn’t start until 3:00 p.m. Saturday. Sunday’s doubleheader starts at 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Strting pitching matchups have not been announced.
-SicEmSports
Emptying the Notebook
>On the day Killeen Shoemaker defensive tackle and Rivals No. 84 2016 prospect Kendell Jones announced Baylor in his Top 5, member(s) of the Baylor coaching staff paid Jones a visit. It was Baylor’s second visit within the last three weeks.
>Baylor’s men’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals with a 4-1 victory over South Florida at the Hurd Tennis Center. The Bears meet No. 8 USC at 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
>The ninth-ranked and eighth-seeded Baylor women's tennis team will face eighth-ranked and ninth-seeded Virginia in the NCAA Championship Round of 16 Friday at 7 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center.
>The Baylor men's golf team shot 5-over-par 293 in Thursday's opening round at the NCAA Bremerton Regional, and the Bears are in 10th place heading to Friday's second round. Baylor is six strokes back of fifth place, which is the cut to advance to the NCAA National Championships.
>Baylor returns a total of 22 All-Big 12 performers to the 2015 Big 12 Outdoor Championships hosted by Iowa State at the Cyclone Sports Complex in Ames, Iowa, Friday through Sunday. Sophomore sensation Trayvon Bromell has the fastest 100 (9.90) and 200-meter (20.19) times in the conference. Meanwhile, Felix Obi has the best triple jump mark in the league at 53-3.5 [16.24m]. Senior Tiffani McReynolds has the best 100-hurdle time in the Big 12 at 12.75. Maggie Montoya (14.52) is tops in the 5,000-meter run.
>Baylor softball’s 10th all-time postseason appearance begins Friday at Lamson Park on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette at 5:30 p.m. vs. Mississippi State. The Bears (38-15) will face the Bulldogs (35-19) in game one while Louisiana (39-9) faces Weber State (38-17) at 8 p.m.
-SicEmSports
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