Say Hey about the cover photo
Subscriber Eric Fernandez is involved in Sports Marketing. He was in San Francisco this week to work with Hall of Fame great Willie Mays. The Say Hey Kid is a college football fan. As you can tell in the picture, Fernandez made sure the San Francisco Giants legend, who is fourth on the all-time home run list with 660 and will forever be known for his electric over-the-shoulder running catch in the 1954 World Series, was supplied with the proper paraphernalia. Mays turns 83 on May 6 and told Fernandez he'll be pulling for the Bears this fall.
Building a friendship - the Young Guns!
The unspoken truth about Baylor's football recruiting classes is how much these players seem to form a bond with each other well before they ever arrive on campus.
Something is building between Temple's Chad President and Troup's Blake Lynch. It's not uncommon for those two to talk with each other on a weekly basis. Of course, the two were united through their verbal commitments to Baylor.
Yet something else clicked.
"I think it started at the [Jan. 26] junior day,'' President said. "We just started talking and it was just going. We are cool. It's going to be real special.''
President (6-3, 195) and Lynch (6-4, 191) (along with JaMycal Hasty) headline this 2015 class. President, rated No. 86 in the Rivals 250 is projected to play quarterback but does have the athleticism to play wide receiver. Lynch, rated No. 172, could go anywhere including quarterback, wide receiver or in the secondary if it came to that.
What's eerie is that both are of similar size. Combine length with their abilities and the projections for successful careers are palpable.
But each has something to prove because their 2013 seasons were cut short. President is coming off a torn ACL. Lynch is coming off an arm injury.
"We are very similar,'' Lynch said. "We're driven to play well. When we get to Baylor, there will be many touchdowns between the two of us.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
RB duo not necessarily a package deal, but
While college recruiters have been offering 2016 Port Arthur Memorial RB Kameron Martin, who'll only be a junior this fall, for seemingly years, teammate and fellow RB Corey Dauphine (class of 2015) is only starting to get in on the action. All the while, though, the younger Martin was telling his older teammate to keep the faith.
"He's my boy," Martin said of Dauphine, who committed to Texas Tech in February but told me he's definitely interested in Baylor. "I always knew Corey would blow up. When he hurt his knee his sophomore year, it hurt him, but it hurt me too. He's my brother. I told him to battle back and fight through the adversity, and he did, and now he's blowing up."
Baylor coaches were on the Memorial campus Thursday to watch a spring practice. Martin can't talk to them yet since he's currently a sophomore, but the message was clear.
"They want both of us," he said. "They were keying on us."
I'll have more later this weekend on both Martin and Dauphine -- and what the chances are that they will play together. The bottom line, though, is that both are extremely talented, and both have high Baylor interest.
-Jake Shaw
Deng's recruitment nearing its end?
Lee College PF Deng Deng -- perhaps the last target for the 2014 basketball class -- is taking his time with his recruitment. But a decision might be coming soon.
After visiting Baylor last week, Deng traveled to Nebraska Monday for an official, heading back on Wednesday. He was home less than 24 hours before leaving for LSU, his assistant coach, Marcus King, told me yesterday. As of now, that's his last scheduled visit. It could be his final one overall. Those three programs have been consistently recruiting him the hardest, so it's possible Deng could be down to those final three.
If that's the case, King won't say. He has said several times that the programs are pretty much on equal ground right now. Deng's interested in all of them, but not until his trips are finished will he sit down and look for separation between them.
So, basically, stay patient with this story. It's taking a bit of time, but it appears the answer will be known soon.
-Jake Shaw
Bring home the Bacon
While Rivals lists Dwayne Bacon (6-7, 205) as a small forward, that may not be where the Fort Pierce (Fla.) First Baptist star ends up playing college.
The nation's No. 33 prospect has a Baylor offer. Well, he has a plethora of offers ? 21 to be precise. Baylor, Ohio State, Michigan and Louisville are the most notable.
"Nobody is talking to me about playing small or power forward,'' Bacon said. "They're talking point guard or shooting guard. I've never heard the term point forward. People know what I can do with the ball.''
Bacon's AAU team Showtime Ballers doesn't travel in the EYBL circuit but it competes at a high level. In a recent tournament he poured in 32 and 26 points in consecutive games. Bacon is considered a solid passer who can shoot from the perimeter.
What's missing is just paying attention to detail the little things including spacing on the floor, the crossover move and other fundamentals. If you're not working on them consistently, they'll deteriorate.
Bacon has briefly been in contact with the Baylor staff. But it's pretty clear that his recruitment has a ways to go. He hasn't even thought about creating a top 10 much less a time when he will commit.
"I'm really not worried about that though,'' he said. "I'm just worried about getting better as a whole and the next event.''
That next would the Adidas Nations event in Miami this weekend. It's not a tournament but a closed elite skills session. About 30 prospects are invited. Next week, the team will be in a tournament in Georgia.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Guarding Options
Note: With Baylor securing the commitment of No. 37 prospect King McClure this past Tuesday, the staff still is searching for other guards. There are many options including the following two
Eric Davis, Saginaw MI
The Rivals No. 33 prospect is just starting to get to know the Baylor coaching staff. While he doesn't have an offer, Davis will be playing in the EYBL tournament May 10-11 in Dallas. His team, The Family, could be running into Baylor at the EYBL in two weeks in Virginia.
Davis (6-3, 178) talked with assistant coach Paul Mills recently and got the thumbnail report. Turns out, he already knew a lot about the Bears.
"Actually, I followed Baylor quite a bit,'' he said. "I've seen their history and followed them so I know they've been pretty successful.''
While his offer list fairly packed, there have been some changes. Davis said Ohio State and Florida offers are no longer good because of commitments from other players. Davis doesn't have a top 10 or a timeframe on when he would make a commitment.
That may be where Baylor steps in. There's a bit of an angle because Davis and Plano West's D.J. Hogg, whom Baylor has offered, have become pretty good friends. Hogg is still looking at making a decision down the road.
Davis is pretty much a pure scorer who likes to shoot the mid-range 12-15-foot jumper. He's not afraid of driving to the basket. But he is his own worst critic and sometimes he tends to get more lazy during games than he should.
Still, that's not going to withhold anyone from pursuing him as his offer list suggests. Perhaps his best quality is his will to win.
"That's all I want to do,'' he said. "We played in Sacramento last week [EYBL event], and I didn't think I played all that great. But we had a good tournament, so that's what I was happy about. I just want to find a way to get us a victory. That's what matters.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
MaCio Teague, Cincinnati
When the Rivals 3-star shooting guard met with Baylor assistant Jerome Tang last week, he came away pretty overwhelmed.
"The presentation coach Tang had against what I got from the Nebraska and Harvard coaches was pretty interesting,'' Teague said. "With coach Tang, he was really prepared on what he wanted to tell me about Baylor.''
Teague could be considered an under-the-radar prospect to this point. He holds offers from Seton Hall, Alcorn State, Yale and Akron. But the AAU season could be the time where more programs extend offers.
His team, All Ohio, continues its season this weekend in Fort Wayne, IN. Maybe this is the weekend where he turns heads.
"My coach thinks I'm overlooked and that people really need to take a little more interest,'' he said. "If I can average 15-16 points and six rebounds per game, I think that would go a long way.''
Baylor is looking at several guards to go with McClure. Teague said Tang told him they are definitely interested in him and want to see how things go throughout the AAU season before anything happens. That probably means extending an offer.
"I love to shoot midrange jumpers,'' he said. "I just have to keep proving myself.''
What people will note is that Teague appears to be in pretty good shape academically. That makes sense if two Ivy League schools are visiting. Teague said he has a 3.2 GPA and just took the ACT recently. He has not received a score.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Follow up on T'Kevian Rockwell
As we reported late Wednesday, the Wylie LB/S has signed with Blinn in Brenham. However, he has one final chance to take his standardized test. We're not clear if it's either the SAT or ACT.
Generally, most recruits take the ACT. If it's the ACT, his last opportunity would be June 14. If it's the SAT, he would take it June 7. There is an SAT scheduled for Saturday, but we don't believe it's that one.
Given those dates and should he receive a qualifying score, the earliest Rockwell could report is early August for fall workouts. He would still be a part of the 2014 class. Should Rockwell wind up at Blinn, we would be there for two years and could be recruited by anyone. But as we have also seen, Baylor typically follows through with its recruits that have to start at the JUCO level. Look no further than Navarro offensive lineman Mo Porter. Porter committed to Baylor in 2013 out of Fort Bend Marshall but had to start at Navarro first. He committed to Baylor earlier this year.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Baseball at Oklahoma
A very draining season heads into the final two weeks of the regular season. The Bears (20-26, 5-12) head to Norman, OK this weekend for a 3-game series. They are in dire need of wins to keep from being left out of the Big 12 tournament. The Bears are still clinging to eighth place. Oklahoma (25-21, 5-10) isn't exactly having a great season either.
Since starting Big 12 play at 4-2, the Bears have dropped 10 of their last 11 league games. Right-hander Dillon Newman (3-3, 3.72) opens the series at 6:00 p.m. Friday. Left-hander Daniel Castano (5-2, 2.35) starts the 2:00 p.m. Saturday. Right-hander Drew Tolson (2-5, 4.78) is scheduled to start Sunday's 1:00 p.m. getaway day game.
Baylor is coming off an 8-4 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday at Baylor Ballpark.
As it stands, the Big 12 is probably going to place at least four teams in the NCAA tournament including Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech. West Virginia and Kansas are considered bubble teams. Baylor's only chance to make the tournament is to win the Big 12 postseason tournament and earn the automatic berth.
-SicEmSports
Emptying the Notebook
>As was reported by other media outlets, McLane Stadium is about 80 percent completed. Tweeted pictures on Thursday showed seats being installed. What we can add is that construction of the 16 boat slips that will be used for sailgating is also being completed at this time.
>The Big 12 meetings are scheduled for May 28-30 in Grapevine. We'll get more into it when those meetings approach. But you can look for some clarity about TV games, distributed revenues from the television packages, where the Big 12 stands as the P5 conferences move toward their own governing system and an update on tweaks to the playoff system.
>It may be just a matter of timing but Gilmer DB Kris Boyd and Fort Bend Marshall DB Kendall Sheffield each said they have not seen Baylor coaches during this current evaluation period. Baylor has offered each, of course.
-SicEmSports
Subscriber Eric Fernandez is involved in Sports Marketing. He was in San Francisco this week to work with Hall of Fame great Willie Mays. The Say Hey Kid is a college football fan. As you can tell in the picture, Fernandez made sure the San Francisco Giants legend, who is fourth on the all-time home run list with 660 and will forever be known for his electric over-the-shoulder running catch in the 1954 World Series, was supplied with the proper paraphernalia. Mays turns 83 on May 6 and told Fernandez he'll be pulling for the Bears this fall.
Building a friendship - the Young Guns!
The unspoken truth about Baylor's football recruiting classes is how much these players seem to form a bond with each other well before they ever arrive on campus.
Something is building between Temple's Chad President and Troup's Blake Lynch. It's not uncommon for those two to talk with each other on a weekly basis. Of course, the two were united through their verbal commitments to Baylor.
Yet something else clicked.
"I think it started at the [Jan. 26] junior day,'' President said. "We just started talking and it was just going. We are cool. It's going to be real special.''
President (6-3, 195) and Lynch (6-4, 191) (along with JaMycal Hasty) headline this 2015 class. President, rated No. 86 in the Rivals 250 is projected to play quarterback but does have the athleticism to play wide receiver. Lynch, rated No. 172, could go anywhere including quarterback, wide receiver or in the secondary if it came to that.
What's eerie is that both are of similar size. Combine length with their abilities and the projections for successful careers are palpable.
But each has something to prove because their 2013 seasons were cut short. President is coming off a torn ACL. Lynch is coming off an arm injury.
"We are very similar,'' Lynch said. "We're driven to play well. When we get to Baylor, there will be many touchdowns between the two of us.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
RB duo not necessarily a package deal, but
While college recruiters have been offering 2016 Port Arthur Memorial RB Kameron Martin, who'll only be a junior this fall, for seemingly years, teammate and fellow RB Corey Dauphine (class of 2015) is only starting to get in on the action. All the while, though, the younger Martin was telling his older teammate to keep the faith.
"He's my boy," Martin said of Dauphine, who committed to Texas Tech in February but told me he's definitely interested in Baylor. "I always knew Corey would blow up. When he hurt his knee his sophomore year, it hurt him, but it hurt me too. He's my brother. I told him to battle back and fight through the adversity, and he did, and now he's blowing up."
Baylor coaches were on the Memorial campus Thursday to watch a spring practice. Martin can't talk to them yet since he's currently a sophomore, but the message was clear.
"They want both of us," he said. "They were keying on us."
I'll have more later this weekend on both Martin and Dauphine -- and what the chances are that they will play together. The bottom line, though, is that both are extremely talented, and both have high Baylor interest.
-Jake Shaw
Deng's recruitment nearing its end?
Lee College PF Deng Deng -- perhaps the last target for the 2014 basketball class -- is taking his time with his recruitment. But a decision might be coming soon.
After visiting Baylor last week, Deng traveled to Nebraska Monday for an official, heading back on Wednesday. He was home less than 24 hours before leaving for LSU, his assistant coach, Marcus King, told me yesterday. As of now, that's his last scheduled visit. It could be his final one overall. Those three programs have been consistently recruiting him the hardest, so it's possible Deng could be down to those final three.
If that's the case, King won't say. He has said several times that the programs are pretty much on equal ground right now. Deng's interested in all of them, but not until his trips are finished will he sit down and look for separation between them.
So, basically, stay patient with this story. It's taking a bit of time, but it appears the answer will be known soon.
-Jake Shaw
Bring home the Bacon
While Rivals lists Dwayne Bacon (6-7, 205) as a small forward, that may not be where the Fort Pierce (Fla.) First Baptist star ends up playing college.
The nation's No. 33 prospect has a Baylor offer. Well, he has a plethora of offers ? 21 to be precise. Baylor, Ohio State, Michigan and Louisville are the most notable.
"Nobody is talking to me about playing small or power forward,'' Bacon said. "They're talking point guard or shooting guard. I've never heard the term point forward. People know what I can do with the ball.''
Bacon's AAU team Showtime Ballers doesn't travel in the EYBL circuit but it competes at a high level. In a recent tournament he poured in 32 and 26 points in consecutive games. Bacon is considered a solid passer who can shoot from the perimeter.
What's missing is just paying attention to detail the little things including spacing on the floor, the crossover move and other fundamentals. If you're not working on them consistently, they'll deteriorate.
Bacon has briefly been in contact with the Baylor staff. But it's pretty clear that his recruitment has a ways to go. He hasn't even thought about creating a top 10 much less a time when he will commit.
"I'm really not worried about that though,'' he said. "I'm just worried about getting better as a whole and the next event.''
That next would the Adidas Nations event in Miami this weekend. It's not a tournament but a closed elite skills session. About 30 prospects are invited. Next week, the team will be in a tournament in Georgia.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Guarding Options
Note: With Baylor securing the commitment of No. 37 prospect King McClure this past Tuesday, the staff still is searching for other guards. There are many options including the following two
Eric Davis, Saginaw MI
The Rivals No. 33 prospect is just starting to get to know the Baylor coaching staff. While he doesn't have an offer, Davis will be playing in the EYBL tournament May 10-11 in Dallas. His team, The Family, could be running into Baylor at the EYBL in two weeks in Virginia.
Davis (6-3, 178) talked with assistant coach Paul Mills recently and got the thumbnail report. Turns out, he already knew a lot about the Bears.
"Actually, I followed Baylor quite a bit,'' he said. "I've seen their history and followed them so I know they've been pretty successful.''
While his offer list fairly packed, there have been some changes. Davis said Ohio State and Florida offers are no longer good because of commitments from other players. Davis doesn't have a top 10 or a timeframe on when he would make a commitment.
That may be where Baylor steps in. There's a bit of an angle because Davis and Plano West's D.J. Hogg, whom Baylor has offered, have become pretty good friends. Hogg is still looking at making a decision down the road.
Davis is pretty much a pure scorer who likes to shoot the mid-range 12-15-foot jumper. He's not afraid of driving to the basket. But he is his own worst critic and sometimes he tends to get more lazy during games than he should.
Still, that's not going to withhold anyone from pursuing him as his offer list suggests. Perhaps his best quality is his will to win.
"That's all I want to do,'' he said. "We played in Sacramento last week [EYBL event], and I didn't think I played all that great. But we had a good tournament, so that's what I was happy about. I just want to find a way to get us a victory. That's what matters.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
MaCio Teague, Cincinnati
When the Rivals 3-star shooting guard met with Baylor assistant Jerome Tang last week, he came away pretty overwhelmed.
"The presentation coach Tang had against what I got from the Nebraska and Harvard coaches was pretty interesting,'' Teague said. "With coach Tang, he was really prepared on what he wanted to tell me about Baylor.''
Teague could be considered an under-the-radar prospect to this point. He holds offers from Seton Hall, Alcorn State, Yale and Akron. But the AAU season could be the time where more programs extend offers.
His team, All Ohio, continues its season this weekend in Fort Wayne, IN. Maybe this is the weekend where he turns heads.
"My coach thinks I'm overlooked and that people really need to take a little more interest,'' he said. "If I can average 15-16 points and six rebounds per game, I think that would go a long way.''
Baylor is looking at several guards to go with McClure. Teague said Tang told him they are definitely interested in him and want to see how things go throughout the AAU season before anything happens. That probably means extending an offer.
"I love to shoot midrange jumpers,'' he said. "I just have to keep proving myself.''
What people will note is that Teague appears to be in pretty good shape academically. That makes sense if two Ivy League schools are visiting. Teague said he has a 3.2 GPA and just took the ACT recently. He has not received a score.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Follow up on T'Kevian Rockwell
As we reported late Wednesday, the Wylie LB/S has signed with Blinn in Brenham. However, he has one final chance to take his standardized test. We're not clear if it's either the SAT or ACT.
Generally, most recruits take the ACT. If it's the ACT, his last opportunity would be June 14. If it's the SAT, he would take it June 7. There is an SAT scheduled for Saturday, but we don't believe it's that one.
Given those dates and should he receive a qualifying score, the earliest Rockwell could report is early August for fall workouts. He would still be a part of the 2014 class. Should Rockwell wind up at Blinn, we would be there for two years and could be recruited by anyone. But as we have also seen, Baylor typically follows through with its recruits that have to start at the JUCO level. Look no further than Navarro offensive lineman Mo Porter. Porter committed to Baylor in 2013 out of Fort Bend Marshall but had to start at Navarro first. He committed to Baylor earlier this year.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Baseball at Oklahoma
A very draining season heads into the final two weeks of the regular season. The Bears (20-26, 5-12) head to Norman, OK this weekend for a 3-game series. They are in dire need of wins to keep from being left out of the Big 12 tournament. The Bears are still clinging to eighth place. Oklahoma (25-21, 5-10) isn't exactly having a great season either.
Since starting Big 12 play at 4-2, the Bears have dropped 10 of their last 11 league games. Right-hander Dillon Newman (3-3, 3.72) opens the series at 6:00 p.m. Friday. Left-hander Daniel Castano (5-2, 2.35) starts the 2:00 p.m. Saturday. Right-hander Drew Tolson (2-5, 4.78) is scheduled to start Sunday's 1:00 p.m. getaway day game.
Baylor is coming off an 8-4 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday at Baylor Ballpark.
As it stands, the Big 12 is probably going to place at least four teams in the NCAA tournament including Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech. West Virginia and Kansas are considered bubble teams. Baylor's only chance to make the tournament is to win the Big 12 postseason tournament and earn the automatic berth.
-SicEmSports
Emptying the Notebook
>As was reported by other media outlets, McLane Stadium is about 80 percent completed. Tweeted pictures on Thursday showed seats being installed. What we can add is that construction of the 16 boat slips that will be used for sailgating is also being completed at this time.
>The Big 12 meetings are scheduled for May 28-30 in Grapevine. We'll get more into it when those meetings approach. But you can look for some clarity about TV games, distributed revenues from the television packages, where the Big 12 stands as the P5 conferences move toward their own governing system and an update on tweaks to the playoff system.
>It may be just a matter of timing but Gilmer DB Kris Boyd and Fort Bend Marshall DB Kendall Sheffield each said they have not seen Baylor coaches during this current evaluation period. Baylor has offered each, of course.
-SicEmSports
