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 I: As Baylor awaits the outcome from the NCAA’s ruling on this waiver for the 2016 opener in Australia, let clear up one item. We mentioned that the focus of the waiver is for Baylor to be able to play the game at an earlier date. What this will not do is become a 13th game. If Baylor is approved to play, the Bears will still have to make an adjustment in the schedule to get to 12 games. That still likely means buying out Northwestern State. That game is scheduled for Sept. 3. The other two games are Sept. 17 against SMU at McLane Stadium and Sept. 24 at Rice.
NOTE II: This is the final weekend for Baylor basketball coaches to be on the road evaluating prospects. They will be in Las Vegas for the Adidas Summer Championships, the Adidas Hoosier Shootout in Indianapolis, End of the Summer Showcase in Houston and other tournaments in Mytle Beach, SC and in Kansas City. Two players we know the staff is looking at pretty close (but have not offered yet) are San Antonio Churchill 2016 PF Clevon Brown (6-7, 210) and 2017 Wellington, FL PG Trent Frazier (6-2, 180). Brown is making a name for himself during the summer circuit. He already holds 13 offers including Illinois, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt and SMU.
NOTE III: Euless Trinity DT Chris Daniels said late Thursday he plans on visiting Baylor next weekend. Rated No. 160 in the 2016 Rivals250, Daniels is currently at the two day event at Arkansas along with several other Baylor targets including Hope (AR) defensive McTelvin Agim. Daniels has kept Baylor among his top choices. He has also visited Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. Daniels has said he wants to make his commitment decision in January.
VIDEO: CHEVIN CALLOWAY
Not long ago Rivals Courtney Roland had a chance to visit with Dallas Bishop Dunne 2017 DB Chevin Calloway about his recruitment. Calloway has made a couple of trips to the Baylor campus. There are no other campus visits known for the Rivals No. 120 prospect
Crump ready to visit
Fort Scott (KS) C.C. weakside defensive end Koron Crump seems to have settled on three finalists. They are Baylor, Arizona State and Tennessee.
This weekend, Crump will be taking his first official visit as he visits the Baylor campus. He does plan to take officials to Arizona State and Tennessee. However, he does not have dates for those visits.
Baylor offered the three-star Crump (6-3, 230) back in the spring and has kept a strong dialogue with him. That starts with linebackers coach Jim Gush who does a lot of work with the Kansas JUCO scene.
“I just want to see the locker room [at McLane Stadium], the campus and the stadium,’’ Crump said. “I’m looking forward to meeting the coaches. I love that they have had a winning season. Coach Gush is really cool. But I can’t say much more until after that.’’
Crump has said that he hopes to make his commitment decision before Fort Scott’s season begins. That could mean end of August. He is a December graduate so he would enroll in January of 2016.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Pitre talks BU visit
Stafford 2017 safety Jalen Pitre made his second visit to the Baylor campus Thursday and brought his parents along for the trip this time around. There had been some thought that Pitre could commit but that didn’t happen.
“The main difference with the visit today was having my parents with me,” Pitre said. “It worked out because they had a lot of questions about the school and the academic side of things. Coach (Cris) Dishman showed us around the facilities and talked with my parents about everything within the program.
“I didn’t learn too many new things today, but I was glad that my parents were able to visit the program with me. We even got to watch some of the players go through work outs, the quarterbacks and receivers were working on routes.”
Pitre is teammates with Baylor 2017 receiver commit Hezekiah Jones, and surprisingly, the two haven’t been talking much recruiting lately.
“We actually haven’t been talking a lot,” Pitre said. “It’s really been a while since I have talked with anyone else about recruiting.”
Our conversation was brief and we plan to get more information from Pitre, but it sounded like the visit went well. Every prospect is different though. He could wait out the process, but Baylor is his only offer at the moment and this was his second visit to Waco within the past month.
Rated a three-star prospect, Pitre is the No. 41 player on the Rivals.com Texas Initial Top 80 for the 2017 class. Baylor is recruiting him as an athlete.
-Matt Clare
Wilson discusses BU camp
The nation’s No. 1 player for the 2017 recruiting class, Houston Episcopal defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, was on hand to watch the Baylor camp last week on his home field.
The five-star prospect talked about what he noticed from the Baylor coaches at the camp.
“I like the coaching staff a lot, Coach (Chris) Achuff said a lot of things that caught my attention that most coaches don’t say,” Wilson said. “He wants to help me get my degree and wants me to develop what is best for me within the system. It’s just a different approach than most coaches take.
“There was a lot of energy, the coaches were all into it and bouncing from station to station. Coach Achuff was getting everyone involved, keeping the energy going throughout the camp.”
Wilson also shared the coaches’ recruiting pitch on exactly why he should choose Baylor.
“The coaches told me that they are going to keep moving forward, not move backwards,” Wilson said. “These past few seasons are just milestones for them and they are working hard to where they are now. They want to win more rings and more championships.”
The 6-foot-4, 320-pound prospect is planning to wait out the process, but having the nation’s No. 1 player on campus and spending additional time around the coaches at a camp is a great start for Art Briles and his staff.
-Matt Clare
Mond discusses new 2017 recruits
San Antonio Reagan 2017 quarterback commit Kellen Mond is quickly becoming the leader of his class. He talked about the big week for Baylor recruiting with the additions of Jhamon Ausbon, Kedrick James and Donovan Stiner.
“It was a good day, just another day to build a better relationship with the coaches,” Mond said. “That was me and Hezekiah’s goal, we wanted to build a better bond with some of the other recruits and it ended with three new commitments.
“We didn’t even know Jhamon [Ausbon] was going to commit, and that was surprising enough, but then we also added a tight end commit and a safety from Houston. It was a great day, but we are definitely not done yet.”
The Baylor 2017 recruiting class has grown quickly and Mond talked about what is next for the class, perhaps foreshadowing a little bit.
“We have the offense going now, just need some offensive lineman now,” Mond said. “The main goal is to start adding some defensive recruits. Jhamon is talking with Marvin Wilson a little bit.
“A lot of guys that I talk with say that they want to visit campus, but until you visit Baylor then you don’t understand the mindset and it’s something you see when there on campus.”
Mond is planning one more visit to Waco before the summer ends and it’s time to focus on the season.
“I’m going to visit one more time,” Mond said. “I want my Mom and my little sisters to visit the campus with me. I want them to see everything and go through the whole tour with me, see where I will be playing football in college.”
Rated a three-star, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound signal caller is the No. 36 player on the Rivals Texas Initial Top 80 for the 2017 class.
-Matt Clare
Commit visits
College Station safety and the most recent member of the 2016 recruiting class, Rajah Preciado, was in Waco on Thursday for the first time since he committed.
“Everything went great,’’ Preciado said. “It’s the best school and the coaching staff in the country in my opinion. I loved it.’’
This was at least the third visit for Preciado to the Baylor campus. He first went to the May 31 camp. He then returned for the June 7 camp at the coaching staff’s request. Preciado has already seen the campus and the facilities. The purpose of this visit was to strengthen his relationship with safeties coach Cris Dishman.
“It definitely was important for me to get up there and see him,’’ Preciado said. “I’m glad I could make the visit.’’
-Kevin Lonnquist
MBB: It’s every day with Baylor
Klein Forest 2016 3-star power forward Deandre Williams doesn’t have a lot of offers at this point.
However, that’s probably going to change soon. He’s been on the road with his AAU team TexasPro during this pivotal evaluation period. There’s no denying Baylor’s interest in the 6-8, 195-pound prospect. Williams has already visited the Baylor campus.
“I hear from [head coach] Scott Drew every day,’’ Williams said. “He likes me a lot. It was great visiting Baylor. They had TVs while you were using the rest room. What was also cool was that in the locker rooms, you could see highlights of your game in your own locker. I was really happy to see that.’’
Williams and Texas Pro are at the Adidas Summer Championships in Las Vegas this weekend.
Rivals national basketball analyst Eric Bossi had this scouting report on Williams: An intriguing forward prospect. It is mostly because Williams is so mobile and capable of attacking the rim off the dribble at around 6-foot-8. He moves very well laterally, has a pretty good looking shot and looks to be a guy who is just starting to scratch at the surface of his potential.
-SicEmSports
MBB: Mays and Baylor
Baylor has made it no secret that it is moving hard with Baton Rouge (LA) native and 2016 Rivals No. 122 point guard Skylar Mays. The evolving point guard was on campus for his official visit two weeks ago. It was his second visit of the summer.
While he didn’t commit, it’s pretty clear that the Bears are going to be one of his finalists for whenever he does make his decision. Mays has enrolled in Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV. He’ll be joined by 2017 PG and Rivals No. 31 Markus Howard, who also has a Baylor offer.
Mays is planning on taking an official visit to UNLV (he took an unofficial recently) but that’s all he has planned at this point. But Mays appears to have struck a connection with Baylor head coach Scott Drew.
“It was a good visit,’’ Mays said. “Coach Drew does a great job with his guards. It’s a guard heavy system that lets them play, which I like. I talk with coach Drew a lot. He recruits hard. I’m going to be watching them a lot this year.’’
-SicEmSports
Big 12 media day observations
In looking through some of the Q&As with the nine other Big 12 coaches, here’s my take:
TCU – Gary Patterson seems more comfortable with where he’s at with this program. That’s not usually likr him because Patterson typically embraces carrying an edge. He knows he has a good team. They like being the favorite. The Horned Frogs only have five returning defensive starters. But there’s a lot of letter winners back.
Oklahoma – There are some gambles Bob Stoops and his program are taking with players and off-the-field issues. That pertains to RB Joe Mixon. But when you’re coming off an 8-5 season, there’s pressure to bounce back. In talking to some of the Oklahoma media, their belief the Sooners recruiting efforts have suffered because the staff got old and wasn’t motivated to get on the road. We’ll see what the changes will mean moving forward.
Oklahoma State – I think Mike Gundy is pretty excited about what QB Mason Rudolph can do this year with a full offseason. I believe the Cowboys can be the dark horse to win the Big 12. He’s of the opinion that the Big 12 will expand. Gundy is a pretty sharp coach and is always a pretty solid recruiter.
West Virginia – Dana Holgorsen probably has the most veteran team that he’s fielded in Morgantown. But his wide receivers are an unknown. It’s really going to come down to this defense standing up. If it can do it reasonably well, then the Mountaineers may not be too bad. If not, then Holgorsen could be feeling the heat.
Kansas State – Bill Snyder hasn’t come out and said that 2015 is his final year. But he did say he would like his son Sean to succeed him. Sean Snyder is the associate head coach and special team’s coordinator. He’s been around the program for 21 years. It may not matter how 2015 unfolds, I just get the sense that this is Snyder’s last year.
Kansas – On the flipside of the state you have former Texas High School David Beaty who has his first college head coaching assignment. Obviously, he’s thrilled to have this opportunity. But the goal is going to be getting through the season with the depth chart staying in tact as best as possible. His QB issues may not be solved this year.
Texas – Charlie Strong has already established the talking points about having a winning season. He doesn’t talk about winning the Big 12. That’s a smart move. He understands that he’s putting his faith in QBs (Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard) with too many question marks. We’ll see how they react to the spread. I visited with former Aledo RB Johnathan Gray who said he feels 100 percent for the season.
Texas Tech – Kliff Kingsbury said he wants to name a starting QB early in camp between Pat Mahomes and Davis Webb. There are so many things the Red Raiders need to improve upon from last year: penalties, red zone issues, turnovers and a defense that flat out wasn’t very good. With new defensive coordinator David Gibbs (6th in six years), it’s paramount that side of the ball come back.
Iowa State – I think Paul Rhoads' press conference lasted for about 10 minutes. What do you say about a program that has really struggled the last couple of years? Simply, the talent isn’t good enough for the Cyclones to compete for a bowl game. I think Rhoads probably knows he has to make a big move this year or else he’s elsewhere in 2016.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>We’re going to watch this but it does seem like maybe Trophy Club Byron Nelson offensive tackle Kellen Diesch’s commitment to Arkansas may not be ironclad. We’ve confirmed he’s visiting Texas A&M this weekend. What does that mean for Baylor? We’ll have to see what happens with this visit to determine if he’s going to flip to the Aggies or re-open the process. A&M had been a hard charger in this recruitment process.
>Plano Prestonwood 2016 LB commit Deonte Williams is looking to take a visit to Baylor sometime during fall camp. His father, Kat, who played at Florida State, said his son has had a great offseason working on covering receivers and also in open space. “I have always trained him like a safety with the body and mindset of a linebacker,’’ Kat said. “He is ahead of the curve and is doing what it takes to be successful at the next level.’’
>Shreveport (LA) Calvary Academy 2016 defensive back Rodarius Williams continues to talk with the Baylor coaches. Although he has been committed to Oklahoma State since the spring, contact has remained. “I’ve just been talking to them,’’ Williams said. “They want me to come down. I don’t have a date, but I’m looking forward to coming.’’
>It does look like Baylor’s chances of getting into the race for Allen offensive lineman Greg Little seem pretty slim. Indications throughout the week indicate that the Rivals No. 9 prospect is focusing on Alabama. Little de-committed from Texas A&M on July 13.
>As for Silsbee offensive tackle and Baylor commit Patrick Hudson, everything still seems to be in pretty good shape between he and the Bears coaching staff. “I talked with coach [Carlton] Buckels [Thursday],’’ Hudson said. “Definitely, everything with me and the coaches is good.’’ Hudson is the No. 28 rated player in the 2016 Rivals 100. He remains the highest rated recruit in Baylor history.
-SicEmSports
NOTE I: As Baylor awaits the outcome from the NCAA’s ruling on this waiver for the 2016 opener in Australia, let clear up one item. We mentioned that the focus of the waiver is for Baylor to be able to play the game at an earlier date. What this will not do is become a 13th game. If Baylor is approved to play, the Bears will still have to make an adjustment in the schedule to get to 12 games. That still likely means buying out Northwestern State. That game is scheduled for Sept. 3. The other two games are Sept. 17 against SMU at McLane Stadium and Sept. 24 at Rice.
NOTE II: This is the final weekend for Baylor basketball coaches to be on the road evaluating prospects. They will be in Las Vegas for the Adidas Summer Championships, the Adidas Hoosier Shootout in Indianapolis, End of the Summer Showcase in Houston and other tournaments in Mytle Beach, SC and in Kansas City. Two players we know the staff is looking at pretty close (but have not offered yet) are San Antonio Churchill 2016 PF Clevon Brown (6-7, 210) and 2017 Wellington, FL PG Trent Frazier (6-2, 180). Brown is making a name for himself during the summer circuit. He already holds 13 offers including Illinois, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt and SMU.
NOTE III: Euless Trinity DT Chris Daniels said late Thursday he plans on visiting Baylor next weekend. Rated No. 160 in the 2016 Rivals250, Daniels is currently at the two day event at Arkansas along with several other Baylor targets including Hope (AR) defensive McTelvin Agim. Daniels has kept Baylor among his top choices. He has also visited Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. Daniels has said he wants to make his commitment decision in January.
VIDEO: CHEVIN CALLOWAY
Not long ago Rivals Courtney Roland had a chance to visit with Dallas Bishop Dunne 2017 DB Chevin Calloway about his recruitment. Calloway has made a couple of trips to the Baylor campus. There are no other campus visits known for the Rivals No. 120 prospect
Crump ready to visit
Fort Scott (KS) C.C. weakside defensive end Koron Crump seems to have settled on three finalists. They are Baylor, Arizona State and Tennessee.
This weekend, Crump will be taking his first official visit as he visits the Baylor campus. He does plan to take officials to Arizona State and Tennessee. However, he does not have dates for those visits.
Baylor offered the three-star Crump (6-3, 230) back in the spring and has kept a strong dialogue with him. That starts with linebackers coach Jim Gush who does a lot of work with the Kansas JUCO scene.
“I just want to see the locker room [at McLane Stadium], the campus and the stadium,’’ Crump said. “I’m looking forward to meeting the coaches. I love that they have had a winning season. Coach Gush is really cool. But I can’t say much more until after that.’’
Crump has said that he hopes to make his commitment decision before Fort Scott’s season begins. That could mean end of August. He is a December graduate so he would enroll in January of 2016.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Pitre talks BU visit
Stafford 2017 safety Jalen Pitre made his second visit to the Baylor campus Thursday and brought his parents along for the trip this time around. There had been some thought that Pitre could commit but that didn’t happen.
“The main difference with the visit today was having my parents with me,” Pitre said. “It worked out because they had a lot of questions about the school and the academic side of things. Coach (Cris) Dishman showed us around the facilities and talked with my parents about everything within the program.
“I didn’t learn too many new things today, but I was glad that my parents were able to visit the program with me. We even got to watch some of the players go through work outs, the quarterbacks and receivers were working on routes.”
Pitre is teammates with Baylor 2017 receiver commit Hezekiah Jones, and surprisingly, the two haven’t been talking much recruiting lately.
“We actually haven’t been talking a lot,” Pitre said. “It’s really been a while since I have talked with anyone else about recruiting.”
Our conversation was brief and we plan to get more information from Pitre, but it sounded like the visit went well. Every prospect is different though. He could wait out the process, but Baylor is his only offer at the moment and this was his second visit to Waco within the past month.
Rated a three-star prospect, Pitre is the No. 41 player on the Rivals.com Texas Initial Top 80 for the 2017 class. Baylor is recruiting him as an athlete.
-Matt Clare
Wilson discusses BU camp
The nation’s No. 1 player for the 2017 recruiting class, Houston Episcopal defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, was on hand to watch the Baylor camp last week on his home field.
The five-star prospect talked about what he noticed from the Baylor coaches at the camp.
“I like the coaching staff a lot, Coach (Chris) Achuff said a lot of things that caught my attention that most coaches don’t say,” Wilson said. “He wants to help me get my degree and wants me to develop what is best for me within the system. It’s just a different approach than most coaches take.
“There was a lot of energy, the coaches were all into it and bouncing from station to station. Coach Achuff was getting everyone involved, keeping the energy going throughout the camp.”
Wilson also shared the coaches’ recruiting pitch on exactly why he should choose Baylor.
“The coaches told me that they are going to keep moving forward, not move backwards,” Wilson said. “These past few seasons are just milestones for them and they are working hard to where they are now. They want to win more rings and more championships.”
The 6-foot-4, 320-pound prospect is planning to wait out the process, but having the nation’s No. 1 player on campus and spending additional time around the coaches at a camp is a great start for Art Briles and his staff.
-Matt Clare
Mond discusses new 2017 recruits
San Antonio Reagan 2017 quarterback commit Kellen Mond is quickly becoming the leader of his class. He talked about the big week for Baylor recruiting with the additions of Jhamon Ausbon, Kedrick James and Donovan Stiner.
“It was a good day, just another day to build a better relationship with the coaches,” Mond said. “That was me and Hezekiah’s goal, we wanted to build a better bond with some of the other recruits and it ended with three new commitments.
“We didn’t even know Jhamon [Ausbon] was going to commit, and that was surprising enough, but then we also added a tight end commit and a safety from Houston. It was a great day, but we are definitely not done yet.”
The Baylor 2017 recruiting class has grown quickly and Mond talked about what is next for the class, perhaps foreshadowing a little bit.
“We have the offense going now, just need some offensive lineman now,” Mond said. “The main goal is to start adding some defensive recruits. Jhamon is talking with Marvin Wilson a little bit.
“A lot of guys that I talk with say that they want to visit campus, but until you visit Baylor then you don’t understand the mindset and it’s something you see when there on campus.”
Mond is planning one more visit to Waco before the summer ends and it’s time to focus on the season.
“I’m going to visit one more time,” Mond said. “I want my Mom and my little sisters to visit the campus with me. I want them to see everything and go through the whole tour with me, see where I will be playing football in college.”
Rated a three-star, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound signal caller is the No. 36 player on the Rivals Texas Initial Top 80 for the 2017 class.
-Matt Clare
Commit visits
College Station safety and the most recent member of the 2016 recruiting class, Rajah Preciado, was in Waco on Thursday for the first time since he committed.
“Everything went great,’’ Preciado said. “It’s the best school and the coaching staff in the country in my opinion. I loved it.’’
This was at least the third visit for Preciado to the Baylor campus. He first went to the May 31 camp. He then returned for the June 7 camp at the coaching staff’s request. Preciado has already seen the campus and the facilities. The purpose of this visit was to strengthen his relationship with safeties coach Cris Dishman.
“It definitely was important for me to get up there and see him,’’ Preciado said. “I’m glad I could make the visit.’’
-Kevin Lonnquist
MBB: It’s every day with Baylor
Klein Forest 2016 3-star power forward Deandre Williams doesn’t have a lot of offers at this point.
However, that’s probably going to change soon. He’s been on the road with his AAU team TexasPro during this pivotal evaluation period. There’s no denying Baylor’s interest in the 6-8, 195-pound prospect. Williams has already visited the Baylor campus.
“I hear from [head coach] Scott Drew every day,’’ Williams said. “He likes me a lot. It was great visiting Baylor. They had TVs while you were using the rest room. What was also cool was that in the locker rooms, you could see highlights of your game in your own locker. I was really happy to see that.’’
Williams and Texas Pro are at the Adidas Summer Championships in Las Vegas this weekend.
Rivals national basketball analyst Eric Bossi had this scouting report on Williams: An intriguing forward prospect. It is mostly because Williams is so mobile and capable of attacking the rim off the dribble at around 6-foot-8. He moves very well laterally, has a pretty good looking shot and looks to be a guy who is just starting to scratch at the surface of his potential.
-SicEmSports
MBB: Mays and Baylor
Baylor has made it no secret that it is moving hard with Baton Rouge (LA) native and 2016 Rivals No. 122 point guard Skylar Mays. The evolving point guard was on campus for his official visit two weeks ago. It was his second visit of the summer.
While he didn’t commit, it’s pretty clear that the Bears are going to be one of his finalists for whenever he does make his decision. Mays has enrolled in Findlay Prep in Henderson, NV. He’ll be joined by 2017 PG and Rivals No. 31 Markus Howard, who also has a Baylor offer.
Mays is planning on taking an official visit to UNLV (he took an unofficial recently) but that’s all he has planned at this point. But Mays appears to have struck a connection with Baylor head coach Scott Drew.
“It was a good visit,’’ Mays said. “Coach Drew does a great job with his guards. It’s a guard heavy system that lets them play, which I like. I talk with coach Drew a lot. He recruits hard. I’m going to be watching them a lot this year.’’
-SicEmSports
Big 12 media day observations
In looking through some of the Q&As with the nine other Big 12 coaches, here’s my take:
TCU – Gary Patterson seems more comfortable with where he’s at with this program. That’s not usually likr him because Patterson typically embraces carrying an edge. He knows he has a good team. They like being the favorite. The Horned Frogs only have five returning defensive starters. But there’s a lot of letter winners back.
Oklahoma – There are some gambles Bob Stoops and his program are taking with players and off-the-field issues. That pertains to RB Joe Mixon. But when you’re coming off an 8-5 season, there’s pressure to bounce back. In talking to some of the Oklahoma media, their belief the Sooners recruiting efforts have suffered because the staff got old and wasn’t motivated to get on the road. We’ll see what the changes will mean moving forward.
Oklahoma State – I think Mike Gundy is pretty excited about what QB Mason Rudolph can do this year with a full offseason. I believe the Cowboys can be the dark horse to win the Big 12. He’s of the opinion that the Big 12 will expand. Gundy is a pretty sharp coach and is always a pretty solid recruiter.
West Virginia – Dana Holgorsen probably has the most veteran team that he’s fielded in Morgantown. But his wide receivers are an unknown. It’s really going to come down to this defense standing up. If it can do it reasonably well, then the Mountaineers may not be too bad. If not, then Holgorsen could be feeling the heat.
Kansas State – Bill Snyder hasn’t come out and said that 2015 is his final year. But he did say he would like his son Sean to succeed him. Sean Snyder is the associate head coach and special team’s coordinator. He’s been around the program for 21 years. It may not matter how 2015 unfolds, I just get the sense that this is Snyder’s last year.
Kansas – On the flipside of the state you have former Texas High School David Beaty who has his first college head coaching assignment. Obviously, he’s thrilled to have this opportunity. But the goal is going to be getting through the season with the depth chart staying in tact as best as possible. His QB issues may not be solved this year.
Texas – Charlie Strong has already established the talking points about having a winning season. He doesn’t talk about winning the Big 12. That’s a smart move. He understands that he’s putting his faith in QBs (Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard) with too many question marks. We’ll see how they react to the spread. I visited with former Aledo RB Johnathan Gray who said he feels 100 percent for the season.
Texas Tech – Kliff Kingsbury said he wants to name a starting QB early in camp between Pat Mahomes and Davis Webb. There are so many things the Red Raiders need to improve upon from last year: penalties, red zone issues, turnovers and a defense that flat out wasn’t very good. With new defensive coordinator David Gibbs (6th in six years), it’s paramount that side of the ball come back.
Iowa State – I think Paul Rhoads' press conference lasted for about 10 minutes. What do you say about a program that has really struggled the last couple of years? Simply, the talent isn’t good enough for the Cyclones to compete for a bowl game. I think Rhoads probably knows he has to make a big move this year or else he’s elsewhere in 2016.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>We’re going to watch this but it does seem like maybe Trophy Club Byron Nelson offensive tackle Kellen Diesch’s commitment to Arkansas may not be ironclad. We’ve confirmed he’s visiting Texas A&M this weekend. What does that mean for Baylor? We’ll have to see what happens with this visit to determine if he’s going to flip to the Aggies or re-open the process. A&M had been a hard charger in this recruitment process.
>Plano Prestonwood 2016 LB commit Deonte Williams is looking to take a visit to Baylor sometime during fall camp. His father, Kat, who played at Florida State, said his son has had a great offseason working on covering receivers and also in open space. “I have always trained him like a safety with the body and mindset of a linebacker,’’ Kat said. “He is ahead of the curve and is doing what it takes to be successful at the next level.’’
>Shreveport (LA) Calvary Academy 2016 defensive back Rodarius Williams continues to talk with the Baylor coaches. Although he has been committed to Oklahoma State since the spring, contact has remained. “I’ve just been talking to them,’’ Williams said. “They want me to come down. I don’t have a date, but I’m looking forward to coming.’’
>It does look like Baylor’s chances of getting into the race for Allen offensive lineman Greg Little seem pretty slim. Indications throughout the week indicate that the Rivals No. 9 prospect is focusing on Alabama. Little de-committed from Texas A&M on July 13.
>As for Silsbee offensive tackle and Baylor commit Patrick Hudson, everything still seems to be in pretty good shape between he and the Bears coaching staff. “I talked with coach [Carlton] Buckels [Thursday],’’ Hudson said. “Definitely, everything with me and the coaches is good.’’ Hudson is the No. 28 rated player in the 2016 Rivals 100. He remains the highest rated recruit in Baylor history.
-SicEmSports
