It is time for another installment of the ‘Independence Column’. I will always begin with the ground rules because we will have new folks (hopefully) joining us all the time. Everything that is reported in the Independence Column must stay in the Independence Column. That's the way this deal works and the way it will always work. Sometimes the information is sensitive enough that it simply does not need to be passed on beyond the eyes of this thread.
This is a special feature for subscribers only. The reason why it is posted on the premium board is because it is the only way to ensure that the information stays here and is exclusive to the Baylor fan base that subscribes to www.InsideBaylorSports.com. This will only work if everyone helps make it work. We have been pretty good about information from this site not ending up on other Baylor sites and on other message boards and I appreciate that.
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Not a huge week for the I.C. but that is mainly because we are at a slow point in recruiting and of course the only sport left to compete in the Track and field National Championships that are running this weekend in Austin. We just decided that the Independence Column is something that should run every week and we are going to try and do that no matter how much information we have.
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So big news of the week was the commitment of Deer Park TE, Justin Akers. The conversation went really well but I was still more sold on the fact that he commented so much about his parents liking Baylor and when they all got together that they decided it was the best place for him. Now I understand how the process goes and my mother had a big part in where I went but the feel I got was that the deal is not done.
A few minutes later he made my thoughts a reality when he said that he would still take all of his visits but that he was ‘pretty’ sure that it was Baylor. One thing that he made clear was that he values the Baylor Education and in particular, the law school. That could go a long way in having a bearing on his decision.
We will stay on top of this and see how things shake down as other teams come into th picture with offers.
**************************************************
Big news on the basketball front is that Henry Dugat is apparently down to Baylor and Texas. Let’s just sum up where we are on the situation. Dugat did take the time out to visit Texas A & M but they are pretty much a non-factor. He is going to visit Texas, however, and will make that visit on the 18 and 19th of this month. He should have a decision shortly thereafter. My money says that Baylor is the place for him.
The biggest thing that Baylor has in its corner is that they are putting on the full court press for his services. Texas is still going hard after a few athletes and would, I hear, like to get a player with a little more size to compliment the smaller AJ Abrams.
I was told today that he likes both schools but would probably lean towards Texas but that his parents really, really like Baylor and that he knows he could play right away and have a chance to be part of the turnaround.
We’ll stay close to this over the next few weeks as this should go down shortly after his visit to Texas on the 18th and 19th.
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The word that I got yesterday is that Calvin Miles father likes the Longhorns and wants to be able to drive to see his son play. Calvin's personal leader is North Carolina. This one could take a while to play out. I would not rule out Kansas because he has indicated that he likes them too. Baylor is not out of it but the Bears have some ground to make up.
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Josh Littlejohn – OT/DT – League City (TX) Clear Creek
Josh is 6’3” 275 lbs. and is planning to camp at Baylor, Texas, Texas St., Arkansas, and Sam Houston St. He was at both Texas and Baylor Junior Days, and has visited TCU and Oklahoma. Josh is also had a coach from Missouri come to check him out.
Josh will probably play both ways is 2004 after playing strictly offense in 2002 and 2003. He is familiar with the defensive side of the ball, because of playing both during his earlier playing days.
Josh doesn’t have a favorite but he does have a school that he feels is a little more interested than the others. Josh said, “I think Baylor seems the most interested. One of their coaches was at the very fist practice of spring, and then he came back with the head coach the day after practice ended.”
**************************************************
David Allison received an offer from Syracuse University, and Syracuse is now one of David’s favorites. Also the big lineman was invited by Tom Lemmings to be one of about 20 players to attend a photo shoot at the Reliant Stadium in Houston. David was pictured and was interviewed this week for several publications by Tom Lemmings. Tom Lemmings stated to all those in attendance that they were considered the best of South Texas Region. And all could consider this their nomination for the All American Army Bowl. The first publication of this meeting will be on ESPN.com.
**************************************************
Jordan Peterson Update
Jordan was recently at the Texas Tech camp where he was timed in the 40 at 4.39 and also at 4.07 in the pro shuttle/agility drill. He had a vertical jump of 36.3" and benched 185 lbs 20 times. Next camps are this weekend with Baylor on 6/12 and Texas A&M on 6/13.
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Austin Michelsen Update
Austin got the cast off of his thumb on Wednesday and is now going through intense workouts. He still doesn’t have a full range of motion in his thumb, but is working to rehab that. When he is able to touch his thumb to his pinky he should be able to perform at about 100%.
**************************************************
A few tidbits on Marcus Jackson
A few comments on receiving his Baylor offer
“I got an offer from Baylor. I didn’t know they were looking at me. I hadn’t done any research on Baylor so it surprised me.”
“An offer’s an offer. I’ll take it where I can get it. I was pretty excited. I just didn’t know what to say about it. The coach just called me and was like yeah we’re going to offer you and I was like are you serious, and he was like yeah I’m serious. A couple of days before the Ragin’ Cajuns offered too.
**************************************************
A few new names to watch out for on the recruiting trail
Korey Miller and Kyle Miller of Plano (TX) West, they were at the 3-day camp for an afternoon, but showed good footwork and sideline-to-sideline speed at linebacker. These guys could put on a little weight but have a good build and have room for growth. They both are about 6’0”, 190, and run a 4.6 40. Both are in the database.
Sam Franklin of Memphis (TN) Mitchell. Sam rushed for over 1,500 yards as a junior and was up for the best running back in 2A in Tennessee. He worked at both Safety and Running Back at camp and was there all week.
Jonathan Pritchard of Thorndale (TX). Jonathan has been a 2 time all-district running back at class A Thorndale. He is about 5’10” 180 lbs. and can not only run but will rip you up. He is Nationally ranked at #4 in the 180 lb. class and can put up a competition bench press of 285 lbs. He was able to put up 300 but one arm came up a little faster than the other so it wasn’t counted. He was at all three days of the Baylor camp and also worked at safety.
Baron Huber of Knoxville (TN) Powell. Baron was one player that caught your eye as soon as you started looking at who was on hand. At 6’3” 235 lbs. the Mike linebacker was physical specimen. He will be one to keep an eye out for. He came with his friend and teammate Lee Smith who is a 6’5” 235 lb. Junior defensive end. There will be more to come on these two. They were two of the these most impressive kids at the camp. For those of you who wanted to know the ‘big white kid’ was at the camp, that was Lee Smith.
**************************************************
Remember
I just want you guys to understand that there are recruits, recruits parents, players and VERY IMPORTANT PERSONS INVOLVED WITH BAYLOR FOOTBALL who read and/or subscribe to this site.
This is just a note to make sure that you handle yourself and temper your conversation and critiques with some understanding of the reading audience.
Other than that, speak your peace, talk trash, and enjoy the site. Just wanted to say that.
This post was edited on 6/11 7:33 AM
This is a special feature for subscribers only. The reason why it is posted on the premium board is because it is the only way to ensure that the information stays here and is exclusive to the Baylor fan base that subscribes to www.InsideBaylorSports.com. This will only work if everyone helps make it work. We have been pretty good about information from this site not ending up on other Baylor sites and on other message boards and I appreciate that.
**************************************************
Not a huge week for the I.C. but that is mainly because we are at a slow point in recruiting and of course the only sport left to compete in the Track and field National Championships that are running this weekend in Austin. We just decided that the Independence Column is something that should run every week and we are going to try and do that no matter how much information we have.
**************************************************
So big news of the week was the commitment of Deer Park TE, Justin Akers. The conversation went really well but I was still more sold on the fact that he commented so much about his parents liking Baylor and when they all got together that they decided it was the best place for him. Now I understand how the process goes and my mother had a big part in where I went but the feel I got was that the deal is not done.
A few minutes later he made my thoughts a reality when he said that he would still take all of his visits but that he was ‘pretty’ sure that it was Baylor. One thing that he made clear was that he values the Baylor Education and in particular, the law school. That could go a long way in having a bearing on his decision.
We will stay on top of this and see how things shake down as other teams come into th picture with offers.
**************************************************
Big news on the basketball front is that Henry Dugat is apparently down to Baylor and Texas. Let’s just sum up where we are on the situation. Dugat did take the time out to visit Texas A & M but they are pretty much a non-factor. He is going to visit Texas, however, and will make that visit on the 18 and 19th of this month. He should have a decision shortly thereafter. My money says that Baylor is the place for him.
The biggest thing that Baylor has in its corner is that they are putting on the full court press for his services. Texas is still going hard after a few athletes and would, I hear, like to get a player with a little more size to compliment the smaller AJ Abrams.
I was told today that he likes both schools but would probably lean towards Texas but that his parents really, really like Baylor and that he knows he could play right away and have a chance to be part of the turnaround.
We’ll stay close to this over the next few weeks as this should go down shortly after his visit to Texas on the 18th and 19th.
**************************************************
The word that I got yesterday is that Calvin Miles father likes the Longhorns and wants to be able to drive to see his son play. Calvin's personal leader is North Carolina. This one could take a while to play out. I would not rule out Kansas because he has indicated that he likes them too. Baylor is not out of it but the Bears have some ground to make up.
**************************************************
Josh Littlejohn – OT/DT – League City (TX) Clear Creek
Josh is 6’3” 275 lbs. and is planning to camp at Baylor, Texas, Texas St., Arkansas, and Sam Houston St. He was at both Texas and Baylor Junior Days, and has visited TCU and Oklahoma. Josh is also had a coach from Missouri come to check him out.
Josh will probably play both ways is 2004 after playing strictly offense in 2002 and 2003. He is familiar with the defensive side of the ball, because of playing both during his earlier playing days.
Josh doesn’t have a favorite but he does have a school that he feels is a little more interested than the others. Josh said, “I think Baylor seems the most interested. One of their coaches was at the very fist practice of spring, and then he came back with the head coach the day after practice ended.”
**************************************************
David Allison received an offer from Syracuse University, and Syracuse is now one of David’s favorites. Also the big lineman was invited by Tom Lemmings to be one of about 20 players to attend a photo shoot at the Reliant Stadium in Houston. David was pictured and was interviewed this week for several publications by Tom Lemmings. Tom Lemmings stated to all those in attendance that they were considered the best of South Texas Region. And all could consider this their nomination for the All American Army Bowl. The first publication of this meeting will be on ESPN.com.
**************************************************
Jordan Peterson Update
Jordan was recently at the Texas Tech camp where he was timed in the 40 at 4.39 and also at 4.07 in the pro shuttle/agility drill. He had a vertical jump of 36.3" and benched 185 lbs 20 times. Next camps are this weekend with Baylor on 6/12 and Texas A&M on 6/13.
**************************************************
Austin Michelsen Update
Austin got the cast off of his thumb on Wednesday and is now going through intense workouts. He still doesn’t have a full range of motion in his thumb, but is working to rehab that. When he is able to touch his thumb to his pinky he should be able to perform at about 100%.
**************************************************
A few tidbits on Marcus Jackson
A few comments on receiving his Baylor offer
“I got an offer from Baylor. I didn’t know they were looking at me. I hadn’t done any research on Baylor so it surprised me.”
“An offer’s an offer. I’ll take it where I can get it. I was pretty excited. I just didn’t know what to say about it. The coach just called me and was like yeah we’re going to offer you and I was like are you serious, and he was like yeah I’m serious. A couple of days before the Ragin’ Cajuns offered too.
**************************************************
A few new names to watch out for on the recruiting trail
Korey Miller and Kyle Miller of Plano (TX) West, they were at the 3-day camp for an afternoon, but showed good footwork and sideline-to-sideline speed at linebacker. These guys could put on a little weight but have a good build and have room for growth. They both are about 6’0”, 190, and run a 4.6 40. Both are in the database.
Sam Franklin of Memphis (TN) Mitchell. Sam rushed for over 1,500 yards as a junior and was up for the best running back in 2A in Tennessee. He worked at both Safety and Running Back at camp and was there all week.
Jonathan Pritchard of Thorndale (TX). Jonathan has been a 2 time all-district running back at class A Thorndale. He is about 5’10” 180 lbs. and can not only run but will rip you up. He is Nationally ranked at #4 in the 180 lb. class and can put up a competition bench press of 285 lbs. He was able to put up 300 but one arm came up a little faster than the other so it wasn’t counted. He was at all three days of the Baylor camp and also worked at safety.
Baron Huber of Knoxville (TN) Powell. Baron was one player that caught your eye as soon as you started looking at who was on hand. At 6’3” 235 lbs. the Mike linebacker was physical specimen. He will be one to keep an eye out for. He came with his friend and teammate Lee Smith who is a 6’5” 235 lb. Junior defensive end. There will be more to come on these two. They were two of the these most impressive kids at the camp. For those of you who wanted to know the ‘big white kid’ was at the camp, that was Lee Smith.
**************************************************
Remember
I just want you guys to understand that there are recruits, recruits parents, players and VERY IMPORTANT PERSONS INVOLVED WITH BAYLOR FOOTBALL who read and/or subscribe to this site.
This is just a note to make sure that you handle yourself and temper your conversation and critiques with some understanding of the reading audience.
Other than that, speak your peace, talk trash, and enjoy the site. Just wanted to say that.
This post was edited on 6/11 7:33 AM
