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.
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Nembhard talks Baylor offer
Keller 2017 PG R.J. Nembhard made the most of Tuesday’s visit at Baylor. The Rivals No. 51 recruit spent the better part of eight hours taking in the Baylor campus and every inch of the athletic complex.
Toward the end of his visit, the exchange between Nembhard and Baylor head coach Scott Drew summoned a chuckle from both sides.
“He asked me if I thought I had an offer,’’ Nembhard said. “I said, ‘that’s up to you.’ He said they were offering me. I really liked coach Drew and the rest of the staff. It was a good experience. I’m glad I went.’’
For Nembhard, this second visit changed his view of the school because he had an opportunity to see more of it. In 2014, he stopped by but didn’t really get to see much so he couldn’t appreciate what he was looking at. Baylor would like for him to make a return visit for a football game this fall. The first one mentioned is Sept. 12 against Lamar.
“Everything got in depth with the visit and all of the money going into the school for academics and for school is really impressive,’’ he said. “If you think about going there not on scholarship it’s about $56,000 per year. That blew me away.’’
Other schools are starting to make their way into his thinking. Nembhard hasn’t been offered, but he’s talking with California, Marquette, Arizona and Syracuse.
There’s really no rush for him. He will be playing in tournaments next weekend, the Great American Shootout in DFW in two weeks and then the Big Foot tournament in three weeks in Las Vegas.
“Right now, I’m enjoyed the process, and I just want to focus on playing my game,’’ Nembhard said. “I’m working on being more aggressive with my game. That’s what I want to get out of this summer.’’
-Kevin Lonnquist
Giles starting with Baylor
Plano West produced one of the most impressive basketball recruiting classes for 2015 when center Tyler Davis and small forward D.J. Hogg signed with Texas A&M. Baylor was involved with both of those two.
But now the Bears are just starting with another rising 2017 guard Chris Giles. The Bears just starting making contact with the 6-2 Giles who has been busy on the summer circuit with his AAU team Texas Elite.
“I heard from Baylor the next day [when coaches could start making contact with 2017 recruits], Giles said. “I talked with coach [Jerome Tang]. He told me they want to build a strong relationship with me.’’
Baylor hasn’t offered Giles yet. However, it’s been an apparent practice by the Baylor coaching staff to offer recruits when they take an unofficial visit. See R.J. Nembhard.
Giles saw plenty of time for the Wolves during the 2014-15 Class 6A state championship season. But he wasn’t looked at as a primary scorer averaging just five points. That should change quite a bit 2015-16.
He also has a connection with Baylor. He is close with 2015 signee King McClure. McClure enrolled in June.
“The coaches want me to come in August and see all of the facilities,’’ Giles said. “I like Baylor. I would be great to play with King. I can’t guarantee he’ll still be there if I were go to Baylor. But that if he was, that would be cool for me.’’
-Kevin Lonnquist
Ballot submitted
Big 12 media days are scheduled for July 20-21 in Dallas at the Omni. Attending media had to submit their Preseason Poll and All-Big Conference Team along with superlatives for Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the year by April 10.
Here is what your publisher submitted.
Poll
1 – Baylor
2 – TCU
3 – Oklahoma State
4 – Oklahoma
5 – Texas
6 – Texas Tech
7 – Kansas State
8 – West Virginia
9 – Iowa State
10 – Kansas
Baylor All-Conference Selections
OL – Spencer Drango
RB – Shock Linwood
DL – Shawn Oakman
DL – Andrew Billings
WR – Corey Coleman
Defensive Player of the Year – Oakman
Explanation on the Poll
When it came to deciding No. 1 in the poll, I laid out the arguments in “What was he Thinking?’ on June 22. I was torn. I’m aware that Baylor doesn’t have a returning starting quarterback. But Seth Russell also isn’t walking into a situation where it’s new to him either. I also understand that the Bears have a grueling 5-game finish to the season that includes trips to Kansas State, Oklahoma State and TCU.
But then it dawned on me. The history of polls show the defending conference champion typically gets the nod unless it lost a lot of starters or the program is dealing with something else.
Baylor probably won’t get the nod from most of the media for the No. 1 spot because most got swept into TCU’s finish. That’s fine. But for me, the Bears have won consecutive Big 12 championships and beat the team in 2014 that they “shared” the conference championship with. They also have eight returning defensive starters. I’ve also shared more than once that this defensive line could be viewed as one of the five best in the country. Baylor has earned the right to be my preseason No. 1 team.
The rest of the poll speaks for itself. Oklahoma State could have a huge year especially if quarterback Mason Rudolph has a season that people expect. Oklahoma has QB questions but the defense is really good. Same story with Texas. Texas Tech may have something at QB with Pat Mahomes but needs to stop changing defensive coordinators every year. Kansas State just has too many questions. Not sure what to make of West Virginia. Iowa State is bad and Kansas is starting over.
Explanation on All-Big 12
Really, I put all of the Bears that I believed deserved to be on this team. The major dilemma was looking for a third receiver to go with Coleman. I put TCU’s Josh Doctson there and then I debated between Baylor’s KD Cannon and Oklahoma’s Sterling Shepherd. I asked opinions from third-party people about their thoughts about this choice. All I got was, ‘You have a tough decision.’’
I looked at Cannon’s and Shepherd’s 2014 seasons. Shepherd missed several games late in the season and didn’t do much in the Florida Citrus Bowl loss to Clemson. Cannon had huge games against Northwestern State, Buffalo and the Cotton Bowl against Michigan State. But in the other games, it was 1-2 catches for modest and non-impacting yardage.
Right or wrong, I went with Shepherd because he’s a senior and is Oklahoma’s go-to guy. No doubt Cannon is the better wide receiver but his career is just starting. He’ll get his chance. If Cannon has the year I expect he will, then this debate won’t be one next summer. He should make the all-conference postseason team without a thought. Shepherd may not be on there. Those are the lists that get the most attention. What made it frustrating is that the conference asked for a tight end. Well, this conference is pretty thin with those candidates.
I brooded over this decision and have to live with it. But given how much I had Baylor represented elsewhere, I wouldn’t have voted for these players if I didn’t think it was warranted.
As for Oakman, I’m going with a leap of faith. There were times where he dominated. But there were other games where he didn’t have much of an impact either. If he's more consistent this year, then he can be the league's top defensive player. It would also help his draft stock.
I take this very seriously. When I’m putting something like this together, I keep in mind that I’m representing something greater than our site. I’m representing Rivals and Yahoo. Our credibility and respect are paramount. The Big 12 is tabulating these votes. I want the conference to see how we are treating this.
That’s the beauty of these polls. You can debate them every which way.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Martin schedules visits
Port Arthur Memorial all-purpose running back Kameron Martin committed to the Baylor coaches more than a year ago, and continued to pile up new offer after new offer while remaining a solid commitment for the Bears.
Martin even had an assist on one of the most recent commitment, 2017 wide receiver Hezekiah Jones.
“Oh yeah, I traveled to Florida with Hezekiah for a 7-on-7 tournament with our Team Texas Elite team,” Martin said. “We had a great time and it’s really good to play against some of the best. I mostly played running back, but I go out on routes every play and it helps me work on my pass catching.
“I roomed with Hezekiah and I wouldn’t say that I was recruiting him, but he had questions for me and we talked about Baylor. My approach was to tell him about the coaches at Baylor, how they are always there for me and have been for a very long time. We also talked about the offense and how many touches wide receivers get because that’s what he plays.”
The standout prospect chose Baylor over several other offers, but there are a few other programs that Martin continues to consider.
“I have an unofficial visit setup to Texas later this summer,” Martin said. “I have also already setup one of my official visits to Notre Dame in the fall. I’m probably going to take an official visit to Oregon as well. I only get to do this recruiting thing once and really want to see what all is out there for me. I’m going to take all five visits.
“I’m not sure on the Baylor official visit yet, but I know the coaches have some dates where they want all of the commitments to visit (that’s usually in January). The coaches are coming back to the Houston area later this month and I plan on stopping by the Baylor camp again.”
So the usual question is, should the Baylor fans worry about the official visits and trip to Austin this summer?
“Not really, like I said, this only happens once and I want to see all of the schools,” Martin said. “Texas and Notre Dame are both still recruiting me pretty hard. When I was growing up, Texas was a dream school for me. I’m a Baylor commitment all the way, but it will most likely still come down to Baylor versus Texas for me.”
Rated a four-star prospect, Martin is the No. 4 overall all-purpose back in the nation, the No. 217 player in the latest Rivals250 national rankings and the No. 26 player in the Rivals Texas Spring Top 100 for the 2016 class.
-Matt Clare
Catching up with Texada
Frisco Centennial corner Raleigh Texada committed to the Baylor coaches in early March. The standout prospect recently camped with the coaches again in Waco and shared more about the experience.
“I was in Waco for the camp recently,” Texada said. “I worked out and did very well, plus I got to spend a lot of time around the coaches. That was probably my eighth time being at Baylor though, I have already visited several times and feel very comfortable there.
“Coach (Carlton) Buckles and Coach (Jim) Gush are the coaches that I usually connect with from Baylor and they have been recruiting me since my sophomore year. Coach Gush actually recruited my older brother Ranthony before he ended up committing to TCU.”
With your brother at TCU and the rivalry forming between the two schools, what made you decide that Baylor was the place for you?
“Really, I wanted to do my own thing,” Texada said. “I really like the Baylor coaches and we have a great relationship. I camped with them after my sophomore year, made some improvements that year, camped with them again after my junior year and received the offer. The coaches were in touch with me the whole time and they acknowledged all of the improvements that I had made. That meant a lot to me and I’m just very comfortable around everything involved with the Baylor program.”
The 5-foot-10, 160-pound prospect chose the Bears over offers from Cal, Duke, Purdue and Washington. Each program has remained in contact, but Texada feels that his recruitment is over.
“All of the schools that have offered me continue to recruit me, but I’m solid with Baylor,” Texada said. “I’m already looking at some of the games to attend this season. I know that I’m going to the Baylor versus TCU game because my brother [Ranthony] will be playing and it should be a great game.”
Rated a three-star prospect, Texada is the No. 99 player in Texas.
-Matt Clare
Baylor targets at The Opening
The mid-summer recruiting classic runs Sunday-Friday. Several important 2016 and 2017 uncommitted Baylor targets will be there in Beaverton, OR. ESPNU will be showing these events. Here are the prospects. We evaluate Baylor’s position.
McTelvin Agim
DE, Hope AR (2016)
Baylor’s position: The Bears are one of four finalists. This should come down to the Bears and Razorbacks.
Deontay Anderson
S, Manvel (2016)
Baylor’s position: The Bears would love to be in this race. But it’s really unclear where they are at this time. According to his twitter account, he has not released a list of finalists.
Jack Anderson
OL, Frisco (2017)
Baylor’s position: Baylor was one of the later programs to offer. Anderson was frustrated by Baylor not offering him. But when the Bears did, he also seemed relieved.
Shyheim Carter
Ath, Kentwood LA (2016)
Baylor’s position: Carter is committed to Alabama. This is pretty much a longshot for the Bears unless they can find a way to get him to visit.
Tyrie Cleveland
WR, Houston Westfield (2016)
Baylor’s position: Baylor made Cleveland’s Top 10 list last week. He’s hoping to visit in late July. That would be an important step toward helping Baylor’s chances.
Eric Cuffee
DB, Waco (2016)
Baylor’s position: Cuffee has said he will release his list of finalists at this event.
Devin Duvernay
WR, Sachse (2016)
Baylor’s position: Duvernay told Rivals Jason Howell recently that whenever he releases his finalists list, Baylor likely will be on it.
Brandon Jones
S, Nacogdoches (2016)
Baylor’s position: Jones visit to Baylor in late May really helped the program’s chances. Baylor is not out of this.
Peach Jam Preview
The prestigious annual event runs July 9-11 in North August, GA. There are several major Baylor 2016 and 2017 prospects playing in this event.
>Guard De’Aaron Fox (2016) from Houston was named first-team EYBL after averaging 16.8 points and 5.8 assists per game. He’s also shooting 48.5 percent from the field. Fox is with Houston Hoops.
>Guard Malik Monk (2016) from Arkansas knows how to fill up a stat sheet. He’s averaging more than 19 points and shooting 47 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range. He was also a first-team all EYBL selection. Monk plays with the Arkansas Wings.
>Jarred Vanderbilt (2017) from Houston is budding into a dynamic scorer and pretty impressive rebounder. He averaged 15 points but 10 rebounds per game. He’s already being hotly pursued. He’s also with Houston Hoops.
>Markus Howard (2017) from Gilbert, AZ just picked up his Baylor around June 25. You saw his comments about the program in our story earlier this week. He plays with Las Vegas Prospects.
>Guard Trae Young (2017) from Norman, OK enjoyed a stellar April and May with his team MOKAN Elite averaging better than 18 points. He recently said he hopes to visit Baylor in the fall.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>Eden Prairie, MN athlete JD Spielman said he’s still talking off and on with Baylor and that the coaches told him that they want him to stay in contact. Spielman has been recruited by safeties coach Cris Dishman. “Baylor is legit,’’ Spielman said.
>Mesquite Horn DE Gary Overshown committed to TCU last month and recently picked up an Oklahoma offer. But at no point during his recruitment has he heard from Baylor, he said.
>In case you missed this, junior running back Shock Linwood has a chance to become Baylor’s all-time rushing leader if he has a big 2015. He is currently at 2,133 career yards through his first two seasons. Walter Ambercrombie (1978-81) holds the school record at 3,655. Health is key, but Linwood needs 1,523 to break the record and own a the new mark.
-SicEmSports