Daily Bears Report 11/9/2017 - National Signing Day

National Signing Day

Drew's Bears add Austin Westlake's Mayer | | wacotrib.com, The Baylor men’s basketball team added strength up front as Austin Westlake forward Matthew Mayer signed his NCAA letter of intent on Wednesday.

Baylor athletics adds twenty-two recruits on national signing day | The Baylor Lariat, Twenty-two high school athletes from across the country signed on today to play for Baylor as a part of national signing day for basketball, baseball and softball.

Head women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey brings in the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the country, according to ESPN.

Mulkey said the group will help keep the Lady Bears in the national spotlight for the coming years.

“I am thrilled to welcome these five talented and well-rounded young ladies to the Lady Bear basketball family,” Mulkey said. “Our program is gaining elite student-athletes, but more importantly invested parents and families, who were very involved in each of their daughters’ college decision. They will continue to help us keep our program at an elite level, which gives us a lot to look forward to in the future. We are excited to welcome the Fierce Five to Baylor.”

Baylor signings roundup: Baylor baseball beefs up pitching staff | Baylor Baseball | wacotrib.com, Back in the NCAA tournament last season for the first time in five years, the Baylor baseball team hopes it restocked the cupboard for another run.

SB Inks Eight to 2019 Signing Class - Baylor University Official Athletic Site Baylor University Official Athletic Site - Softball, The Baylor softball squad signed eight student-athletes to national letters of intent for the 2019 class, announced by 18th-year head coach Glenn Moore on Wednesday.

Mens Golf Signs Hoff to 2018 Class - Baylor University Official Athletic Site Baylor University Official Athletic Site - Men's Golf, Baylor’s men’s golf has signed Brandon Hoff to a National Letter of Intent, head coach Mike McGraw announced Wednesday.

Valley's Jake Merrell signs to run track for Baylor - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock
A big signing at one of our area’s smaller schools as Valley’s Jake Merrell signed to run track at Baylor.

High school signing roundup: Robinson's Ashcraft, Reicher's Watson see Baylor dreams materialize | Central Texas Baseball | wacotrib.com
When Braxton Ashcraft was in the seventh grade — significantly smaller than the 6-foot-5 light pole he is today — he used to tell his coaches, “I want to go

De Costa Baylor-bound on signing day - Sports - recordnet.com - Stockton, CA
STOCKTON - The lengthy run of national success was definitely on the “pros” list for Aquira De Costa. What she liked almost as much, though, is how much people care about Baylor basketball.“Their atmosphere was crazy,” De Costa said. “They truly love their Lady Bears, and I really wanted to be a part of that.”De Costa, a senior basketball player at St. Mary’s High, signed her letter of intent to join the Baylor University women’s

Volleyball Inks Sydney Sacra on National Signing Day - Baylor University Official Athletic Site Baylor University Official Athletic Site - Women's Volleyball, Baylor volleyball head coach Ryan McGuyre announced the signing of Sydney Sacra to a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday.

Mulkey Inks Top Class - Baylor University Official Athletic Site Baylor University Official Athletic Site - Women's Basketball, Hall of Fame head coach Kim Mulkey signed the best Baylor women's basketball class in program history, as the `Fierce Five' signed National Letters of Intent on day one of the early signing period on Wednesday.

Baylor Bears sign 5 recruits as early signing period kicks off, ESPN, Third-ranked Baylor, which has won the past seven Big 12 women's basketball regular-season titles, has signed five highly touted recruits to national letters of intent.

Baseball Signs Seven Players for 2019 Season - Baylor University Official Athletic Site Baylor University Official Athletic Site - Baseball
Baylor baseball signed seven players for its 2019 roster on Wednesday, adding more talented arms to an already solid team coming off a 2017 NCAA Regional appearance.

Cross Country

Cross Country Heads To NCAA South Central Regional Championships - Baylor University Official Athletic Site Baylor University Official Athletic Site - Cross Country, Baylor's cross country teams will travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the NCAA South Central Region Championships Friday morning.

Big 12 Cross Country Teams Head to Regionals - Big 12 Conference - Official Athletic Site, Trip to 2017 NCAA Championships on the line for Big 12 teams

Men’s Basketball

No. 24 Baylor opens against Central Arkansas (Nov 10, 2017) | FOX Sports, Baylor began last season a bit under the radar with no national ranking despite proven and versatile veteran players and a couple promising newcomers.

The Bears didn’t stay anonymous for long as they defeated No. 4 Oregon, No. 24 Michigan State and No. 10 Louisville in November and No. 7 Xavier in December. By the time Big 12 play started, Baylor was ranked fourth in the nation.

So it’s no surprise the voters gave Baylor a ranking (24th) to start this season. But the Bears will have a challenge in proving they belong in the Top 25.

Football

Baylor’s Pitre enjoys first collegiate victory | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Jalen Pitre knew the journey ahead would be arduous.

Yet, he embraced the challenge and elected to stick with his verbal commitment to play for the Baylor football team.

Pitre, who tore his ACL while playing as junior for Stafford High School, stuck with the program that continued to believe in his talents.

USA Today selects Baylor as best team with only 1 win, USA Today's Paul Myerberg picked the top teams for each victory total and went with Baylor as the top team with only one win.

Go 'fourth' and prosper: Rhule, Bears willing to go for it on fourth down, with mixed results | Baylor Bears Football | wacotrib.com, Since Matt Rhule arrived on the Baylor campus, people have gone out of their way to note the differences between him and Art Briles.

Baylor facing another fast offense this week, The Baylor Bears are coming off their first win of the season and now they get right back to work preparing to face another high powered offense when they battle Texas Tech.

Baylor moves in right direction of CBS Sports Bottom 25 rankings, Baylor's first win of the season against Kansas on Saturday did more than restore a little bit of faith in the Bears football program.

Big XII

Big 12 outright lead on line; No. 5 Oklahoma hosts No. 8 TCU, The outright lead in in the Big 12 Conference is on the line when No. 5 Oklahoma hosts No. 8 TCU

AP Spotlight: Big 12 teams still with much on the line | The News Tribune, Oklahoma and TCU have national title hopes, while just about everyone else in the Big 12 still has something to play for down the stretch.

Big 12 Breakdown: Sooners, Horned Frogs engage in another CFP elimination tilt | The Topeka Capital-Journal, Here’s the latest Big 12 football breakdown from C-J sports columnist Kevin Haskin.

Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield Tunes Out Heisman Trophy Talk « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth, Many pundits across the nation have declared Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield the front-runner for this year's Heisman Trophy. "I'm not worried about that," he said.

The keys behind Gary Patterson's defensive success at TCU. | Sports on Earth, Gary Patterson has fielded many great defenses over the years at TCU, and this year's Horned Frogs have been one of his best. His secret? Shorten the game. It's worked so far this season, and TCU hopes it works Saturday at Oklahoma.

Sound Off: Oklahoma jumps from frying pan into the fire, This week's Zaxby's Sound Off details the Sooners' impressive victory at Oklahoma State and their task upcoming against No. 6 TCU.

Big 12 power rankings - Week 11: Oklahoma-TCU set for playoff eliminator, The Big 12 power rankings this week see Oklahoma riding high from their Bedlam win while Iowa State had a reality check after a loss to West Virginia.

College Sports: TCU out to prove the Big 12 does play defense in top-10 matchup vs. Oklahoma | SportsDay, FORT WORTH - Far too much is at stake Saturday for TCU to use its game at Oklahoma as an occasion to champion Big 12 defenses everywhere.Truth be...

Oklahoma fans, media react to Sooners' No. 5 CFP ranking, The CFP committee ranked Oklahoma in the top five yet again.Oklahoma fans, as always, had something to say about it, as did the national media.

Scandal Fallout

Baylor makes final push to protect years-old student records in Title IX lawsuit | Courts And Trials | wacotrib.com, Some 6,200 current and former Baylor University students could soon receive letters in the mail containing some surprising news: Under court order, your college records must be submitted within a...

If you object, the court will review your records and determine whether they should be produced.

“You may, if you wish, hire an attorney, but you do not need to do so in order to register an objection ...” the letter states.

Johnson & Sekin Named Advertising AOR for Baylor University, PRNewswire
Johnson & Sekin Named Advertising AOR for Baylor University.

The agency search was one of many actions by Baylor over the last year to reintroduce the University under new leadership while expanding its pursuits as one of the nation's preeminent Christian research universities. The agency's work will build upon this commitment and support priorities that emerge from an academic strategic planning process begun by recently inaugurated Baylor University President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. The academic strategic plan will set a course for Baylor to grow its research and teaching endeavors over the next five years.

Initial work from Johnson & Sekin will begin in early 2018. Johnson & Sekin will also develop the overall University campaign for Baylor's 2018/2019 academic year that will highlight Baylor's Christian values, mission, academic strengths and distinct position in higher education.

"After a lengthy search, we are excited to be working with Johnson & Sekin," said Jason Cook, Vice President for Marketing and Communications and Chief Marketing Officer for Baylor. "They are known for their award-winning strategy and creativity, but we were most impressed with the true sense of collaboration, commitment and values alignment they bring to this partnership. We believe Johnson & Sekin's work will break through the sea of sameness found in higher education marketing."

Baylor Leads Big 12 in Graduation Success Rate - Baylor University Official Athletic Site, With an overall score of 89, Baylor led the Big 12 Conference in Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for the fourth-straight year and the eighth time overall according to data released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Wednesday.