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: As many of you know, I cover Aledo on the radio (KTFW 92.1 FM or www.ktfw921hankfm.com) so I will be at Aledo-Stephenville Friday night at Bearcat Stadium in Aledo. If it works out, I hope to visit with Jackets 2015 QB Jarrett Stidham following the game to get a sense of how it went. I will at least provide some analysis at some point next week. We're so jammed with content, I don't want lose this over the weekend.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Bears back in on Henderson
It may be coincidental, but the timing of Zaycoven Henderson's de-commitment from TCU and the likelihood of Javonte Magee not returning could be a reason why Baylor never lost contact with the Longview DT. Henderson committed to TCU in the spring. After rumors swirled on the internet this week, Henderson confirmed on his Facebook page he had decommitted from TCU. He just wanted to see what else is out there.
"I wanted to open it back up and visit more places," he said. "That's about it."
One of the places is Baylor, Henderson told me Thursday night. He doesn't have a date picked out yet, but it definitely will be this fall. Henderson plans to graduate early and enroll in January wherever he signs. Baylor joins the short list of Texas, Florida, Miami and Ole Miss.
Henderson said he spoke with Baylor on Thursday to let them know he wants to set up a date. Asked why Baylor, he said "they were always at the top of my list", along with the other schools he'll visit.
We'll be on this to find out when he plans to come to Waco.
- Jake Shaw
Baylor-Buffalo Visitors
These lists are never exact but SicEmSports reached out to several recruits to learn if they were going to attend Saturday afternoon's game at Floyd Casey Stadium. Here is who has told us plans on attending or at least considering it
>Chris Warren, RB, Rockwall (2015 Baylor offer)
>James Lockhart, DE, Ennis (2015 Baylor offer)
>Terence Williams, RB, Ennis (2014 Baylor commit)
>Josh Pelzel, OL Rockdale (2014 Baylor commit - he's on the fence but will try)
>KD Cannon, WR, Mount Pleasant (2014 Baylor commit - will try to make it)
>Cordell Dorsey, S/LB, Abilene Cooper (2014 Baylor commit)
>Devontre Stricklin, WR, Waco Midway (2015 Baylor offer)
Early 2014 enrollees set official visits
Oct. 5 is going to be big for Baylor for two reasons. First, the Bears open the Big 12 season against West Virginia. Second, that's the date their mid-semester enrollees take their official visits.
That includes Kingwood Park TE Jordan Feuerbacher, Abilene Cooper LB/S Cordell Dorsey, Ennis RB Terence Williams and Texarkana Liberty-Eylau Athlete Davion Hall.
I'm going to admit when I learned this about Hall earlier in the week, it caught me off guard. If was late to the party on this, then that's on me. But it is pretty significant that Hall is taking this step.
Now, that doesn't mean Baylor is in the clear. Hall is still scheduled to visit Alabama on Nov. 8 when the Crimson Tide play LSU. Still, everything points to Baylor remaining the solid leader and Alabama doing what it can to pry him away.
For Dorsey - we've chronicled about how much he wants to do right by his brother who is incarcerated - graduating in December has been his plan for a long time.
"I've been telling myself since ninth grade that if I got a D1 offer, I was going to graduate early and play as a true freshman in college,'' Dorsey said. "I want to make it to the league [NFL].''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Lodge eyes Baylor
Cedar Hill 2015 wide receiver DaMarkus Lodge has been receiving a ton of attention from Texas and Oklahoma. In fact, he's planning on going to Norman, OK to watch the Sooners play West Virginia.
But that doesn't mean he hasn't forgotten about Baylor.
"I've talked to coach [Jeff] Lebby a couple of times,'' Lodge said. "I hope Baylor makes its move. I really like what I see in Baylor. I watched them a lot last year and really love the way they play offense.
Lodge played sparingly in 2012 for the Longhorns but started to turn heads at the Rivals camp series in March. He made his debut last week against Denton Guyer and caught six passes for 147 yards including a 45-yard touchdown.
Like any new player in a starter's role, there were nerves. But after he made that first grab, Lodge (6-2, 192) settled in.
"When I was in the tunnel, I was pretty nervous, but then the butterflies went away,'' he said. "I think the Guyer game went great. I feel like I played pretty well. And I know I had to live up to the hype.''
Lodge has another challenge Friday in Allen against the state's No. 1 Class 5A team. Lodge said he hopes to speak with Baylor pretty soon.
"I know there's been a lot of talk about Texas and OU,'' he said. "But I'm not showing any favorites. I treat everyone the same.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Scouting Maston & McClure
Baylor's men's basketball team is hosting DeSoto 2014 3-star power forward T.J. Maston and Triple A Academy 5-star guard and Rivals No. 16 rated recruit King McClure this weekend. Our national analyst Eric Bossi provides a scouting report. McClure is coming off a knee injury that limited him throughout the summer. However, it appears that he's pretty close to being 100 percent.
On Maston: "Maston is a hard working but somewhat undersized four man. He was very good with Team Texas Elite during the month of July where he made an impact on the glass and as a scorer. He runs the floor, is very comfortable hitting mid-range jumpers and has the type of frame that he should be able to add weight to without costing himself any athleticism."
On McClure: "One of the most deadly scorers in the class of 2015, McClure has earned his status as a five-star prospect. He can get buckets from deep, he has the ball handling and strength to punish defenders off the dribble and he has a short memory. In any environment he has played in he has been tough to keep from putting up big numbers. He's been bitten a bit by the injury bug the last seven or eight months, but that doesn't change his status as a big time prospect."
-Eric Bossi
Vital earns ultimate nickname
When Mark Vital committed to Baylor on Tuesday, it may have caught basketball fans by surprise. But the 2016 Lake Charles, LA. small forward's pledge validated what many people in the Louisiana amateur basketball ranks already knew.
Some thought so highly of his game that they started calling him, "Louisiana LeBron". Now, that's high praise for someone who has two years of high school basketball to play and to associate his game to arguably the best player in the NBA, LeBron James.
"It's nice but I don't pay attention to it too much,'' the Lake Charles native said. "I'm just going to compete and handle my business.''
At 6-5 and about 210, Vital is still growing. He's hoping that by the time he gets to Baylor, he will be at 6-7. The film doesn't lie about his ability to get to the rim. Most opponents don't have an answer for that first step. And that's part of the attraction Baylor had with him.
Vital formed a deep relationship with the Baylor coaches over the summer and the two unofficial visits sealed. Clearly, the Bears had the jump on Vital before others did.
"When I talked to my coaches [Rick and Kyle Carrigee], they just told me that if somebody loves you, you need to love them back,'' Vital said. "That's what I did with Baylor.''
Vital still hasn't even come close to his ceiling. He acknowledged that his footwook on defense has to improve as well as overall strength. Plus, he wants to keep working on jumper. What's refreshing is that he wants to work on the mid-range jumper (10-13 feet).
"I want to be excellent in everything I do,'' Vital said. "I love the mid-range jumper. It's going to help get me an advantage.''
-Kevin Lonnquist
Big 12 Weekend
A look at Saturday's games. All times are central.
No. 13/14 Oklahoma State (1-0) at UT-San Antonio (1-0)
11:00 a.m. Alamodome, San Antonio (FOX Sports 1)
The skinny: For now, the Cowboys have settled their quarterback situation with J.W.Walsh. But their running game may not have missed a step when they rolled up 286 yards against Mississippi State last week. The Roadrunners rallied to beat New Mexico last week. This is the first meeting between the two programs.
SE Louisiana (1-0) at No. 24/24 TCU (0-1)
11:00 a.m. Amon Carter Stadium, Fort Worth (FSN)
The skinny: The last game of the two-game suspension for TCU defensive end Devonte Fields. The Horned Frogs open their home schedule with a guarantee game against the Lions who won their opener last week. While Gary Patterson says Casey Pachall is his starter, the leash appears to be tight.
Buffalo (0-1) at No. 23 Baylor (1-0)
2:30 p.m. Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco (FSN)
The skinny: The Bears cracked the rankings following their scoring the most points in Floyd Casey Stadium history. RB Lache Seastrunk rattled off his fifth consecutive 100-yard rushing game. The Bulls played tough at Ohio State but fell, 40-20.
UL-Lafayette (0-1) at Kansas State (0-1)
5:30 p.m. Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, KS (FS1)
The skinny: Well, the upset by North Dakota State sent the Wildcats reeling and having to do some soul searching. Kansas State committed two turnovers in the loss, interceptions thrown by new starting quarterback Jake Waters.
South Dakota (1-0) at Kansas (0-0)
6:00 p.m. Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, KS. (Jayhawk Network)
The skinny: Jayhawks are the last Big 12 team to play this season. It should be interesting to see how BYU transfer quarterback Jake Heaps performs. But they have a great running game led by Tony Pierson.
No. 16/15 Texas (1-0) at BYU (0-1)
6:00 p.m. LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT (ESPN2)
The skinny: While the Longhorns rolled up a school-record 715 yards against New Mexico State, they were also guilty of committing three turnovers. There are high hopes for the Cougars this year. However, they suffered a tough 19-16 loss at Virginia in a game featured a weather delay.
West Virginia (0-0) at No. 15/16 Oklahoma (1-0)
6:00 p.m. Memorial Stadium, Norman, OK (FOX)
The skinny: The first Big 12 game of the year. We probably won't have the 50-49 shootout this year like we had in Morgantown, W Va. in 2012. Both teams have new quarterbacks, Oklahoma's Trevor Knight and West Virginia's Paul Millard. Both played credible in their debuts. OU's coach Bob Stoops recorded his 150th career victory last week, the sixth-fastest coach to do it.
Stephen F. Austin (0-1) at Texas Tech (1-0)
6:00 p.m. AT&T Jones Stadium, Lubbock (FSN)
The skinny: Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury makes his home debut at his alma mater and brings the reigning Big 12 offensive player of the week with him in quarterback Baker Mayfield. While Tech's defense did OK in its opener against SMU, the unusual number of horse collar tackles was a bit much.
Iowa State has a bye week
Big 12 Power Rankings
Each week, SicEmSports ranks the Big 12 teams based on expectations and performance. Ratings always vary. Agree or disagree, there's nothing like finding out who is ranked where.
1. Oklahoma State - Quarterback rotation is over
2. Oklahoma - Defense pitches shutout for the first time since 2010
3. Baylor - Art Briles said this team can play faster
4. Texas - Will we ever see RB Johnathan Gray be a primary ball carrier
5. TCU - B.J. Catalon's 100 KOR for a TD is the sixth straight year Frogs have ST TD
6. Texas Tech - Defense forced no turnovers at SMU
7. West Virginia - Fairly unimpressive against William & Mary but it's a win
8. Kansas State - Wildcats have to find some playmakers
9. Kansas - Charlie Weis has warned his team about playing FCS opponents
10. Iowa State - Paul Rhoads already says the bye is coming at a good time
-Kevin Lonnquist
Emptying the Notebook
>Mesquite Poteet DB Verkedric Vaughns is going to miss the non-district season with a slight cartilage tear in his knee. But he should be ready to play by the time district play begins later this month or early October.
>Still no official word on the hardship waiver application for Boise State DE transfer Sam Ukwuachu. Baylor is not expecting a favorable ruling but you never know until you know.
-SicEmSports
