NOTE: The content on the Baylor Blitz is solely meant for the subscribers of SicEmSports. Let's all please make sure that whatever is written here stays here. We appreciate you all helping us with this. Now, let's all take a look at Baylor recruiting and what else is going on involving the Bears.
NOTE: Baylor will hold its final fall camp scrimmage at about 10:00 a.m. Friday at Floyd Casey Stadium. This is closed to the media and fans. But we'll get you an update when one is provided. This is the final dress rehearsal before preparations begin for the Aug. 31 opener against Wofford. That game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. at The Case.
VIDEO Time
We had a couple of interviews that we held for the Blitz because of everything going on with the ratings period. Just keep in mind that the video interviews will continue. The next time we will have some is from the first luncheon this coming Monday (Aug. 26) in preparation for the season opener against Wofford.
>Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Bennett talked defense regarding depth and other issues.
>Head coach Art Briles met with the media earlier this week. Nice to see him break out the black again.
-Stephen Cook
Hall talked Baylor with Cannon in 2012
Long before either committed to Baylor, KD Cannon and Davion Hall talked a little with each other about what it would be like playing for Baylor.
So it wasn't much of surprise to Hall when Cannon committed to Baylor on Aug. 10. Like everybody else, Hall found out through Cannon's twitter announcement.
"We talk off and on and we mentioned Baylor [as far back] as last year,'' Hall said. "I expected him to commit. It'll be a pretty good combination with me and KD and [Ishmael] Zamora and Chris [Platt]. I think we're going to be a real good group.''
It should be a lot of fun on Sept. 6 in Mount Pleasant when the two face each as Texarkana Liberty-Eylau visits. In the first meeting at the Texas-Arkansas state line in 2012, Cannon had a huge night catching 11 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. The two communities are separated by only 63 miles.
There is a dynamic that these two bring. Hall is the tall and lean target who can win just about every matchup. Cannon uses his speed and crisp rout running to leave defenders helpless. Should these two play together at Baylor, their quarterback will have options.
Should because the Alabama factor is still in the middle of this. Hall takes his official visit to Baylor on Oct. 5 and to Alabama on Nov. 8.
"I'm just going to be laid back and have fun my senior year and then see what happens,'' Hall said. "[Cannon] and I are real cool with each other. We're always going to talk to each other.''
If laid back means owning the field, then Hall is off to a good start. In his first scrimmage against Sulphur Springs last week, he caught eight passes for 89 yards including a 15-yard touchdown pass.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Does Cunningham have to dominate?
It's no secret that Baylor's connection with Las Vegas (NV) Bishop Gorman quarterback Randall Cunningham Jr. has been deepening.
The relationship took a favorable but not deciding turn in mid-June when Cunningham (6-5, 185) visited the Baylor campus on an overnight unofficial visit. At this point, a commitment doesn't appear to be close and that may be because Baylor wants to have another look this fall.
Bishop Gorman starts its season at 9:00 p.m. Friday in the Sollenberger Classic at home against Mountain Pointe (AZ) in a game that can been seen on the new FOX Sports 1. The Gaels, ranked in the top 25 in several national high school polls, are beginning pursuit of their fifth consecutive Nevada Class 4A state title and fifth in the last six years. Gorman has won 11 state championships.
Cunningham has split his summer between football and track. In the most recent Rivals ratings period, he remained a 3-star prospect with a 5.7 rating.
"I've been working really hard,'' he said. "Just trying to get more accuracy and power in my throws.''
There's no doubt Baylor coaches will be watching on TV and will want to review every game film through September just to be sure of the little things. Those could include when to take a sack, when to throw it way, how he does looking off safeties, being comfortable with second and third reads.
Cunningham took notice when KD Cannon committed to Baylor on Aug. 10. His most recent offer over the summer was Kansas State.
What teams have on film of Cunningham isn't the whole package. While he played 12 games in 2012, he was the backup quarterback. Overall, he was 21-32 for 298 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.
So Baylor likely wants to see how he handles the every down situation. Gorman will have a challenging non-district schedule. After Mountain Pointe, the Gaels play three games against teams in Southern California before traveling to Bergen, N.J. to play Bergen Catholic on Sept. 21 and then returning to play Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington on Oct. 4.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Top performer 'feels like part of Baylor'
Calling his summer "wild," 2015 Beaumont Central DB James Locke certainly made the rounds. He went to camps at several schools around the state (including twice to Baylor), made it up to Oklahoma, and competed at a couple of Rivals events. One of them, in Houston, Locke was singled out as a top performer.
"I feel like that was one of my best camps," he said.
So far, SMU is the only one to offer, but Locke believes more will come after his first few games. Central opens its season a week from today against Port Arthur Memorial.
"All (recruiters) want to see is the first three games of my junior season," he said. "They want to evaluate me in those first three games. They'll of course evaluate me over the whole season, but those first three or four games are really important."
Locke isn't shy about wanting a Baylor offer. He said he clicked with Baylor's coaches as much, if not more than, than any other program's.
"I feel like if Baylor offered, I feel like I'm already part of them," he said. "The attention I got, all the coaches crowded around me. I remember the first time I went, they had a guy named (2014 Houston Lamar DB) John Bonney there, and they were showing him all the attention. I thought, I wish I could get that. I went to some other camps, and then went to Baylor for a second time. All the coaches crowded around me, and I thought, that's what it feels like."
I'll get back in touch with Locke after his first handful of games to see how he performed. If he does well, I really think a Baylor offer will come. Stay tuned.
-- Jake Shaw
A final word on rankings
We decided to extend the coverage on the Baylor rankings because this round impacted the Bears so favorably. Now that the final round of stars and position rankings has been released, let's review some of the highlights:
>Mount Pleasant WR KD Cannon is the No. 2 wide receiver in the nation and the No. 8 recruit in Texas.
>Princeton Ath Jourdan Blake's move could be viewed as big as Cannon's. Blake went from 5.4 to 5.6 and from 2 stars to 3 stars. He's also the No. 35 recruit in Texas.
>Texarkana Liberty-Eylau Ath Davion Hall is the No. 6 athlete in the country and No. 16 player in Texas.
>Wylie LB T'Kevian Rockwell is the No. 16 OLB in the country, No. 230 in the country and No. 26 in Texas.
>Rockdale LB James David is the No. 14 ILB and No. 21 in Texas
>Ennis RB Terence Williams is the No. 28 RB in the country and No. 47 in Texas.
>Rockdale OL Josh Pelzel is No. 61 in Texas.
>Kingwood Park TE Jordan Feuerbacher is No. 88 in Texas.
>Cibolo Steele DE Josh Malin is No. 98 in Texas.
-SicEmSports
Big 12 notes
>It really wasn't that much of a surprise when Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops announced redshirt freshman Trevor Knight would be the Sooners starting quarterback over Blake Bell. The reports throughout the fall were that Knight was enjoying the better camp. Bell may have had the stereotype of being a short-yardage running specialist work against him. Knight's first game as the starting QB will be Aug. 31 against Louisiana-Monroe at Memorial Stadium in Norman. But then Kendal Thompson suffering a foot injury probably made Stoops' job a little easier.
>Since Oklahoma State was going through a quarterback shuffle in 2012 between Wes Lunt, J.W. Walsh and Clint Chelf, it really wasn't surprising that Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said both Walsh and Chelf will play in the Aug. 31 opener against Mississippi State in Houston's Reliant Stadium. ""I don't like two-quarterback systems if we have one that's better than the other or one that's more experienced," Gundy said. "But now we have two quarterbacks that have relatively the same amount of experience. So we're obligated to give both of them the opportunity to play in the game. We feel like each can provide something to the team that will help us be successful."
>Kansas coach Charlie Weis doesn't have to worry about recruiting quarterbacks since they are all transferring to him. For the third consecutive year, the Jayhawks will welcome a transfer quarterback. Two years ago it was Notre Dame's Dayne Crist. Last year, it was BYU's Jake Heaps. Now, UCLA's redshirt freshman quarterback TJ Millweard visited Lawrence, KS. earlier this week and announced he will transfer to KU. But that's not really surprising from the Fort Worth All Saints product. Should Kansas feel comfortable? He has a history of bouncing around. He originally committed to Virginia Tech before switching to Arizona State before finally signing with UCLA. We're talking about 5 schools he has set his heart on in two years.
>With Michael Brewer out with a back injury, Texas Tech likely will rotate two unproven quarterbacks in the Aug. 30 opener against SMU. That's true freshman Davis Webb and preferred walk-on Baker Mayfield. For what it's worth, Webb enrolled at Tech in January so he could take part in spring workouts.
>One 2014 game where the Big 12 must make a strong showing for itself is when Auburn visits Kansas State. KSU has just completed a $75 million upgrade to its stadium that will be ready for the 2013 season. The upgrade includes a new press box. Baylor visits Manahattan, KS. on Oct. 12.
>TCU coach Gary Patterson has yet to name a starting quarterback for the season opener, the Cowboys Stadium Classic Aug. 31 against LSU. He is still debating between Trevone Boykin and Casey Pachall. But he might be doing that deliberately to make LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis think about both. That means there's the possibility of his new starting quarterback become known on TCU's offensive series. ""Just for simple reason that there's such a difference between Trevone and Casey, I need every advantage I can get," Patterson said.
>Texas OT JUCO transfer Desmond Harrison was officially cleared to play by the NCAA earlier this week. Thus, ends the drama after reports indicated BYU denied an appeal of its decision to invalidate a credit from an independent online study course from the school. Texas plays at BYU on Sept. 7. Hmmmm. But given the practice time he has missed, it appears that he will need some time to catch up if the Longhorns truly want him to be the starting left tackle at some point.
-Kevin Lonnquist from Big 12 news outlets
Emptying the notebook
>One follow up note about this speculation of Dallas Prime Prep star basketball recruit Emmanuel Mudiay and his potential of committing SMU. The one thing that might be helping SMU in this is Prime Prep has been very connected to SMU in football recruiting. Have no idea if that's making a difference here but Deion Sanders' son Deion Sanders Jr. is a wide receiver for the SMU football team.
>We are returning the Player Performance Chart for how all of Baylor's recruits did. This will be a challenge with 23 of them, but it's a labor of love I think. Look for the first installment on Sept. 3.
>It was a little odd to get word from the Willis WR Chris Platt camp that he recently picked up offers from UTEP and Tulsa. But that really hasn't changed his position toward Baylor "100% with Baylor,'' We have been told.
-SicEmSports
