By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
An extraordinary recruiting run by Baylor over a three-week period has the Bears sitting No. 13 nationally in Rivals 2022 team rankings.
Between June 17 and July 4, Dave Aranda’s program nearly doubled its class size from 10 to 19. There are also several pending decisions where the Bears are finalists. Currently, Baylor’s class sits No. 3 among all Big 12 programs behind Oklahoma and Texas. The Bears do have the highest number of commits. Iowa State and Texas have 14. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia have 13.
With the idea that several commits have a chance to be rated higher in Rivals next period, Baylor’s team ranking could change for the better.
With the dog days of July upon us, let’s take a look at how this current class has been constructed from the latest movement.
>The tidal wave began with The Woodlands offensive tackle Kaden Sieracki. He impressed the Baylor staff at the June 5 camp. Days later the Bears offered. Within two weeks on June 17, Sieracki gave his verbal commitment. He did not have any offers at the time of Baylor’s since then, he’s added a couple including SMU.
>A huge get for the defensive line emerged from East Texas on June 18, the first night of the first official weekend. Highly pursued Mount Pleasant’s Tre Emory gave his commitment. The Bears beat out the likes of Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas and Arizona.
>The official weekend concluded when it broke out that afternoon on Sunday June 20 when Rockwall-Heath wide receiver Jordan Nabors committed to the Bears. This recruitment battle came down to between the Bears and Colorado. Nabors had taken official visits to both in successive weeks. Proximity with the BU staff made a difference.
>A ground breaking offensive line commitment for the Bears – arguably going back to the days of Spencer Drango – occurred on June 21 with South Jordan (UT) guard George Maile announced his commitment to the Bears. This became the biggest recruiting win in Aranda’s short time with Baylor because the program beat out USC, UCLA and Oregon.
>When Baylor’s second official weekend began on June 25, there were again high hopes for what could be accomplished. Once again, the June 5 provided dividends when Monroe (LA) Neville defensive end Enyce Sledge was offered. Baylor moved quickly to have him take an official visit. With P5 offers coming in from West Virginia, the Bears had the inside track and gained Sledge’s commitment on June 26.
>Pursuit of length for the receiving corps mattered to this coaching staff. Fort Bend Hightower’s Caleb Douglas emerged over the spring. While the 6-4 Douglas didn’t have eye-popping receiving numbers, he has eye-popping talent. The Bears beat USC, Virginia Tech, Colorado and Texas Tech for him. He committed on June 27.
>In a year where Baylor didn’t stop its offensive line recruiting at five, it went beyond by adding a sixth in Coppell’s Alvin Ebosele. He was one of three tackles that the Bears were coveting at the time. But during his official visit over that weekend, it appeared everything was set to go. And Ebosele committed to the Bears over Oklahoma State and Texas Tech on June 28.
>Baylor’s recruiting history is that it likes to seal the deal with certain targets on the day it offers. DeSoto safety Devyn Bobby was the latest to believe in the message. He worked out for the Bears on June 17 and never took an official visit. However, the coaching staff has been detailed on what it wants in its secondary. Bobby fit the description. Like Ebosele, Bobby committed on June 28 hours after the Bears offered.
>The United States’ 245th birthday on July 4 also summoned fireworks for the program. Putnam City (OK) West safety Corey Gordon made his commitment to the Bears official when he announced. That gave the Bears two safeties for this class. Gordon is the No. 14 player rated in Oklahoma.
Here’s the breakdown from where they are coming from:
DFW: 4 (Johnson, Ebosele, Bobby, Nabors)
Greater Houston: 4 (Mladenka, Douglas, Sieracki, Simpson)
East Texas: 1 (Emory)
West Texas: 1 (Jordan)
Golden Triangle: 1 (Jones)
Rural Texas: 2 (Reese, Price)
Out of State: 6 (Gordon, Sledge, Maile, Dawn, Pyron, Roberts-Day)
Publisher
An extraordinary recruiting run by Baylor over a three-week period has the Bears sitting No. 13 nationally in Rivals 2022 team rankings.
Between June 17 and July 4, Dave Aranda’s program nearly doubled its class size from 10 to 19. There are also several pending decisions where the Bears are finalists. Currently, Baylor’s class sits No. 3 among all Big 12 programs behind Oklahoma and Texas. The Bears do have the highest number of commits. Iowa State and Texas have 14. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia have 13.
With the idea that several commits have a chance to be rated higher in Rivals next period, Baylor’s team ranking could change for the better.
With the dog days of July upon us, let’s take a look at how this current class has been constructed from the latest movement.
>The tidal wave began with The Woodlands offensive tackle Kaden Sieracki. He impressed the Baylor staff at the June 5 camp. Days later the Bears offered. Within two weeks on June 17, Sieracki gave his verbal commitment. He did not have any offers at the time of Baylor’s since then, he’s added a couple including SMU.
>A huge get for the defensive line emerged from East Texas on June 18, the first night of the first official weekend. Highly pursued Mount Pleasant’s Tre Emory gave his commitment. The Bears beat out the likes of Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas and Arizona.
>The official weekend concluded when it broke out that afternoon on Sunday June 20 when Rockwall-Heath wide receiver Jordan Nabors committed to the Bears. This recruitment battle came down to between the Bears and Colorado. Nabors had taken official visits to both in successive weeks. Proximity with the BU staff made a difference.
>A ground breaking offensive line commitment for the Bears – arguably going back to the days of Spencer Drango – occurred on June 21 with South Jordan (UT) guard George Maile announced his commitment to the Bears. This became the biggest recruiting win in Aranda’s short time with Baylor because the program beat out USC, UCLA and Oregon.
>When Baylor’s second official weekend began on June 25, there were again high hopes for what could be accomplished. Once again, the June 5 provided dividends when Monroe (LA) Neville defensive end Enyce Sledge was offered. Baylor moved quickly to have him take an official visit. With P5 offers coming in from West Virginia, the Bears had the inside track and gained Sledge’s commitment on June 26.
>Pursuit of length for the receiving corps mattered to this coaching staff. Fort Bend Hightower’s Caleb Douglas emerged over the spring. While the 6-4 Douglas didn’t have eye-popping receiving numbers, he has eye-popping talent. The Bears beat USC, Virginia Tech, Colorado and Texas Tech for him. He committed on June 27.
>In a year where Baylor didn’t stop its offensive line recruiting at five, it went beyond by adding a sixth in Coppell’s Alvin Ebosele. He was one of three tackles that the Bears were coveting at the time. But during his official visit over that weekend, it appeared everything was set to go. And Ebosele committed to the Bears over Oklahoma State and Texas Tech on June 28.
>Baylor’s recruiting history is that it likes to seal the deal with certain targets on the day it offers. DeSoto safety Devyn Bobby was the latest to believe in the message. He worked out for the Bears on June 17 and never took an official visit. However, the coaching staff has been detailed on what it wants in its secondary. Bobby fit the description. Like Ebosele, Bobby committed on June 28 hours after the Bears offered.
>The United States’ 245th birthday on July 4 also summoned fireworks for the program. Putnam City (OK) West safety Corey Gordon made his commitment to the Bears official when he announced. That gave the Bears two safeties for this class. Gordon is the No. 14 player rated in Oklahoma.
Here’s the breakdown from where they are coming from:
DFW: 4 (Johnson, Ebosele, Bobby, Nabors)
Greater Houston: 4 (Mladenka, Douglas, Sieracki, Simpson)
East Texas: 1 (Emory)
West Texas: 1 (Jordan)
Golden Triangle: 1 (Jones)
Rural Texas: 2 (Reese, Price)
Out of State: 6 (Gordon, Sledge, Maile, Dawn, Pyron, Roberts-Day)
