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Baylor Football Recruiting Notes: January 2014

We're switching gears a bit in the recruiting world from focusing on the 2014 class to preparing for the first Junior Day for the 2015 class, which could be the best in Baylor history.

By Mark C. Moore
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Changing things up this month with the burgeoning 2015 class now deserving its own major section. 2014 is still probably the biggest concern for our coaching staff at this point, but 2015 is taking off!

More: December Recruiting Thread

2014 Recruiting Class -- National Rank: 24, Commits: 26

OFFENSE: QB (0/0), RB (1/2), WR (4/4), TE (2/2), OL (5/5)

RB: Terence Williams (ENROLLED)
WR: K.D. Cannon
WR: Davion Hall (ENROLLED)
WR: Ishmael Zamora
WR: Chris Platt
TE: Jordan Feuerbacher (ENROLLED)
TE: Blake Mahon
OL: Devonte Jones
OL: Josh Pelzel
OL: Blake Blackmar
OL: Patrick Lawrence
OL: Jarell Broxton (JUCO) (ENROLLED)

DEFENSE: DT (3/3), DE (2/2), LB (3/3), NB (1/1), CB (3/3), S (1/2)

DT: Andrew Morris
DT: Ira Lewis
DT: Josh Malin
DE: Xavier Jones
DE/LB: Jamie Jacobs II
MLB: James David
OLB: Cordell Dorsey
OLB: Grant Campbell (JUCO) (ENROLLED)
NB/S: T'Kevian Rockwell
ATH/CB: Jourdan Blake
CB: Verkedric Vaughns
CB: Chris Sanders (JUCO) (ENROLLED)
CB: Tion Wright (JUCO) (ENROLLED)
S: Chance Waz

Grayshirts: DE Greg Roberts, OL Stefan Beard (check out the October Thread for a primer on grayshirting)

Enrolling in January: Williams, Hall, Feuerbacher, Broxton, Campbell, Sanders, Wright

2014 Wish List:

Position: Recruit Name w/ profile link (Crystal Ball Prediction)=

S: John Bonney (62% Baylor)

Players Removed (who did not commit to us): DE Solomon Thomas (85% Stanford), CB Trai Mosley (Nebraska), DT Zaycoven Henderson (A&M), RB Corey Avery, CB John Plattenburg (UCLA), QB Randall Cunningham, Jr. (USC-track), LB Christian Sam (Arizona State), DE Victor Evans (Ole Miss), OL Connor Mayes (Minnesota), OL Ty Barrett (TCU), OL Jovan Pruitt (Arkansas).

Shutting down the Wish List for 2014 since we appear to be full.

247Sports' Crystal Ball:

Baylor's 2014 Crystal Ball Prediction List (2014 and 2015) / Mark Moore's Predictions

Check back on these often; the predictions update every day.

2015 Recruiting Class -- National Rank: 16, Commits: 4

ATH/QB: Chad President
ATH/WR: Blake Lynch
WR: Devontre Stricklin
OL: Ronnie Major

2015 Wish List:

QB: Jarrett Stidham (52% Texas Tech)
RB (speed): Ronald Jones, Jr. (80% Baylor)
RB (big back): Chris Warren (80% Baylor) | Soso Jamobo (71% UT)
WR (inside): Ja'Mycal Hasty (85% Baylor)
WR (inside): Ryan Newsome (62% Baylor)
WR (outside): Damarkus Lodge (57% Baylor)
OT: Keaton Sutherland (100% Arkansas) | George Brown, Jr. (100% UK)

DE: James Lockhart (91% Baylor)
DT: Darrion Daniels (100% Baylor)
OLB: Ricky DeBerry (40% Oklahoma) | Anthony Wheeler (100% UT)
NB: Richard Moore (100% Baylor)
CB: Kris Boyd (55% UT) | Holton Hill (100% Baylor)
S: Kahlil Haughton (100% Baylor)

All of the players above hold Baylor offers and have indicated at least some interest in the Bears such that their inclusion is not simply the result of wishful thinking. This list has just 12 slots on it for a couple of reasons: 1) Our 2015 class will likely be very small and has 3 members already, and 2) we won't know much about 2015 until after the start of junior days and the end of the 2014 cycle.

Players Removed (who did not commit to us): S Larry Pryor (A&M)

UPDATES:

2014 Recruiting:

S John Bonney (1/22): Officially visiting Baylor this weekend. We can probably assume that Baylor would take him, if he'll flip.

1/11: WR/S Davion Hall has arrived at Baylor and moved into his dorm room, according to BearsTruth, SicEmSports, and ESPN1660's David Smoak. The Hall saga is officially over.

I don't expect any other commitments or to hear about new offers for the 2014 class unless it is a very late JUCO or we decide to fill a need with NSD approaching.

2014 recruits in post-season games:

Army All-American Bowl: Cannon and Hall
Offense-Defense All-American Bowl: David and Zamora
Semper Fi All-American Bowl: Platt, Williams, Pelzel, Blackmar

RB Terence Williams (1/6): ran for a 42-yard TD in the Semper Fi game yesterday.

OL Josh Pelzel (1/6): Played guard last night, could be in line for a ratings boost.

OL Blake Blackmar (1/6): Also turned heads yesterday playing center. That will be his position in college.

WR K.D. Cannon (1/5): Led all receivers in the Army All-American Bowl Saturday.

2015 Recruiting:

Baylor's first Junior Day of the 2015 recruiting cycle will occur this coming Sunday (1/26) in Waco. It is invitation-only, and it looks to be a star-studded event. BearsTruth (247Sports) and SicEmSports (Rivals) have both spent significant time recently building Visitor Lists for the event. All three current commitments (Lynch, President, and Major) should be there to help recruit.

QB Jarrett Stidham (1/22): Will be there Sunday. HAS OFFER.

ATH James Nicholson (1/22): Invited to the Junior Day. DOES NOT HAVE OFFER.

OL Patrick Vahe (1/22): Offered and will come to the Junior Day. HAS OFFER (obviously).

WR Donta Thompson (1/22): Invited to the Junior Day. DOES NOT HAVE OFFER.

DE James Lockhart (1/22): Will be there Sunday. HAS OFFER.

OT Keaton Sutherland (1/22): Will be there Sunday. HAS OFFER.

WR Damarkus Lodge (1/22): Will be there Sunday. HAS OFFER. Baylor made his top 10 about two weeks ago.

RB Chris Warren (1/21): Rumored to be attending both Saturday (MBB game) and Sunday. HAS OFFER.

OG Abdul Beechum (1/21): Coming to Junior Day per the twitter. DOES NOT HAVE OFFER.

RB Soso Jamabo (1/21): Will be attending this weekend's first Junior Day. Is the #1 running back in the country for 2015 according to 247Sports. HAS OFFER.

S Kahlil Haughton (1/10): Baylor offered the Midway standout the first weekend of January. He's gone into the Wish List. TCU has now followed suit:

Something to keep in mind going forward is that our 2015 class is likely to be very small, in the 14-15 recruit range. We came into this season with just 11 players listed as juniors (upcoming seniors). I'll update that chart with the first release of the spring rosters in a few weeks.

2016 Recruiting:

DE McTelvin Agim (1/29): Baylor offered. I know nothing about this person.

S Brandon Jones (1/29): Baylor offered the 2016 standout.

RECRUITING FOCUS: 2015

With 24 recruits committed as part of the 2014 class as of this moment and spots extremely limited, we're probably either done or extremely close to it. Like maybe 1 spot remaining close. That probably closes the book, barring something crazy happening or a spot opening up due to unforeseen attrition or a decommit, on the 2014 class.

I believe strongly that most of the recruiting attention we will spend right now is focused on two things: 1) keeping our 2014 class together, as a whole, and 2) laying the groundwork for 2015. Teams typically take advantage of a strong season in the following recruiting cycle, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Baylor do that with the 2015 class. It could be very special.

Changelog:

1/13/14: Cleaned up the updates section, Damarkus Lodge to 27% Baylor in the Wish List.
1/16/14: Dead period ended at midnight last night, so the staff is out and about. I'll add these updates to the comments.
1/21/14: Added Soso Jamabo's latest update. Updated the Wish List %s.
1/22/14: 2015 updates and visitors for Sunday's Junior Day.
1/24/14: Devontre Stricklin from Wish List to commit list. Bonney visiting.
1/28/14: Updated the 2015 Wish List percentages. Baylor losing ground with Stidham?
1/29/14: Added 2 2016 offers.
1/31/14: Cleaned up the 2015 Wish List.

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