By KEVIN LONNQUIST
Publisher
MARSHALL, TX – Baylor’s East Texas camp drew a record-204 participants to Mavericks Stadium Saturday afternoon. The camp ended just a bit early because the heat was so intense. Baylor was very mindful of the campers well-being with continuous water breaks.
Just a couple of things of note
> There will be no unofficial visit for Trophy Club Byron Nelson OT Kellen Diesch to Baylor on Sunday like what was planned last week. He’s taking a vacation break. It was thought that Diesch was ready to announce a commitment decision on June 1. However, it became clear that he wasn’t ready. Nothing is certain at this point.
> Rivals100 2017 running back Toneil Carter out of Houston Langham Creek could be taking an unofficial visit to Baylor in the next couple of weeks. Carter already has 20 offers including Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Alabama.
> Another Rivals100 prospect in Texarkana Liberty-Eylau defensive end LaGarryon Carson did not attend the camp. That was a bit of a surprise because there was word that he planned on showing up. At this point, it’s far too early to consider this a red flag. Baylor just offered him within the last month.
> No further word if Rivals100 prospects Shyheim Carter and Michael Divinity will make it to Baylor on Sunday. If Baylor is going to have any chance, getting either or both on campus is critical.
Now on to the Camp
Daingerfield 2016 WR Denzel Mims
He’s certainly grown since the 2014 camp. Then, he was 6-1 165. Now, he’s 6-3 180 and is visibly thicker. Of course, he won the Class 3A state championship in the 200 and has a personal record time of 21.3. In several drills he was a great leaper. It’s fair to say he could get may two feet off the ground on simple route. He’s still pretty raw but he does have a knack for getting the football. There were several times in the 1-on-1 drills where the coverage was pretty good. However, Mims just used his athleticism to get the ball. He said he hopes Baylor has seen enough of him to offer. Our Matt Clare has reported that academics have been a concern. We’ll just have to wait. He has offers from Texas Tech, Kansas State, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Tulsa and Texas St.
Henderson 2017 WR Trestan Ebner
He used a pretty interesting phrase when it came to going through the camp. “I thought I was doing everything Baylor wise,’’ Ebner said. “That’s playing to their level – getting off the ball fast and how they like to run routes. I hope today kept them interested, at least. I really liked it out there.’’ Ebner, who has an offer from Kansas, is a guy who could a Corey Coleman type of receiver. He’s 5-10 180, runs a 4.46 40 and a 10.6 in the 100 – he’s a vertical threat. Ebner was actually moved from running back to wide receiver in 2014 because of another injury and said he took to it pretty quickly. Time will tell how much Baylor moves on him. But he was pretty smooth.
Marshall 2017 RB Cameron Haller
This running back is built low to the ground at 5-10, 200. And he is strong. He bench presses 395 pounds. In several drills he had an understanding of how he needed to be explosive and elusive. But what was pretty interesting was when he was used in receiving drills, he looked really comfortable. Haller moved well and seemed to have almost a glide to his strides. I liked his hands. The Marshall coaches admitted they weren’t sure how much he could contribute until midway through the 2014 season. Haller, though, had a day that went noticed. What will be important is what kind of season he has in 2015. He should be one of the featured elements of that offense.
Marshall 2016 S Micahh Smith
At times, he was fluid. At times, he was stiff and out of his element. But Smith was trying to show he can be a quality recruit. At 6-1, 180, his future in college is going to be in the secondary where he could serve as a run support type of player. Baylor is probably not going to do anything here. However, he’s a solid athlete. Smith has offers from Texas State, Northwestern State and Sam Houston State. He’s going to Texas Tech’s camp on Tuesday and then TCU later in the week. He’s also a pretty good student. Smith said he’s been inducted into Marshall’s National Honor Society.
Shreveport (LA) Evangel 2017 QB Connor Curry
Holding offers from Clemson and Southern Miss, Curry didn’t do anything to hurt himself. But he also didn’t blow anyone away either. He has a good touch on the ball. But Baylor already has some quality offers out to Denton Guyer’s Shawn Robinson and San Antonio Reagan’s Kellen Mond (he is expected to be in Waco Sunday). Baylor is also watching Mesquite Horn’s Chris Robison. It appears Curry is not a hard follow at this point. But that could change as recruiting always does.
Bossier City (LA) Parkway 2017 WR/QB Justin Rogers
Rogers (6-3, 175) has an offer Louisiana Tech. He’s a dual-threat quarterback but other thinking believes he could be a wide receiver. On Saturday, he worked with the quarterbacks and honed in on his footwork and trying to create habits so the ball will come out of his hand faster. He also wanted to put a better touch on his deep balls.
Shreveport (LA) Byrd 2016 DE/LB Micah Minter
The Byrd coaching staff asked the Baylor defensive staff to take a look at him. At 6-2, 215, he’s intriguing. Exposure could be his first problem simply because not many people know about him. Small schools are interested. He’s too short to play defensive end. However, he spent considerable time working with the linebackers and served as an outside linebacker. Coverage skills weren’t too bad. But he tended to be up and down with his moves.
Finally…
Two other 2017 linemen to track will be Shreveport (LA) Evangel offensive tackle Ethan Harvey 6-3, 270 and Bossier City Parkway 2017 defensive tackle Nick So’Oto (6-3, 280). Both will probably need another year in terms of their play to warrant more attention and offers. But each got a lot out of the work. So’Oto said the Baylor staff worked with him to shorten his base so he be more explosive to the ball. He also picked up some pointers on how he could flip his hips quicker to get to the ball. Harvey impressed by winning five out of his six 1-on-1 contests. Neither has an offer from anyone at any level….still under the impression the Lancaster recruits, who didn’t come to Richardson Pearce Friday because of state 7-on-7 qualifier tournament play on Saturday, should be in Waco. However, commit Kenan Ivy was at Pearce. If his teammate and Oklahoma State commit Tyrell Alexander appears, then who knows. Also, looking like Fort Worth All Saints 2016 DT Michael Williams should be at the camp on Sunday. Baylor offered him in January.
Publisher
MARSHALL, TX – Baylor’s East Texas camp drew a record-204 participants to Mavericks Stadium Saturday afternoon. The camp ended just a bit early because the heat was so intense. Baylor was very mindful of the campers well-being with continuous water breaks.
Just a couple of things of note
> There will be no unofficial visit for Trophy Club Byron Nelson OT Kellen Diesch to Baylor on Sunday like what was planned last week. He’s taking a vacation break. It was thought that Diesch was ready to announce a commitment decision on June 1. However, it became clear that he wasn’t ready. Nothing is certain at this point.
> Rivals100 2017 running back Toneil Carter out of Houston Langham Creek could be taking an unofficial visit to Baylor in the next couple of weeks. Carter already has 20 offers including Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Alabama.
> Another Rivals100 prospect in Texarkana Liberty-Eylau defensive end LaGarryon Carson did not attend the camp. That was a bit of a surprise because there was word that he planned on showing up. At this point, it’s far too early to consider this a red flag. Baylor just offered him within the last month.
> No further word if Rivals100 prospects Shyheim Carter and Michael Divinity will make it to Baylor on Sunday. If Baylor is going to have any chance, getting either or both on campus is critical.
Now on to the Camp
Daingerfield 2016 WR Denzel Mims
He’s certainly grown since the 2014 camp. Then, he was 6-1 165. Now, he’s 6-3 180 and is visibly thicker. Of course, he won the Class 3A state championship in the 200 and has a personal record time of 21.3. In several drills he was a great leaper. It’s fair to say he could get may two feet off the ground on simple route. He’s still pretty raw but he does have a knack for getting the football. There were several times in the 1-on-1 drills where the coverage was pretty good. However, Mims just used his athleticism to get the ball. He said he hopes Baylor has seen enough of him to offer. Our Matt Clare has reported that academics have been a concern. We’ll just have to wait. He has offers from Texas Tech, Kansas State, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Tulsa and Texas St.
Henderson 2017 WR Trestan Ebner
He used a pretty interesting phrase when it came to going through the camp. “I thought I was doing everything Baylor wise,’’ Ebner said. “That’s playing to their level – getting off the ball fast and how they like to run routes. I hope today kept them interested, at least. I really liked it out there.’’ Ebner, who has an offer from Kansas, is a guy who could a Corey Coleman type of receiver. He’s 5-10 180, runs a 4.46 40 and a 10.6 in the 100 – he’s a vertical threat. Ebner was actually moved from running back to wide receiver in 2014 because of another injury and said he took to it pretty quickly. Time will tell how much Baylor moves on him. But he was pretty smooth.
Marshall 2017 RB Cameron Haller
This running back is built low to the ground at 5-10, 200. And he is strong. He bench presses 395 pounds. In several drills he had an understanding of how he needed to be explosive and elusive. But what was pretty interesting was when he was used in receiving drills, he looked really comfortable. Haller moved well and seemed to have almost a glide to his strides. I liked his hands. The Marshall coaches admitted they weren’t sure how much he could contribute until midway through the 2014 season. Haller, though, had a day that went noticed. What will be important is what kind of season he has in 2015. He should be one of the featured elements of that offense.
Marshall 2016 S Micahh Smith
At times, he was fluid. At times, he was stiff and out of his element. But Smith was trying to show he can be a quality recruit. At 6-1, 180, his future in college is going to be in the secondary where he could serve as a run support type of player. Baylor is probably not going to do anything here. However, he’s a solid athlete. Smith has offers from Texas State, Northwestern State and Sam Houston State. He’s going to Texas Tech’s camp on Tuesday and then TCU later in the week. He’s also a pretty good student. Smith said he’s been inducted into Marshall’s National Honor Society.
Shreveport (LA) Evangel 2017 QB Connor Curry
Holding offers from Clemson and Southern Miss, Curry didn’t do anything to hurt himself. But he also didn’t blow anyone away either. He has a good touch on the ball. But Baylor already has some quality offers out to Denton Guyer’s Shawn Robinson and San Antonio Reagan’s Kellen Mond (he is expected to be in Waco Sunday). Baylor is also watching Mesquite Horn’s Chris Robison. It appears Curry is not a hard follow at this point. But that could change as recruiting always does.
Bossier City (LA) Parkway 2017 WR/QB Justin Rogers
Rogers (6-3, 175) has an offer Louisiana Tech. He’s a dual-threat quarterback but other thinking believes he could be a wide receiver. On Saturday, he worked with the quarterbacks and honed in on his footwork and trying to create habits so the ball will come out of his hand faster. He also wanted to put a better touch on his deep balls.
Shreveport (LA) Byrd 2016 DE/LB Micah Minter
The Byrd coaching staff asked the Baylor defensive staff to take a look at him. At 6-2, 215, he’s intriguing. Exposure could be his first problem simply because not many people know about him. Small schools are interested. He’s too short to play defensive end. However, he spent considerable time working with the linebackers and served as an outside linebacker. Coverage skills weren’t too bad. But he tended to be up and down with his moves.
Finally…
Two other 2017 linemen to track will be Shreveport (LA) Evangel offensive tackle Ethan Harvey 6-3, 270 and Bossier City Parkway 2017 defensive tackle Nick So’Oto (6-3, 280). Both will probably need another year in terms of their play to warrant more attention and offers. But each got a lot out of the work. So’Oto said the Baylor staff worked with him to shorten his base so he be more explosive to the ball. He also picked up some pointers on how he could flip his hips quicker to get to the ball. Harvey impressed by winning five out of his six 1-on-1 contests. Neither has an offer from anyone at any level….still under the impression the Lancaster recruits, who didn’t come to Richardson Pearce Friday because of state 7-on-7 qualifier tournament play on Saturday, should be in Waco. However, commit Kenan Ivy was at Pearce. If his teammate and Oklahoma State commit Tyrell Alexander appears, then who knows. Also, looking like Fort Worth All Saints 2016 DT Michael Williams should be at the camp on Sunday. Baylor offered him in January.
Last edited:
