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NOTE: Because Christmas falls next Friday Dec. 25, there will be no Baylor Blitz. We appreciate your loyalty to our site. But Christmas offers us a day to be those who mean the most in our lives. We will bring the Blitz back sometime the week of Dec. 28. We haven’t decided if it will run on Jan. 1 or not. Thanks for being a part of our site. If you are pleased with what we do, please share our story with those who embrace Baylor athletics like you do.
Staying strong
He may say it 1,000 times but it probably will make the Baylor nation feel better when Port Arthur Memorial running back and Rivals No. 241 prospect Kameron Martin actually signs and faxes his letter of intent to Baylor on Feb. 3, 2016.
Long known for being at Texas fan when he was younger (his cousin is former Texas running back and current Kansas City Chiefs running Jamal Charles), the Longhorn coaching staff continued to push and convince Martin to take an official visit to Austin in January.
Martin said late Thursday, he’s not going.
“I’m going to Baylor…no worries,’’ Martin said. “Have to stay strong.’’
-Kevin Lonnquist
Becoming reality
So what do you do when you have left a major part of your life – high school – behind you?
You go hunting.
Wednesday marked the final day of high school for Grandview quarterback Zach Smith. The Baylor 2016 mid-semester enrollee is now less than four weeks away from enrolling at Baylor (the spring semester begins Jan. 11), beginning his offseason work and preparing for the upcoming spring football season.
Smith, who committed to Baylor in June of 2014, made it clear to any Division I school that showed interest that he was devoted to Art Briles program and that their efforts would not impact his decision.
“It’s gotten so real these last few weeks,’’ Smith said. “It has really set in that this is the last time I will have as a high school student. It’s been an awesome and fun ride, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.’’
Smith threw for 3,877 yards and six touchdowns against four interceptions in the fall. His accuracy became his trademark as he completed 67 percent of his passes. He directed the Zebras to a 12-1 record.
Before he arrives at Baylor, Smith will be competing for the West team in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl Jan. 3 in Carson, CA.
“I’m just going to after school to continue to work with my feet and working in and out of the pocket and throwing some patterns to my guys,’’ he said. “I just have to keep everything running from when I go to from Cali to Waco. I’m beyond excited to get the new chapter started.’’
Smith is one of four mid-semester players Baylor is expecting. The others are Navasota wide receiver Tren’Davian Dickson, rated No. 126 in the Rivals 250. Garden City (KS) C.C. defensive tackle Jeremy Faulk and Coffeyville C.C. offensive lineman Branton Autry.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Competing for a state title
Baylor’s mini streak of commits playing for Texas High School state championships will be extended at noon Saturday when Frisco Lone Star (14-1) plays No. 1 Cedar Park (15-0) in the Class 5A Division II state championship.
Lone Star safety Chris Miller, who committed to Baylor on April 24, put to good use the strong spring and camp season in the summer. Miller (6-0, 184) has averaged nine tackles per game (135 for the season) and added 11 pass breakups. Miller really never left the field in last week’s state semifinal game against Lake Dallas. He had 17 total tackles as the Rangers outlasted the Falcons, 55-49, in triple overtime.
Yet this is a season that isn’t too surprising. Miller has added more strength, size and is considered a more explosive player, Lone Star co-defensive coordinator Matt Fitzhugh said. Teammates voted Miller one of its team captains.
“Chris has always been one of our most physical players and has played full speed on every play,’’ Fitzhugh said. “But this offseason, he developed a new gear. When trying to name the gear, violent comes to mind. He plays with intense intentions on every snap and is the ultimate example of the relentless, dominant attitude upon which our defense is built.’’
In 2014, Gilmer athlete Blake Lynch and Navasota wide receiver Tren’Davian Dickson played for and won their respective Class 4A state championships.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Roy’s loyalty never wavered
Spring 2016 defensive tackle Bravvion Roy committed to Baylor in mid-June this past summer. At the time of his commitment, Roy cited ‘loyalty’ as the main reason the Baylor program stood out in comparison to his other options.
That loyalty remains true several months later and now Roy is looking forward to the next step in his football career as a college player at Baylor.
“I’m ready,” Roy said. “I’m ready to get up out of here and go do big things at Baylor. My coaches and I are doing extra cardio and extra lifting every other day of the week. I want to come into the program in great shape, ready to compete.”
Roy’s longtime contact from the Baylor coaching staff, defensive line coach Chris Achuff, stopped by the school to see him earlier this month.
“We didn’t get to do an in-home visit, but Coach Achuff stopped by the school with Coach (Phil) Bennett,” Roy said. “We talked for about an hour. Coach talked with me about the expectations for next year. They need to figure out the depth they have going into next season, but he believes that I can put in the work this off-season and contribute right away.
“Basically, if (Andrew) Billings ends up staying, then I get to watch and learn from him for a year. If he decides to leave for the NFL, then I have to be ready to help the team right away. Coach Bennett told me to be ready mentally and physically. That’s why I’m getting in some extra cardio and continuing to lift into the off-season.”
Roy and the other commitments are planning one more visit to Waco next month before signing day.
“I have one more visit to Baylor next month,” Roy said. “We are all taking one more visit as a class sometime in January, I believe it’s the second weekend. I think we will find out who our roomates are, look into the academics and setup class, and stuff like that.”
Rated a three-star prospect, the 6-foot-2, 310-pound prospect is the No. 32 defensive tackle in the nation and the No. 52 prospect in the Rivals.com Texas Postseason Top 100 for the 2016 class. He was also named to the District 15-6A first team all-district defense this month.
-Matt Clare
Atkinson provides update
Long before the Baylor coaches had an almost embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position for the 2016 recruiting class, Mesquite Horn wide receiver Jared Atkinson was one of the first receiver prospects to commit to the Bears this past summer.
Atkinson suffered a knee injury scare before his team’s playoff run started this past month and has been having to take things easy when it comes to athletics lately.
“I’m taking a break right now,” Atkinson said. “I hyper-extended my knee and had some bad bruising right before the playoffs started. I’m still recovering, but I’m doing a lot of physical therapy, icing my knee and keeping it moving. The plan is to come back slowly, but I’m wanting to give it a go for track season.”
The coaches weren’t able to stop by and see Atkinson this month during the open contact period, but the 6-foot-3, 200-pound receiver remains in touch with Baylor wide receivers coach Tate Wallis.
“I have a great relationship with Coach Wallis,” Atkinson said. “It’s the same with [Offensive Coordinator] coach [Kendal] Briles too. Our relationship is strong and has continued to grow stronger since I made my commitment this summer. I went to just about all of the home games at Baylor this season and love the atmosphere there.”
Although he is recovering from an injury now, Atkinson is already looking forward to signing with Baylor and preparing for life as a college football player.
“I’m a bit nervous about it actually,” Atkinson said. “Going from high school to division one football is going to be a challenge, but I’m ready for the challenge. I don’t have the date setup yet, but all of the commits are taking a visit sometime next month.
“Coach Wallis mentioned that him and the other coaches would come through for the in-home visit next month too. I’m very solid with Baylor and cannot wait for signing day, then getting to move down there to get started.”
Rated a three-star prospect from the most recent Rivals ratings period, Atkinson committed to Baylor over other offers from Iowa State, SMU, Texas Tech and others.
-Matt Clare
Another kicking option
Earlier this week, Baylor extended an offer to Rockford, MI place-kicker and Penn State commit Quinn Nordin.
While that may be a longshot, Baylor has identified another kicker in Colleyville Heritage’s Max Allen. Allen said earlier this week that the coaching staff has extended a preferred walk-on opportunity to him through his head coach Joe Willis. Allen said he has not talked with any of the Baylor coaches yet.
Allen announced earlier in December that he was accepting Texas’ preferred walk-on opportunity (he camped at Texas during the summer). However, that could change depending how things develop.
Rated as one of the top kickers by other services, Allen delivered a very consistent season for the Panthers. He was 13-of-14 on field goals with a long of 49. He was 38-of-40 on PATs (but the two misses were blocked). Allen placed 20 of 69 kickoffs for touchbacks (29 percent).
Earlier in the summer, he competed in the Kohls National Scholarship Camp in Whitewater, WI.
Kohls Camp had this evaluation of Allen: “He gets great height on his kicks. He has made some significant increases in leg strength and in his ball striking.” The service has him rated the 15th best kicking prospect in the country.
Allen also has a preferred walk-on opportunity with SMU. January visits could be forthcoming.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Heading back to Sachse
It’s no secret that Sachse and Baylor are developing a pretty good pipeline. Mustang 2018 wide receiver Dru Jackson has visited Baylor on several occasions including participating in its summer camps.
In 2015, Jackson had to wait his turn behind Devin and Donovan Duvernay and others. In spot action, he caught 15 passes for 139 yards (9.3 ypc) and a touchdown. When Baylor coaches were on the road last week and went to Sachse, they checked in on Jackson
“The thing I took from them is that I have to keep working on my speed up and keep showing out for them at camp,’’ Jackson said. “I just sent [Baylor wide receivers coach Tate Wallis] my tape.’’
Jackson knows if Baylor is going to take a serious look at him, he has to work on his 40 team. His personal best time is 4.62.
-Kevin Lonnquist
MBB notables
The No. 14/16 Bears (8-1) are now 57-14 lifetime under Scott Drew in December following the 104-59. They face their final major test of the non-conference at 8:00 p.m. Saturday at No. 24/24 Texas A&M.
>Rico Gathers continues to add to his Baylor record all-time lead in rebounds with 947.
>Lester Medford’s 13 assists against Hardin Simmons were a career high. But even more important, he’s committed only three turnovers in the last three games. That’s raised his turnovers-to-assists ratio to 3.4-to-1.
>Sophomore guard Al Freeman has been in double figures in seven of the first games. Freemans is the best 3-point shooter on the team at 41 percent (18-of-43).
>Baylor still hasn’t allowed an opponent to reach 75 points in spite of the new rules. Oregon has the most (74).
-SicEmSports
Larry Fedora on Art Briles
North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora met with the media earlier in the week. Ironically, when he was as assistant at Baylor in the 1990s, that’s when he met Baylor head coach Briles. Briles was then building his empire at Stephenville.
“What [Briles] was doing at [Stephenville] hadn’t been done before,’’ Fedora said. “He’s a typical Texas high school coach. They were spreading it out and doing things with tempo.’’
No. 17 Baylor (9-3) meets No. 10 North Carolina (11-2) in the Russell Athletic Bowl on Dec. 29 in Orlando.
-SicEmSports
Emptying the Notebook
>Baylor 2016 wide receiver commit Devin Duvernay of Sachse was named a first-team member of the Class 6A Texas all-state team.
>The No. 4/4 Lady Bears improved to 11-0 with a 97-39 victory over Oral Roberts Thursday at the Ferrell Center. Baylor travels to Florida for the Florida Sunshine Classic and meets Miami (Fl.) on Saturday followed by James Madison on Monday. The tournament is played in Winter Park.
>Hope to have a little more from Richland 2017 PG C.J. Roberts (6-0, 175) soon. The Rivals No. 85 player said he continues to have some dialogue with Baylor head coach Scott Drew. Baylor offered within the last month.
>Even though he decommitted from Texas A&M earlier in the week (Baylor stopped by during the recent contact period), 2016 wide receiver and Rivals 250 prospect Quartney Davis said he has not talked with the Baylor coaches since. But keep in mind Baylor is pretty much full at wide receiver.
>Silsbee OL and Rivals No. 34 Patrick Hudson said he is considering taking some official visits in January. But hasn't come to a decision as to if he will. Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M are among those schools who have been pursuing him.
