Sometimes, it's just nice to get out of town for the weekend. The family and I took advantage of the Easter weekend and ran up to see the in-laws in Fayetteville, AR. I think some of you remember I'm married to a Razorback.
I absolutely love the foothills of the Ozarks and the drive on I-49 from Fort Smith to get up there is pretty soothing. To be honest, whenever we retire, we've talked about relocating up there. The mountains have always been my scene.
I know it may sound odd for some of you to hear about wanting to move to Arkansas. But if you know Northwest Arkansas (some of you do) then you understand. If you haven't been, then it would be worth your time to drive through it if you were on your way somewhere. I wouldn't call it a must-see destination. But it works.
***
So now we have a depth chart. It's far from finished. This is subject to change. More personnel moves could be made once fall workouts end in August.
As I mentioned, we'll have position by position breakdown this week. But let's get to the first reactions of what we have seen since Art Briles released this Sunday night.
>Lynx Hawthorne listed as a first-team wide receiver indicates that the Baylor coaches have liked his hands and want a new Clay Fuller to be a part of this group - someone who can move the chains. That's not to discredit Hawthorne's speed. He's a great athlete. If you're a skilled player and play for Baylor, you better be fast. But when I watched him in the Friday Night Lights scrimmage, he just showed himself to be a reliable part of the offense. I still wasn't sure where he would fit. But for now we have that answer.
Really, the fourth receiver was the one position that offered the head-scratcher. This isn't an indictment on Davion Hall. I'm sure Hall's health played a role into this.
>If you want to know what a Division I college strength and conditioning program can mean for a player's development, look no further than backup left tackle, sophomore Tanner Thrift. When he committed to Baylor in 2013, Rivals listed him at 240 pounds. He's now listed at 305. That's 55 pounds he's added since he arrived in June 2013. Most of us can add 55 pounds in that period of time the wrong way. Kaz Kazadi's regiment really made an impact on Thrift who presented the frame to make this happen.
>As for this second-team offensive line, the grouping of Ishmael Wilson (right tackle), Rami Hammad (right guard), Blake Blackmar (center), Desmine Hilliard (left guard) and Thrift (left tackle) is far from a group that offers a lot of comfort only because we just don't know enough about them. There's no track record. Blackmar is coming off a redshirt. Hilliard had his 2014 season wiped out because of a wrist injury. Hammad didn't play because he transferred from Texas. Wilson didn't play because he transferred from Texas A&M. Thrift saw very little playing time. That's why they're backups. But I do know that when Briles was openly talking about six offensive linemen, he knows that's a concern. If you lose any starter, you're not going to know what you have until he gets on the field and either holds his own or gets owned.
>You have bolded starters at left defensive end (Jamal Palmer and K.J. Smith) and cornerback (Ryan Reid and Tion Wright) because both Palmer and Reid are recovering from injuries. And to be honest, I think the end of Shawn Oakman's season (it wasn't that memorable) was impacted by the loss of Palmer. Any unit needs a glue guy. That's an expression used in basketball. But in this case, I think Palmer fits that description. Having him back on the field in August is going to give that unit a lift.
>Call it luck or an educated guess, but there were too many good things going on with Grant Campbell for Baylor to move in this direction listing him as the first-team MLB. When you think Phil Bennett and what he wants in a MLB, Campbell fits the model.
>Yes, I buried the quarterback position in this discussion but what more needs to be said? Seth Russell is the starting quarterback, even though he hasn't been officially named. Jarrett Stidham isn't anywhere close to being ready to contribute. I think the "or" next to Stidham and Chris Johnson is done out of respect for Johnson. Stidham needs to continue to work on his own with his receivers and then when he starts in August, hopefully, things will start to slow down for him. Really, this season is going to rise or fall with Russell. I like his confidence. Every quarterback must have it. But you don't know what you don't know until you know. And that's what everybody is waiting on with Russell. Realistically, we're not going to know about Russell until Oct. 3 at AT&T Stadium when the Bears play Texas Tech. If you want to go by his performance against the Red Raiders on Thanksgiving weekend last year, it did make you feel a little uncomfortable. But now, he's probably getting about 80 percent of the first-team snaps in practice each week. That will count for something.
>This is a really young team on that two-deep. Keep in mind that there are more than two players listed in the chart at certain positions. There are 23 players who are either sophomores or redshirt freshmen. Only three are starters. That not only speaks to the potential for this program remaining in the yearly Big 12 championship discussion, it's also a referendum on the recruiting. The 2013 and 2014 classes are arguably where this team started to raise the bar even higher. That's what every fan wants. But Baylor is going to need a couple of more of these classes to really make depth that much more stout. The 2015 Bears are the most talented in school history. Now, we'll see how it translates to the field.
***
OK, so let me explain further about what happened last week with this potential recruit we thought was going to come down.
We had some information through a source - the same source that told us that Kendal Briles would be named the offensive coordinator after Philip Montgomery left - that a Rivals 250 recruit was going to commit to Baylor publicly. If you read publicly, then I think you know what I mean.
Now, it didn't happen in the timeframe that we thought. But based on what we have learned, we're still of the opinion that Baylor remains in really good shape here.
***
The baseball team is a mess. At 12-19 and coming off being swept by Texas State, it probably doesn't put Steve Smith on the removal list yet. But it's getting close. The only reason why Ian McCaw would make a move in the middle of the season is if there was something internal happening that was causing more problems than necessary.
Aside from that, you're just going to have to wait until mid or late May before anything happens. McCaw has to give Smith the benefit of the doubt and let him play out the rest of the Big 12 season. Remember, the Bears are 4-5 and are in a three-way tie for fifth with Texas Tech and West Virginia and have won series against the Mountaineers and Oklahoma. They go to Texas Tech this weekend.
Look, everyone knew the volleyball situation was not going well with Jim Barnes. And McCaw waited until the end of the 2014 season before he made a move. So that's going to happen here.
***
What a great Final Four in Indianapolis. Amazing coaching stars in Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, John Calipari and Bo Ryan.
America may not have received the championship game it wanted to see in Duke and Wisconsin. However, it's a darn good championship. Duke's defense was really good against Michigan State in the first half and just shut down the Spartans for the last 15 minutes of the first half. That was the game.
What you have to like about Wisconsin calling its shot against Kentucky is that the Badgers backed it up. Guys like Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker wanted another chance at the Wildcats and got it and won, 71-64. Kaminsky came back to school because he wanted to win a national championship. But he also wanted to beat the Wildcats.
No question the blown shot clock violation that should have been called against Wisconsin helped but the officiating down the stretch in that game was atrocious. I can't understand how the officials don't call a flagrant foul against Kentucky's Trey Lyles with a slap across the face. Regardless of it being considered incidental, come on.
Tonight between Wisconsin and Duke should be epic. It's a re-run because an experienced Wisconsin team faces a Duke team filled with McDonald's All-Americans and one-and-dones. I like the Badgers to win this.
***
I wonder if the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers do what the 1972 Miami Dolphins do: pop open a bottle of champagne when the last undefeated team loses.
Admittedly, I wanted to see Kentucky go 40-0 because I like seeing history. But I'm not disappointed either. That's why you play the games.
I'm not a Calipari fan and people will say that he's exploited college basketball and made it worse. That's probably true. But you still have to manage all of those egos and get them to play together. Talent rules. Chemistry secures.
***
Now let's look at some of the other Baylor sports:
>Lindsey Cargill with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give No. 15 Baylor softball a 6-5 win over Texas Tech Saturday at Getterman Stadium. The win gave Baylor (27-7, 5-1) the sweep over Texas Tech (16-23, 0-6) for the second straight season.
>The 14th-ranked Baylor men's golf team shot 8-over par 288 in Saturday's final round of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational to finish the tournament in 4th place at 6-over par 846.
>While the rest of their teammates were sleeping in Waco, Baylor track and field distance runners Alex Davis were busy at the Stanford Invitational.
Johnson set the school record in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 33:11.98. In a field littered with pros, Johnson was 13th overall and sixth among collegiates.
She broke the school record of Lisa Stone (33:19.49), which had stood since the 1991 NCAA Championships. It was Johnson's first collegiate 10,000-meter race on a track.
>The seventh-ranked Baylor women's tennis team suffered a 4-2 setback at No. 18 Texas Tech Saturday at the McLeod Tennis Center.
Baylor fell to 19-5 overall and 5-1 in Big 12 play, while Texas Tech improved to 15-4 overall and 5-1 in conference action.
>The 23rd-ranked Baylor women's golf team finished in first place after shooting 5-under-par 571 over 36 holes in Sunday's UTSA Tri-Match. The Lady Bears shot 2-under 286 in the first round and 3-under 285 in the second round at Briggs Ranch Golf Club. BU finished 10 strokes ahead of Texas (+5, 581) and 30 strokes ahead of UTSA (+25, 601).
>The Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling team (8-0) kept the winning streak alive on the road with wins over Fairmont State Falcons and Alderson Broaddus Battlers Friday.
>The Baylor Equestrian team will be the No. 2 seed in the NCEA National Championship to be held at the Extraco Event Center in Waco on April 16-18.
The Bears (13-4) received a bye for the first round and will play the winner of No. 7 TCU vs. No. 10 Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals. Baylor beat TCU three times this season, including the first round of the Big 12 Championship, and went 1-1 against Oklahoma State.
***
I can't leave this segment without mentioning the start of the Major League Baseball season. It's my time of year. I grew up a huge baseball fan. And that will never change.
Baylor alum David Murphy should be the starting right fielder for the Cleveland Indians when they open in Houston tonight.
As for both Texas teams, look for the Astros to continue to project upward. They've got a chance to be a .500 team. I really like Jose Altuve. And the starting rotation is getting better.
I really expect the Rangers to be awful. That outfield has no power. Plus, Adrian Beltre is a year older. Who knows what to expect from Prince Fielder. The less said about them, the better.
***
The random juke box takes us to Oingo Boingo's lost hit.
Let's have a great week.
This post was edited on 4/6 9:44 AM by K Lonnquist
I absolutely love the foothills of the Ozarks and the drive on I-49 from Fort Smith to get up there is pretty soothing. To be honest, whenever we retire, we've talked about relocating up there. The mountains have always been my scene.
I know it may sound odd for some of you to hear about wanting to move to Arkansas. But if you know Northwest Arkansas (some of you do) then you understand. If you haven't been, then it would be worth your time to drive through it if you were on your way somewhere. I wouldn't call it a must-see destination. But it works.
***
So now we have a depth chart. It's far from finished. This is subject to change. More personnel moves could be made once fall workouts end in August.
As I mentioned, we'll have position by position breakdown this week. But let's get to the first reactions of what we have seen since Art Briles released this Sunday night.
>Lynx Hawthorne listed as a first-team wide receiver indicates that the Baylor coaches have liked his hands and want a new Clay Fuller to be a part of this group - someone who can move the chains. That's not to discredit Hawthorne's speed. He's a great athlete. If you're a skilled player and play for Baylor, you better be fast. But when I watched him in the Friday Night Lights scrimmage, he just showed himself to be a reliable part of the offense. I still wasn't sure where he would fit. But for now we have that answer.
Really, the fourth receiver was the one position that offered the head-scratcher. This isn't an indictment on Davion Hall. I'm sure Hall's health played a role into this.
>If you want to know what a Division I college strength and conditioning program can mean for a player's development, look no further than backup left tackle, sophomore Tanner Thrift. When he committed to Baylor in 2013, Rivals listed him at 240 pounds. He's now listed at 305. That's 55 pounds he's added since he arrived in June 2013. Most of us can add 55 pounds in that period of time the wrong way. Kaz Kazadi's regiment really made an impact on Thrift who presented the frame to make this happen.
>As for this second-team offensive line, the grouping of Ishmael Wilson (right tackle), Rami Hammad (right guard), Blake Blackmar (center), Desmine Hilliard (left guard) and Thrift (left tackle) is far from a group that offers a lot of comfort only because we just don't know enough about them. There's no track record. Blackmar is coming off a redshirt. Hilliard had his 2014 season wiped out because of a wrist injury. Hammad didn't play because he transferred from Texas. Wilson didn't play because he transferred from Texas A&M. Thrift saw very little playing time. That's why they're backups. But I do know that when Briles was openly talking about six offensive linemen, he knows that's a concern. If you lose any starter, you're not going to know what you have until he gets on the field and either holds his own or gets owned.
>You have bolded starters at left defensive end (Jamal Palmer and K.J. Smith) and cornerback (Ryan Reid and Tion Wright) because both Palmer and Reid are recovering from injuries. And to be honest, I think the end of Shawn Oakman's season (it wasn't that memorable) was impacted by the loss of Palmer. Any unit needs a glue guy. That's an expression used in basketball. But in this case, I think Palmer fits that description. Having him back on the field in August is going to give that unit a lift.
>Call it luck or an educated guess, but there were too many good things going on with Grant Campbell for Baylor to move in this direction listing him as the first-team MLB. When you think Phil Bennett and what he wants in a MLB, Campbell fits the model.
>Yes, I buried the quarterback position in this discussion but what more needs to be said? Seth Russell is the starting quarterback, even though he hasn't been officially named. Jarrett Stidham isn't anywhere close to being ready to contribute. I think the "or" next to Stidham and Chris Johnson is done out of respect for Johnson. Stidham needs to continue to work on his own with his receivers and then when he starts in August, hopefully, things will start to slow down for him. Really, this season is going to rise or fall with Russell. I like his confidence. Every quarterback must have it. But you don't know what you don't know until you know. And that's what everybody is waiting on with Russell. Realistically, we're not going to know about Russell until Oct. 3 at AT&T Stadium when the Bears play Texas Tech. If you want to go by his performance against the Red Raiders on Thanksgiving weekend last year, it did make you feel a little uncomfortable. But now, he's probably getting about 80 percent of the first-team snaps in practice each week. That will count for something.
>This is a really young team on that two-deep. Keep in mind that there are more than two players listed in the chart at certain positions. There are 23 players who are either sophomores or redshirt freshmen. Only three are starters. That not only speaks to the potential for this program remaining in the yearly Big 12 championship discussion, it's also a referendum on the recruiting. The 2013 and 2014 classes are arguably where this team started to raise the bar even higher. That's what every fan wants. But Baylor is going to need a couple of more of these classes to really make depth that much more stout. The 2015 Bears are the most talented in school history. Now, we'll see how it translates to the field.
***
OK, so let me explain further about what happened last week with this potential recruit we thought was going to come down.
We had some information through a source - the same source that told us that Kendal Briles would be named the offensive coordinator after Philip Montgomery left - that a Rivals 250 recruit was going to commit to Baylor publicly. If you read publicly, then I think you know what I mean.
Now, it didn't happen in the timeframe that we thought. But based on what we have learned, we're still of the opinion that Baylor remains in really good shape here.
***
The baseball team is a mess. At 12-19 and coming off being swept by Texas State, it probably doesn't put Steve Smith on the removal list yet. But it's getting close. The only reason why Ian McCaw would make a move in the middle of the season is if there was something internal happening that was causing more problems than necessary.
Aside from that, you're just going to have to wait until mid or late May before anything happens. McCaw has to give Smith the benefit of the doubt and let him play out the rest of the Big 12 season. Remember, the Bears are 4-5 and are in a three-way tie for fifth with Texas Tech and West Virginia and have won series against the Mountaineers and Oklahoma. They go to Texas Tech this weekend.
Look, everyone knew the volleyball situation was not going well with Jim Barnes. And McCaw waited until the end of the 2014 season before he made a move. So that's going to happen here.
***
What a great Final Four in Indianapolis. Amazing coaching stars in Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, John Calipari and Bo Ryan.
America may not have received the championship game it wanted to see in Duke and Wisconsin. However, it's a darn good championship. Duke's defense was really good against Michigan State in the first half and just shut down the Spartans for the last 15 minutes of the first half. That was the game.
What you have to like about Wisconsin calling its shot against Kentucky is that the Badgers backed it up. Guys like Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker wanted another chance at the Wildcats and got it and won, 71-64. Kaminsky came back to school because he wanted to win a national championship. But he also wanted to beat the Wildcats.
No question the blown shot clock violation that should have been called against Wisconsin helped but the officiating down the stretch in that game was atrocious. I can't understand how the officials don't call a flagrant foul against Kentucky's Trey Lyles with a slap across the face. Regardless of it being considered incidental, come on.
Tonight between Wisconsin and Duke should be epic. It's a re-run because an experienced Wisconsin team faces a Duke team filled with McDonald's All-Americans and one-and-dones. I like the Badgers to win this.
***
I wonder if the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers do what the 1972 Miami Dolphins do: pop open a bottle of champagne when the last undefeated team loses.
Admittedly, I wanted to see Kentucky go 40-0 because I like seeing history. But I'm not disappointed either. That's why you play the games.
I'm not a Calipari fan and people will say that he's exploited college basketball and made it worse. That's probably true. But you still have to manage all of those egos and get them to play together. Talent rules. Chemistry secures.
***
Now let's look at some of the other Baylor sports:
>Lindsey Cargill with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give No. 15 Baylor softball a 6-5 win over Texas Tech Saturday at Getterman Stadium. The win gave Baylor (27-7, 5-1) the sweep over Texas Tech (16-23, 0-6) for the second straight season.
>The 14th-ranked Baylor men's golf team shot 8-over par 288 in Saturday's final round of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational to finish the tournament in 4th place at 6-over par 846.
>While the rest of their teammates were sleeping in Waco, Baylor track and field distance runners Alex Davis were busy at the Stanford Invitational.
Johnson set the school record in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 33:11.98. In a field littered with pros, Johnson was 13th overall and sixth among collegiates.
She broke the school record of Lisa Stone (33:19.49), which had stood since the 1991 NCAA Championships. It was Johnson's first collegiate 10,000-meter race on a track.
>The seventh-ranked Baylor women's tennis team suffered a 4-2 setback at No. 18 Texas Tech Saturday at the McLeod Tennis Center.
Baylor fell to 19-5 overall and 5-1 in Big 12 play, while Texas Tech improved to 15-4 overall and 5-1 in conference action.
>The 23rd-ranked Baylor women's golf team finished in first place after shooting 5-under-par 571 over 36 holes in Sunday's UTSA Tri-Match. The Lady Bears shot 2-under 286 in the first round and 3-under 285 in the second round at Briggs Ranch Golf Club. BU finished 10 strokes ahead of Texas (+5, 581) and 30 strokes ahead of UTSA (+25, 601).
>The Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling team (8-0) kept the winning streak alive on the road with wins over Fairmont State Falcons and Alderson Broaddus Battlers Friday.
>The Baylor Equestrian team will be the No. 2 seed in the NCEA National Championship to be held at the Extraco Event Center in Waco on April 16-18.
The Bears (13-4) received a bye for the first round and will play the winner of No. 7 TCU vs. No. 10 Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals. Baylor beat TCU three times this season, including the first round of the Big 12 Championship, and went 1-1 against Oklahoma State.
***
I can't leave this segment without mentioning the start of the Major League Baseball season. It's my time of year. I grew up a huge baseball fan. And that will never change.
Baylor alum David Murphy should be the starting right fielder for the Cleveland Indians when they open in Houston tonight.
As for both Texas teams, look for the Astros to continue to project upward. They've got a chance to be a .500 team. I really like Jose Altuve. And the starting rotation is getting better.
I really expect the Rangers to be awful. That outfield has no power. Plus, Adrian Beltre is a year older. Who knows what to expect from Prince Fielder. The less said about them, the better.
***
The random juke box takes us to Oingo Boingo's lost hit.
Let's have a great week.
This post was edited on 4/6 9:44 AM by K Lonnquist
