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A few days ago, I posted a link to a story talking about Baylor's strategic outlook, which includes assembling as fast and athletic a team as possible and putting them to good use in a wide-open spread offense. You would say we followed the Oregon model if Art Briles hadn't been doing it through his entire career.
Tonight, that quest took another step forward with the commitment of Alief Elsik WR Ishmael Zamora, the gold medal winner in the 110m hurdles at last week's state track meet. Standing 6'4", 200 pounds, Zamora is the prototypical outside receiver that oozes athleticism and tantalizes with potential. According to ESPN's Damon Sayles, the WR-hungry Texas Longhorns saw enough to offer him a scholarship. Thankfully, they came in no closer than second.
Zamora is the second 4* WR (by 247Sports' rankings) to join the Baylor class and third WR overall, joining 4* Davion Hall and Chris Platt, the three-time reigning champion in the 400m. He had offers from Illinois, Houston, SMU, Utah, Colorado, and Texas, a list that probably doesn't indicate nearly as much attention as he has begun to receive. As I said, Texas offered today but apparently did not make enough of an impact to stave off his eventual commitment. I'm having a hard time finding anything accurate about his stats from this past season (his junior campaign), but I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't all that great; his team wasn't the powerhouse Alief Elsik of my youth.
You can watch an interview following his gold medal in the hurdles here, and his HUDL highlights are also publicly available. He's listed as running a 4.49 40, something I definitely believe after having watched the tape. This kid is everything you want in a receiver, and he's going to look fantastic in green and gold.
Welcome to Baylor Nation, Ishmael!
UDPATE: Here's the video from his second place finish the 300m hurdles. He's the one in blue that is sixth coming around the final turn and just comes up short. Here's his 13.70 in the 110m hurdles. He towers over the kid that finished second.