One AAU team could put Bears in Top 10
Baylor secured a commitment from 2015 shooting guard King McClure at the end of April. Getting two of his Texas Titans teammates could very well give Baylor a top 10 basketball class.
According to the head coach of McClure's AAU team, Baylor has a strong chance of making that happen. Baylor's in great standing with C Tyler Davis and SF D.J. Hogg, both ranked as 4-star recruits.
"I think all the Texas schools are in the front of the line," Titans coach Scott Pospichal said. "Kansas and UCLA are also in for Tyler, and UCLA for D.J., schools like that. There's no question that Baylor is towards the top if not at the top. But all the Texas schools are in line."
The Titans, who also have Plano West running back and guard Soso Jamabo on the team, are headed east for the Peach Jam next week. Coming off a tournament win in their last appearance, Pospichal expects to collect more hardware.
"The preparation for this team has always been to win it," he said.
As for Davis, Pospichal gave quick scouting reports on his two star players, both ranked inside the top 50 by rivals.com.
On Davis: "Great hands. He came here in 8th grade at 6-5, 255, and now he's 6-10, 270. He's a hard-working young man, a sweetheart off the court and a beast on it. He's highly competitive."
On Hogg: "He's the youngest kid on his team. He's young for his grade. It's just more of a maturity thing with D.J. The older he's gotten the more incredible he's become. There's a lot for him in the future. My biggest concern with D.J. is him trying to compete on the defensive end. Offensively, he's so skilled. He passes the ball very well, he's a very difficult guy to defend, he has a high release on his jumper."
As for McClure, there's been no wavering on his commitment. If anything, it has eased the pressure on him.
"He's doing a better job,'' Pospichal said. "He loves Baylor. He loves the coaching staff, and we're big fans of the coaching staff and Baylor. It's a good fit for King."
-Jake Shaw
Big 12 poll and preseason All-Big 12 Conference Team
Big 12 media days are scheduled for July 21-22 in Dallas at the Omni Hotel. SicEmSports will be there to cover Baylor and the rest of the conference. We'll have more about that next week. In the meantime, your publisher took part in sending in his ballot on the preseason poll and all-conference team. I sent mine in Thursday. Ballots were due to the league office Friday.
Some decisions were easy. Others were hard. The one I struggled with the most was running back with Baylor's Shock Linwood and Texas' Malcolm Brown. Head to head in 2013 it was pretty much a wash. You could rightly argue Linwood had the better season (128-881 for Linwood vs. 214-904 for Brown).
But my lean toward Brown was that I could see Baylor spreading the ball even more between Linwood, Chafin and Johnny Jefferson than it did in 2013. Texas may be leaning on Brown a lot more with so many questions facing its offense.
Many could look at my Baylor pick as the conference favorite as bias (something I hear but ignore because if that's the best argument they can come up with then they have nothing) after what Oklahoma did in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama and the fact that Baylor visits Oklahoma in Norman on Nov. 8. But what I do know is that Baylor has the more tested quarterback in Bryce Petty. Oklahoma's Trevor Knight was fantastic against Alabama but I need a body of work. And why can't Baylor win in Norman? Yes, the Bears never have. But if you're going to win a conference championship, you have to win big games on the road.
That said, I think I gave Baylor a pretty fair shake in this.
Predicted order of finish
1. Baylor
2. Oklahoma
3. Oklahoma State
4. Kansas State
5. Texas
6. Texas Tech
7. TCU
8. West Virginia
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas
All-Conference team
Defense
DL - Ryan Mueller, Kansas State
DL - Charles Tapper, Oklahoma
DL - Cedric Reed, Texas
DL - Shawn Oakman, Baylor
LB - Frank Shannon, Oklahoma
LB - Eric Striker, Oklahoma
LB - Bryce Hager, Baylor
DB - Sam Carter, TCU
DB - Quandre Diggs, Texas
DB - Dante Barnett, Kansas State
DB - Isaiah Johnson, Kansas
P - Spencer Roth, Baylor
PR - Jakeem Grant, Texas Tech
Offense
WR - Antwan Goodley, Baylor
TE - E.J. Bibbs, Iowa State
OL - Spencer Drango, Baylor
OL - Le'Raven Clark, Texas Tech
C - B.J. Finney, Kansas State
OL - Tyrus Thompson, Oklahoma
OL - Halapouivaati Vaitai, TCU
QB - Bryce Petty, Baylor
RB - Malcolm Brown, Texas
RB - Desmond Roland, Oklahoma State
PK - Jaden Oberkrom, TCU
PR - Levi Norwood, Baylor
Offensive Player of the Year - Bryce Petty, Baylor, QB
Defensive Player of the Year - Eric Striker, Oklahoma, LB
Newcomer of the Year - Rushel Shell, West Virginia, RB
-Kevin Lonnquist
State 7-on-7 tournament
Several Baylor targets are involved in the Division I bracket of the state 7-on-7 tournament that continues Friday and Saturday at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in Leander.
Division II pool play was held Thursday involving lower classification and private school teams. There really weren't any Baylor connections involved except for Plano Prestonwood LB Deonte Williams (Baylor offer). Prestonwood won its pool (3-0) and advanced to the championship bracket. Williams had two interceptions and caught several TDs at wide receiver. He should be in Waco next week for the camp.
Abilene Wylie LB and Baylor commit Clay Johnston also advanced to the championship round thanks to some tiebreakers. Johnston said he scored 5-7 touchdowns during pool play. That's something that should be expected in 2014. He said he plans to play a lot of running back in the fall.
As for Division I, Temple quarterback and Baylor commit Chad President and Manvel QB and Baylor 2016 DB offer D'Eriq King play Friday. Temple is in Pool E along with Fort Bend Clements, Wolfforth Frenship and Frisco Heritage. Manvel is in Pool N with Lake Dallas, College Station and El Paso Franklin. Of course, that Manvel team has several prospects Baylor is looking at including 2016 DB Deontay Anderson. Baylor has offered Anderson.
"I want to win, but it's just something that lets us keep the competitive nature until the season comes,'' King said.
Southlake Carroll 2016 DB Obi Eboh will be there along with Allen DB Jaylon Jones. Eboh is planning to return to Baylor's camp next week in Waco. And keep watching Trophy Club Byron Nelson 2016 WR Brandon Bowen. Bowen is one of those raw talents who may need a full season in the Bobcats offense so recruiters know exactly what they are evaluating. Bowen played defensive end with Carrollton Newman Smith in 2013 before transferring to Nelson.
-Kevin Lonnquist
The work for Wilson begins
As soon as Dallas Bishop Dunne offensive lineman Ishmael Wilson enrolled at Baylor on Thursday, the school began the process of gathering its information so it could submit a hardship waiver request to the NCAA.
But with this being mid-July, the chances of hearing anything from the NCAA before the Aug. 31 opener with SMU is a mystery. Remember, Baylor didn't know anything about DE Sam Ukwuachu's situation until well after the 2013 season began (he was denied) but learned shortly before the 2013-14 season that transfer guard Royce O'Neale's waiver had been granted.
Until then, the Texas A&M transfer can go through workouts and go through fall workouts with the team.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Bears still on Roy's radar
It's been a long time since Baylor offered 2016 Spring DT Bravvion Roy. Baylor was the first to offer the junior-to-be, doing so during Roy's freshman year. The staff hasn't let up since then, keeping tabs on him, and getting him to a camp this summer.
It was the only camp he's attended this summer, and he felt like he got special treatment.
"When I was at the Baylor camp, I felt like it the relationship with the coaches was close," he said. "They had me doing everything first in drills."
Five schools have offered since Baylor first pulled the trigger, including Texas.
He said he likes Baylor "a lot", but after thinking things through, he's going to hold off on committing anywhere for a while.
"I really wanted to make a decision this upcoming year, but I'm just going to let the season play out first," he said. "I'm mainly trying to focus on the upcoming season and staying in shape with my cardio."
We'll check in with him periodically to monitor his recruitment.
-Jake Shaw
Big basketball weekend - Part 1
Baylor coaches are spread out across the country at several major tournaments. Jerome Tang is in Chicago for the Adidas Unrivaled that runs through Sunday. Paul Mills is in Philadelphia for the Reebok Classic Breakout which ends Friday. The LeBron James Skills camp is in Las Vegas through Saturday and is connected to the EYBL. This just gives you an idea of which Baylor targets are where.
>Tyler Davis, Plano West, C (2015) - LeBron James
>D.J. Hogg, Plano West, F (2015) - LeBron James
>Eric Davis, Saginaw (MI), G (2015) - LeBron James
>King McClure, Triple A Academy, G (2015) - LeBron James
>Malik Monk, Bentonville (AR), G (2016) - LeBron James
>De'Aaron Fox, Cy Lakes, G (2016) - LeBron James
>Shake Milton, Owasso (OK), G (2015) - LeBron James
>Schnider Herard, Plano Prestonwood, C (2016) - LeBron James
>Micah Thomas, Eads (TN), F, (2016) - Adidas
>Terrance Ferguson, Dallas Prime Prep, F, (2016) - Reebok
>Admon Gilder, Dallas Madison, G, (2015) - Reebok
>T.J. Vasher, WF Rider, G, (2016) - Reebok
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>You may have pretty much figured it out, but I couldn't report it until I talked with him. But late Thursday Ennis DE James Lockhart said his recruitment is down to Alabama and Texas A&M. Lockhart said Baylor is out of consideration.
>Longview RB JaMycal Hasty's time at The Opening has finished. His 7-on-7 team MachSpeed had a great showing going 2-1 before falling in the semifinals of the tournament. Call it a strong showing for Hasty. His composite score of 108.93 from his SPARQ test ranked him 32nd among the 163 prospects, which had scores recorded.
>Everything still points to ground breaking for the construction of the Beauchamp Athletics Nutrition Center this fall. It should be ready to open in the spring of 2015.
>When fall camp starts on Aug. 4, it would not be a shock to see Travon Blanchard get more work at the Bear position to challenge Collin Brence. Blanchard was originally recruited for that position in 2013. However, he was moved to the secondary during the fall camp. With Kiante Griffin gone, that probably should allow for the coaching staff to evaluate Blanchard further.
-SicEmSports
Baylor secured a commitment from 2015 shooting guard King McClure at the end of April. Getting two of his Texas Titans teammates could very well give Baylor a top 10 basketball class.
According to the head coach of McClure's AAU team, Baylor has a strong chance of making that happen. Baylor's in great standing with C Tyler Davis and SF D.J. Hogg, both ranked as 4-star recruits.
"I think all the Texas schools are in the front of the line," Titans coach Scott Pospichal said. "Kansas and UCLA are also in for Tyler, and UCLA for D.J., schools like that. There's no question that Baylor is towards the top if not at the top. But all the Texas schools are in line."
The Titans, who also have Plano West running back and guard Soso Jamabo on the team, are headed east for the Peach Jam next week. Coming off a tournament win in their last appearance, Pospichal expects to collect more hardware.
"The preparation for this team has always been to win it," he said.
As for Davis, Pospichal gave quick scouting reports on his two star players, both ranked inside the top 50 by rivals.com.
On Davis: "Great hands. He came here in 8th grade at 6-5, 255, and now he's 6-10, 270. He's a hard-working young man, a sweetheart off the court and a beast on it. He's highly competitive."
On Hogg: "He's the youngest kid on his team. He's young for his grade. It's just more of a maturity thing with D.J. The older he's gotten the more incredible he's become. There's a lot for him in the future. My biggest concern with D.J. is him trying to compete on the defensive end. Offensively, he's so skilled. He passes the ball very well, he's a very difficult guy to defend, he has a high release on his jumper."
As for McClure, there's been no wavering on his commitment. If anything, it has eased the pressure on him.
"He's doing a better job,'' Pospichal said. "He loves Baylor. He loves the coaching staff, and we're big fans of the coaching staff and Baylor. It's a good fit for King."
-Jake Shaw
Big 12 poll and preseason All-Big 12 Conference Team
Big 12 media days are scheduled for July 21-22 in Dallas at the Omni Hotel. SicEmSports will be there to cover Baylor and the rest of the conference. We'll have more about that next week. In the meantime, your publisher took part in sending in his ballot on the preseason poll and all-conference team. I sent mine in Thursday. Ballots were due to the league office Friday.
Some decisions were easy. Others were hard. The one I struggled with the most was running back with Baylor's Shock Linwood and Texas' Malcolm Brown. Head to head in 2013 it was pretty much a wash. You could rightly argue Linwood had the better season (128-881 for Linwood vs. 214-904 for Brown).
But my lean toward Brown was that I could see Baylor spreading the ball even more between Linwood, Chafin and Johnny Jefferson than it did in 2013. Texas may be leaning on Brown a lot more with so many questions facing its offense.
Many could look at my Baylor pick as the conference favorite as bias (something I hear but ignore because if that's the best argument they can come up with then they have nothing) after what Oklahoma did in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama and the fact that Baylor visits Oklahoma in Norman on Nov. 8. But what I do know is that Baylor has the more tested quarterback in Bryce Petty. Oklahoma's Trevor Knight was fantastic against Alabama but I need a body of work. And why can't Baylor win in Norman? Yes, the Bears never have. But if you're going to win a conference championship, you have to win big games on the road.
That said, I think I gave Baylor a pretty fair shake in this.
Predicted order of finish
1. Baylor
2. Oklahoma
3. Oklahoma State
4. Kansas State
5. Texas
6. Texas Tech
7. TCU
8. West Virginia
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas
All-Conference team
Defense
DL - Ryan Mueller, Kansas State
DL - Charles Tapper, Oklahoma
DL - Cedric Reed, Texas
DL - Shawn Oakman, Baylor
LB - Frank Shannon, Oklahoma
LB - Eric Striker, Oklahoma
LB - Bryce Hager, Baylor
DB - Sam Carter, TCU
DB - Quandre Diggs, Texas
DB - Dante Barnett, Kansas State
DB - Isaiah Johnson, Kansas
P - Spencer Roth, Baylor
PR - Jakeem Grant, Texas Tech
Offense
WR - Antwan Goodley, Baylor
TE - E.J. Bibbs, Iowa State
OL - Spencer Drango, Baylor
OL - Le'Raven Clark, Texas Tech
C - B.J. Finney, Kansas State
OL - Tyrus Thompson, Oklahoma
OL - Halapouivaati Vaitai, TCU
QB - Bryce Petty, Baylor
RB - Malcolm Brown, Texas
RB - Desmond Roland, Oklahoma State
PK - Jaden Oberkrom, TCU
PR - Levi Norwood, Baylor
Offensive Player of the Year - Bryce Petty, Baylor, QB
Defensive Player of the Year - Eric Striker, Oklahoma, LB
Newcomer of the Year - Rushel Shell, West Virginia, RB
-Kevin Lonnquist
State 7-on-7 tournament
Several Baylor targets are involved in the Division I bracket of the state 7-on-7 tournament that continues Friday and Saturday at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in Leander.
Division II pool play was held Thursday involving lower classification and private school teams. There really weren't any Baylor connections involved except for Plano Prestonwood LB Deonte Williams (Baylor offer). Prestonwood won its pool (3-0) and advanced to the championship bracket. Williams had two interceptions and caught several TDs at wide receiver. He should be in Waco next week for the camp.
Abilene Wylie LB and Baylor commit Clay Johnston also advanced to the championship round thanks to some tiebreakers. Johnston said he scored 5-7 touchdowns during pool play. That's something that should be expected in 2014. He said he plans to play a lot of running back in the fall.
As for Division I, Temple quarterback and Baylor commit Chad President and Manvel QB and Baylor 2016 DB offer D'Eriq King play Friday. Temple is in Pool E along with Fort Bend Clements, Wolfforth Frenship and Frisco Heritage. Manvel is in Pool N with Lake Dallas, College Station and El Paso Franklin. Of course, that Manvel team has several prospects Baylor is looking at including 2016 DB Deontay Anderson. Baylor has offered Anderson.
"I want to win, but it's just something that lets us keep the competitive nature until the season comes,'' King said.
Southlake Carroll 2016 DB Obi Eboh will be there along with Allen DB Jaylon Jones. Eboh is planning to return to Baylor's camp next week in Waco. And keep watching Trophy Club Byron Nelson 2016 WR Brandon Bowen. Bowen is one of those raw talents who may need a full season in the Bobcats offense so recruiters know exactly what they are evaluating. Bowen played defensive end with Carrollton Newman Smith in 2013 before transferring to Nelson.
-Kevin Lonnquist
The work for Wilson begins
As soon as Dallas Bishop Dunne offensive lineman Ishmael Wilson enrolled at Baylor on Thursday, the school began the process of gathering its information so it could submit a hardship waiver request to the NCAA.
But with this being mid-July, the chances of hearing anything from the NCAA before the Aug. 31 opener with SMU is a mystery. Remember, Baylor didn't know anything about DE Sam Ukwuachu's situation until well after the 2013 season began (he was denied) but learned shortly before the 2013-14 season that transfer guard Royce O'Neale's waiver had been granted.
Until then, the Texas A&M transfer can go through workouts and go through fall workouts with the team.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Bears still on Roy's radar
It's been a long time since Baylor offered 2016 Spring DT Bravvion Roy. Baylor was the first to offer the junior-to-be, doing so during Roy's freshman year. The staff hasn't let up since then, keeping tabs on him, and getting him to a camp this summer.
It was the only camp he's attended this summer, and he felt like he got special treatment.
"When I was at the Baylor camp, I felt like it the relationship with the coaches was close," he said. "They had me doing everything first in drills."
Five schools have offered since Baylor first pulled the trigger, including Texas.
He said he likes Baylor "a lot", but after thinking things through, he's going to hold off on committing anywhere for a while.
"I really wanted to make a decision this upcoming year, but I'm just going to let the season play out first," he said. "I'm mainly trying to focus on the upcoming season and staying in shape with my cardio."
We'll check in with him periodically to monitor his recruitment.
-Jake Shaw
Big basketball weekend - Part 1
Baylor coaches are spread out across the country at several major tournaments. Jerome Tang is in Chicago for the Adidas Unrivaled that runs through Sunday. Paul Mills is in Philadelphia for the Reebok Classic Breakout which ends Friday. The LeBron James Skills camp is in Las Vegas through Saturday and is connected to the EYBL. This just gives you an idea of which Baylor targets are where.
>Tyler Davis, Plano West, C (2015) - LeBron James
>D.J. Hogg, Plano West, F (2015) - LeBron James
>Eric Davis, Saginaw (MI), G (2015) - LeBron James
>King McClure, Triple A Academy, G (2015) - LeBron James
>Malik Monk, Bentonville (AR), G (2016) - LeBron James
>De'Aaron Fox, Cy Lakes, G (2016) - LeBron James
>Shake Milton, Owasso (OK), G (2015) - LeBron James
>Schnider Herard, Plano Prestonwood, C (2016) - LeBron James
>Micah Thomas, Eads (TN), F, (2016) - Adidas
>Terrance Ferguson, Dallas Prime Prep, F, (2016) - Reebok
>Admon Gilder, Dallas Madison, G, (2015) - Reebok
>T.J. Vasher, WF Rider, G, (2016) - Reebok
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>You may have pretty much figured it out, but I couldn't report it until I talked with him. But late Thursday Ennis DE James Lockhart said his recruitment is down to Alabama and Texas A&M. Lockhart said Baylor is out of consideration.
>Longview RB JaMycal Hasty's time at The Opening has finished. His 7-on-7 team MachSpeed had a great showing going 2-1 before falling in the semifinals of the tournament. Call it a strong showing for Hasty. His composite score of 108.93 from his SPARQ test ranked him 32nd among the 163 prospects, which had scores recorded.
>Everything still points to ground breaking for the construction of the Beauchamp Athletics Nutrition Center this fall. It should be ready to open in the spring of 2015.
>When fall camp starts on Aug. 4, it would not be a shock to see Travon Blanchard get more work at the Bear position to challenge Collin Brence. Blanchard was originally recruited for that position in 2013. However, he was moved to the secondary during the fall camp. With Kiante Griffin gone, that probably should allow for the coaching staff to evaluate Blanchard further.
-SicEmSports
