No commitment just yet
Later Friday, Lee College power forward Deng Deng will head back to Baytown, wrapping up a nearly three-day visit to the Baylor campus. As of now, he hasn't committed to Baylor, something we'll just have to watch.
I checked in with his assistant coach, Marcus King, on Thursday night to see how the trip is going. He simply replied "he's enjoying his visit." I have a call set up with King later today to talk it through. Remember, the Lee College staff has shut off interviews between Deng and the media, so we're relying on King, as well as our own sources.
So look for an update later this weekend. Just because Deng didn't commit doesn't mean Baylor doesn't have a great shot. My gut says he ends up a Bear. But visiting other programs -- to state the obvious -- will impact Baylor's chances.
-Jake Shaw
McClure ready to announce
King McClure is one of the most sought after combo guards of the 2015 class. The Triple A Academy scorer is ranked No. 37 in the Rivals 150.
And he's ready to make his choice. McClure said he will announce his commitment decision early next week ? Monday or Tuesday. Baylor has been working on him for more than a year. But the Bears' stiffest competition has come from Kansas and most recently UCLA. SMU and Arkansas have also been in the mix, but it really sounds like this is a race between the Bears and Jayhawks.
McClure visited with the entire Baylor coaching staff on April 13 and called the visit very good.
"We just talked about how I would fit into their system, and they outlined how my time in the program would go,'' McClure said. "I can play on an off the ball depending on the game situations.''
McClure (6-3, 200) knows the Baylor roster and the program's recent history pretty well. He's seen other scoring guards succeed like Tweety Carter, LaceDarius Dunn and Pierre Jackson. McClure said he's been impressed how well JUCO transfer Kenny Chery has run the offense. But Chery won't be at Baylor should McClure choose the Bears.
He would be playing with incoming JUCO transfer guard Lester Medford. McClure has been dealing with some injuries. He said he's clear of the dislocation in his right knee that he suffered last year. However, he suffered a slightly sprained left knee in the last district game in February. He said he's around 75-80 percent and still looking to regain full explosion. But he still enjoyed a great season averaging 21.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. That's exactly what combo guards should do.
For now, McClure's AAU season takes another step this weekend as the Texas Titans are in a tournament in Sacramento. Once he returns, he'll make his choice known. McClure has not been to Baylor since he attended the Aug. 30 football season opener against Wofford but said he has a pretty good feel for the program.
"I pretty much know everything I need to know,'' McClure said. "I'm not planning any officials. I've talked to all of the coaches and how I would fit into their programs. I've given this some deep thought and consideration.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Bears in the hunt?
His profile may show that he has "low" interest in Baylor, but according to Cy Falls DT Du'vonta Lampkin himself, that's not the case.
"I like coach (Chris) Achuff, but I haven't gotten the chance to talk to coach (Art) Briles yet," he told me Thursday night, a few days after officially dropping the commitment he made to OU back in November 2013. "I know Baylor's a pretty good school. I'm going to visit them soon."
Lampkin, a 3-star recruit, said he doesn't have a date picked out yet. But that's the case for every school on his radar, a list that will grow now that he's back on the market. Thursday afternoon, Notre Dame offered the 6-4, 300-pounder.
"I'm figuring all (my visits) our after spring ball," he said.
Baylor will check in during the spring evaluation period, you can be sure. And I'll monitor him as well to see if Baylor becomes a player for Lampkin.
-Jake Shaw
English wants another look
DeSoto defensive tackle Bryce English is an undersized prospect for his position (6-0, 315). But that's the kind of player the Baylor coaching staff wants to pursue.
Well, Baylor has its chance after the 3-star standout de-committed from Texas earlier this week. English spoke with Baylor assistant Brian Norwood who should be visiting the school sometime next week.
Baylor hasn't offered yet.
"I [de-committed] because I really wanted to look around,'' said English, who committed to Texas under Mack Brown. "I didn't talk a lot with the new staff, but that wasn't the reason I de-committed. I just felt like I decided too early.''
But Baylor had been making the nudges earlier. English attended the April 5 controlled scrimmage and liked what he saw. It was his first visit.
"It's a great school,'' he said. "The campus is nice. The city is nice and the river walk around the stadium is pretty cool.''
Because of injuries, English rotated between defensive end and defensive tackle in 2013. And that's pretty much how he expects to be used in 2014. DeSoto begins spring workouts Wednesday. So there should be plenty of traffic coming.
English believes his strength is his motor and that he can play with leverage. He still needs to work on his hands.
"I think schools like me because I never stop and play nasty,'' he said. "I mean that in a good way.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Jackson on the rise
The evaluation period began on April 15, and Baylor couldn't wait to see Cibolo Steele 2016 defensive Mark Jackson.
At first glance, Jackson (6-4, 210) gets the excitement building because he's a raw talent but carries a high ceiling. Baylor assistant coach Chris Achuff was one of the first to offer him along with Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Texas and Texas A&M may not be far behind.
Jackson admits he doesn't know much about Baylor but said his mother went to Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. He's considering coming to one of Baylor's camps in June in Waco.
"It's been very humbling and didn't expect this to happen like it did,'' Jackson said. "When I talked with coach Achuff, he really seemed like a good guy. I could tell he cared for you than other coaches who just come by.''
Ironically, Jackson was backing up another name familiar to Baylor ? 2014 signee Josh Malin. During the 2013 season, Steele coaches used him as the third defensive end. When the staff wanted to put together a heavy pass rush, they would put Malin inside and have Jackson on the end.
Now, 2014 should give Jackson the freedom to do more. With a first step considered the best part of his game, Jackson could stand up as a defensive end or play outside linebacker depending on down and distance. Jackson calls his swim move, his best pass rush move. But he wants to focus his spring on improving his run stopping. Cibolo Steele begins spring workouts May 5.
"I just don't want to be known as a pass rusher,'' Jackson said. "I want to be an all-around guy.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Top RB wide open
The bumper crop 2015 Texas running back class just got one re-entrant. Katy's Rodney Anderson, ranked No. 72 in the Rivals 100, de-committed from Texas A&M on Wednesday.
Expect a Baylor visit sometime next week. It could be later in the week.
Anderson (6-1, 205) has held a Baylor offer since the spring 2013 but committed to Texas A&M on Aug. 6, 2013. However, we were told that Anderson didn't like what he saw when he attended a recent Aggie spring practice.
The sporadic use of running backs by the A&M coaching staff seemed somewhat of a turnoff.
Baylor already has secured the commitment of Longview's JaMycal Hasty. The staff is still pursuing Plano West's Soso Jamabo. Hasty's situation with Baylor doesn't change. In fact, we put on the board earlier that he hasn't heard from the Texas A&M staff. There had been some thought at the time he committed to Baylor, Hasty was an Aggie lean.
Anderson's situation is interesting because he's of similar size to McKinney North's Ronald Jones II who committed to Oklahoma State in early April. There's word that Anderson will visit Oklahoma and Alabama and possibly LSU.
He's a legit 4.4 40 runner but needs to stay healthy. Anderson missed five games in 2013 after suffering a stress fracture in his foot.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Tolbert's trip on hold
A week ago in this very space, we reported that Ridge Point CB Jordan Tolbert would visit Baylor tomorrow. Tolbert has recently de-committed from Houston and planned to check out Waco again. He had visited in January for a junior day and left extremely impressed.
He still has high Baylor interest, but he won't be in Waco on Saturday. Tolbert and I traded messages Thursday night, and he said his dad has to work and he can't make it. Asked if he has rescheduled his visit, he said no and that he needed to talk to his parents first.
Based on this and on our previous conversation, I think Tolbert is really going to take his time with the process now. Kevin and I heard from a source that if Tolbert came to Waco, the staff would push for a commitment. To put a positive spin on this, it might be a good thing Tolbert's not visiting. Perhaps getting pushed for a commitment when he's not ready would turn him off. The obvious negative spin, though, is that a once scheduled trip has been canceled, with no replacement in sight.
I'll keep in touch with Tolbert to monitor his process.
-Jake Shaw
Baseball vs. Kansas
After splitting a midweek home-and-away series with Texas State (Baylor won Tuesday in Waco, 4-3 and lost Wednesday in San Marcos, 2-0), the Bears (19-22, 5-9 in the Big 12), the Bears pretty much need to sweep Kansas this weekend at Baylor Ballpark in order to feel better about their situation in the conference race. Remember, the league takes eight of the nine teams in the conference for the tournament May 21-25 in Oklahoma City. The Bears are currently in eighth.
Baylor hasn't played a home league game in more than a month when it faced Oklahoma State on March 23.
Against the Jayhawks (23-20, 6-9), left-hander Brad Kuntz (4-2, 3.67 ERA) starts the opener at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Right-hander Dillon Newman (3-2, 3.10) is scheduled for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Left-hander Daniel Castano (5-1, 2.27) is slated for getaway day at 1:00 p.m. Sunday.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>Two sources said former Abilene Cooper linebacker Cordell Dorsey has signed his letter of intent with Baylor. This would follow what we had in the Blitz on April 4 when we visited with Dorsey who said he was planning on coming to Baylor on June 1. The LOI was just the official act. Dorsey's arrival does not impact the 2014 roster. Remember, Dorsey was going to arrive in December as a midsemester enrollee until he was arrested on a sexual assault charge back in September. A grand jury no-billed Dorsey in February.
>Sophomore DB Terrence Singleton's tweets early Thursday were odd. But we later learned that he had surgery for abdominal muscle injury. It's been an issue that has been bothering him since fall camp. He is expected to miss about a month of offseason work but should be ready for fall camp in August.
>Plans for the Beauchamp Athletics Nutrition Center are in the architectural design phase, AD Ian McCaw said. The timetable for completion remains for the spring of 2015. The $6 million 12,000-14,000-square foot facility is targeted to be constructed on Baylor Marina, just across the parking lot from the Simpson Academic Center and the Allison Indoor Practice Facility.
>Baylor Stadium will host its second high school game between DeSoto and Cibolo Steele on Thursday Sept. 18. That's the fourth week of the high school season. Aledo and Cedar Park christen the stadium on Aug. 29.
-SicEmSports
Later Friday, Lee College power forward Deng Deng will head back to Baytown, wrapping up a nearly three-day visit to the Baylor campus. As of now, he hasn't committed to Baylor, something we'll just have to watch.
I checked in with his assistant coach, Marcus King, on Thursday night to see how the trip is going. He simply replied "he's enjoying his visit." I have a call set up with King later today to talk it through. Remember, the Lee College staff has shut off interviews between Deng and the media, so we're relying on King, as well as our own sources.
So look for an update later this weekend. Just because Deng didn't commit doesn't mean Baylor doesn't have a great shot. My gut says he ends up a Bear. But visiting other programs -- to state the obvious -- will impact Baylor's chances.
-Jake Shaw
McClure ready to announce
King McClure is one of the most sought after combo guards of the 2015 class. The Triple A Academy scorer is ranked No. 37 in the Rivals 150.
And he's ready to make his choice. McClure said he will announce his commitment decision early next week ? Monday or Tuesday. Baylor has been working on him for more than a year. But the Bears' stiffest competition has come from Kansas and most recently UCLA. SMU and Arkansas have also been in the mix, but it really sounds like this is a race between the Bears and Jayhawks.
McClure visited with the entire Baylor coaching staff on April 13 and called the visit very good.
"We just talked about how I would fit into their system, and they outlined how my time in the program would go,'' McClure said. "I can play on an off the ball depending on the game situations.''
McClure (6-3, 200) knows the Baylor roster and the program's recent history pretty well. He's seen other scoring guards succeed like Tweety Carter, LaceDarius Dunn and Pierre Jackson. McClure said he's been impressed how well JUCO transfer Kenny Chery has run the offense. But Chery won't be at Baylor should McClure choose the Bears.
He would be playing with incoming JUCO transfer guard Lester Medford. McClure has been dealing with some injuries. He said he's clear of the dislocation in his right knee that he suffered last year. However, he suffered a slightly sprained left knee in the last district game in February. He said he's around 75-80 percent and still looking to regain full explosion. But he still enjoyed a great season averaging 21.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. That's exactly what combo guards should do.
For now, McClure's AAU season takes another step this weekend as the Texas Titans are in a tournament in Sacramento. Once he returns, he'll make his choice known. McClure has not been to Baylor since he attended the Aug. 30 football season opener against Wofford but said he has a pretty good feel for the program.
"I pretty much know everything I need to know,'' McClure said. "I'm not planning any officials. I've talked to all of the coaches and how I would fit into their programs. I've given this some deep thought and consideration.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Bears in the hunt?
His profile may show that he has "low" interest in Baylor, but according to Cy Falls DT Du'vonta Lampkin himself, that's not the case.
"I like coach (Chris) Achuff, but I haven't gotten the chance to talk to coach (Art) Briles yet," he told me Thursday night, a few days after officially dropping the commitment he made to OU back in November 2013. "I know Baylor's a pretty good school. I'm going to visit them soon."
Lampkin, a 3-star recruit, said he doesn't have a date picked out yet. But that's the case for every school on his radar, a list that will grow now that he's back on the market. Thursday afternoon, Notre Dame offered the 6-4, 300-pounder.
"I'm figuring all (my visits) our after spring ball," he said.
Baylor will check in during the spring evaluation period, you can be sure. And I'll monitor him as well to see if Baylor becomes a player for Lampkin.
-Jake Shaw
English wants another look
DeSoto defensive tackle Bryce English is an undersized prospect for his position (6-0, 315). But that's the kind of player the Baylor coaching staff wants to pursue.
Well, Baylor has its chance after the 3-star standout de-committed from Texas earlier this week. English spoke with Baylor assistant Brian Norwood who should be visiting the school sometime next week.
Baylor hasn't offered yet.
"I [de-committed] because I really wanted to look around,'' said English, who committed to Texas under Mack Brown. "I didn't talk a lot with the new staff, but that wasn't the reason I de-committed. I just felt like I decided too early.''
But Baylor had been making the nudges earlier. English attended the April 5 controlled scrimmage and liked what he saw. It was his first visit.
"It's a great school,'' he said. "The campus is nice. The city is nice and the river walk around the stadium is pretty cool.''
Because of injuries, English rotated between defensive end and defensive tackle in 2013. And that's pretty much how he expects to be used in 2014. DeSoto begins spring workouts Wednesday. So there should be plenty of traffic coming.
English believes his strength is his motor and that he can play with leverage. He still needs to work on his hands.
"I think schools like me because I never stop and play nasty,'' he said. "I mean that in a good way.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Jackson on the rise
The evaluation period began on April 15, and Baylor couldn't wait to see Cibolo Steele 2016 defensive Mark Jackson.
At first glance, Jackson (6-4, 210) gets the excitement building because he's a raw talent but carries a high ceiling. Baylor assistant coach Chris Achuff was one of the first to offer him along with Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Texas and Texas A&M may not be far behind.
Jackson admits he doesn't know much about Baylor but said his mother went to Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. He's considering coming to one of Baylor's camps in June in Waco.
"It's been very humbling and didn't expect this to happen like it did,'' Jackson said. "When I talked with coach Achuff, he really seemed like a good guy. I could tell he cared for you than other coaches who just come by.''
Ironically, Jackson was backing up another name familiar to Baylor ? 2014 signee Josh Malin. During the 2013 season, Steele coaches used him as the third defensive end. When the staff wanted to put together a heavy pass rush, they would put Malin inside and have Jackson on the end.
Now, 2014 should give Jackson the freedom to do more. With a first step considered the best part of his game, Jackson could stand up as a defensive end or play outside linebacker depending on down and distance. Jackson calls his swim move, his best pass rush move. But he wants to focus his spring on improving his run stopping. Cibolo Steele begins spring workouts May 5.
"I just don't want to be known as a pass rusher,'' Jackson said. "I want to be an all-around guy.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Top RB wide open
The bumper crop 2015 Texas running back class just got one re-entrant. Katy's Rodney Anderson, ranked No. 72 in the Rivals 100, de-committed from Texas A&M on Wednesday.
Expect a Baylor visit sometime next week. It could be later in the week.
Anderson (6-1, 205) has held a Baylor offer since the spring 2013 but committed to Texas A&M on Aug. 6, 2013. However, we were told that Anderson didn't like what he saw when he attended a recent Aggie spring practice.
The sporadic use of running backs by the A&M coaching staff seemed somewhat of a turnoff.
Baylor already has secured the commitment of Longview's JaMycal Hasty. The staff is still pursuing Plano West's Soso Jamabo. Hasty's situation with Baylor doesn't change. In fact, we put on the board earlier that he hasn't heard from the Texas A&M staff. There had been some thought at the time he committed to Baylor, Hasty was an Aggie lean.
Anderson's situation is interesting because he's of similar size to McKinney North's Ronald Jones II who committed to Oklahoma State in early April. There's word that Anderson will visit Oklahoma and Alabama and possibly LSU.
He's a legit 4.4 40 runner but needs to stay healthy. Anderson missed five games in 2013 after suffering a stress fracture in his foot.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Tolbert's trip on hold
A week ago in this very space, we reported that Ridge Point CB Jordan Tolbert would visit Baylor tomorrow. Tolbert has recently de-committed from Houston and planned to check out Waco again. He had visited in January for a junior day and left extremely impressed.
He still has high Baylor interest, but he won't be in Waco on Saturday. Tolbert and I traded messages Thursday night, and he said his dad has to work and he can't make it. Asked if he has rescheduled his visit, he said no and that he needed to talk to his parents first.
Based on this and on our previous conversation, I think Tolbert is really going to take his time with the process now. Kevin and I heard from a source that if Tolbert came to Waco, the staff would push for a commitment. To put a positive spin on this, it might be a good thing Tolbert's not visiting. Perhaps getting pushed for a commitment when he's not ready would turn him off. The obvious negative spin, though, is that a once scheduled trip has been canceled, with no replacement in sight.
I'll keep in touch with Tolbert to monitor his process.
-Jake Shaw
Baseball vs. Kansas
After splitting a midweek home-and-away series with Texas State (Baylor won Tuesday in Waco, 4-3 and lost Wednesday in San Marcos, 2-0), the Bears (19-22, 5-9 in the Big 12), the Bears pretty much need to sweep Kansas this weekend at Baylor Ballpark in order to feel better about their situation in the conference race. Remember, the league takes eight of the nine teams in the conference for the tournament May 21-25 in Oklahoma City. The Bears are currently in eighth.
Baylor hasn't played a home league game in more than a month when it faced Oklahoma State on March 23.
Against the Jayhawks (23-20, 6-9), left-hander Brad Kuntz (4-2, 3.67 ERA) starts the opener at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Right-hander Dillon Newman (3-2, 3.10) is scheduled for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Left-hander Daniel Castano (5-1, 2.27) is slated for getaway day at 1:00 p.m. Sunday.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>Two sources said former Abilene Cooper linebacker Cordell Dorsey has signed his letter of intent with Baylor. This would follow what we had in the Blitz on April 4 when we visited with Dorsey who said he was planning on coming to Baylor on June 1. The LOI was just the official act. Dorsey's arrival does not impact the 2014 roster. Remember, Dorsey was going to arrive in December as a midsemester enrollee until he was arrested on a sexual assault charge back in September. A grand jury no-billed Dorsey in February.
>Sophomore DB Terrence Singleton's tweets early Thursday were odd. But we later learned that he had surgery for abdominal muscle injury. It's been an issue that has been bothering him since fall camp. He is expected to miss about a month of offseason work but should be ready for fall camp in August.
>Plans for the Beauchamp Athletics Nutrition Center are in the architectural design phase, AD Ian McCaw said. The timetable for completion remains for the spring of 2015. The $6 million 12,000-14,000-square foot facility is targeted to be constructed on Baylor Marina, just across the parking lot from the Simpson Academic Center and the Allison Indoor Practice Facility.
>Baylor Stadium will host its second high school game between DeSoto and Cibolo Steele on Thursday Sept. 18. That's the fourth week of the high school season. Aledo and Cedar Park christen the stadium on Aug. 29.
-SicEmSports
