I'm honestly not sure who got the story first, so I'm not trying to shortchange whichever of our recruiting sites broke the story, but all of them are now reporting that Javonte Magee, who recently gained his fifth star in the rankings of 247Sports.com, committed officially to Art Briles and the Baylor Bears this morning.
Magee, who has offers from just about everyone on Earth including Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Texas, Oklahoma, etc. etc. etc., is by far Baylor's best recruit and possibly Baylor's best defensive recruit in a long, long time. Recruiting on the defensive line has always been difficult, particularly for Baylor, and Magee will likely start from the day he gets on campus. We haven't had a guy with his talent at that position in a long, long time.
Here are links to his 247Sports, Scout.com, and Rivals profiles for those seeking more information.
Most places have been reporting for a while now that it was basically a matter of time for Magee to commit, but we've been burned before in that type of situation and I'm sure we'll be burned again. This is by no means over, either, as verbal commitments are non-binding and high school kids have a tendency to do weird things.
I'll update this story with better links to the paid articles (for those that want to read more) as they become available. For now, though, congratulations Art Briles, Phil Bennett, and the rest of the Baylor coaching staff!
I've put two highlight videos below the jump from his junior and senior years, respectively. Check it out!
UPDATE: Bud Elliott of SBNation Recruiting's take on this commit.
Javonte Magee (senior highlights) (via 247SportsStudio)
Javonte Magee Highlights (via 247SportsStudio)