Update on Baylor DT Javonte Magee -- San Antonio Express-News

As you can imagine, I get a lot of email questions about Javonte Magee, the missing Baylor DT.  Almost as many as I get about Brian Nance, whose whereabouts are known.  This morning, the San Antonio Express-News posted an article about him that sheds a little light on the situation. Written largely from the perspective of San Antonio Sam Houston coach (and former Baylor player) Gary Green, the piece talks about Magee's upbringing and the now well-known circumstances with his mother.  It also delves a bit into his world in San Antonio, where his family fled from Katrina.  But for most Baylor fans, here's the meat:

Magee went on to Baylor, where he played as a freshman in 2012 and was expected to start at defensive tackle this season. But he left the team at the end of August.

He hasn't been back.

Magee isn't returning calls from his college or high school coaches. One Baylor coach came down to the East Side looking for him, but had no luck.

The piece goes on...

Magee was passing classes and showing promise at Baylor, but Green said this is the second time Magee has left the team. The first time, coaches reached him and he went back to Waco after a few days. This time, he hasn't responded.

This story has engendered more speculation about what is really going on than almost any I can think of that didn't involve rules or laws being broken.  I've heard everything, that Javonte quit the team because he didn't want to be a DT, he didn't like playing football at all, he's got a girl back in San Antonio with whom he's madly in love, and, of course, the persistent report that there was a death in his family.  I still believe the last part of that is true.  I have no idea about the rest.

If Baylor knows, they aren't telling.  As the article mentioned, every time it's come up recently, Briles and Bennett have stressed their concern for Magee as a person, probably because they already know a lot of the stuff in this article about where kids like Magee end up if not in school.  He's someone they brought in after a protracted recruitment and developed for a year.  There's almost no way they wouldn't care deeply about his future.

At this point, however, it's similarly difficult to imagine a situation where Javonte once again dons the green and gold as part of the Baylor program.  With our coaches unable even to find him, and Gary Green of all people unable to speak to him, the lines of communication aren't just broken; they're non-existent.  But I will continue to hope for the best: that Javonte realizes his dream of playing in the NFL is as alive as he wants it to be, and the best possible place for him to accomplish that dream is in Waco.