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Baylor Football Recruiting Notes: August 2014

Football is coming, but recruiting never stops.

By Mark C. Moore
A little bit of an older pic.
A little bit of an older pic.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

July was a month to remember with the explosion of our 2016 class and the 11th commit for 2016.  August marks the beginning of the 2014 football season and the first chance any of us, recruits included, will have to see McLane Stadium in action.

More: July Recruiting Thread

247Sports' Crystal Ball:

Baylor's 2015 Crystal Ball Prediction List / Mark Moore's Predictions

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

2015 Recruiting Class -- National Rank: 38, Commits: 12

OFFENSE: QB (1/1), RB (1/2), WR (2/3), TE (0/0), OL (2/3)

QB: Chad President
QB/WR: Blake Lynch
RB: JaMycal Hasty
WR: Devontre Stricklin
OT: Maurice Porter (JUCO)
C: Sam Tecklenburg

DEFENSE: DT (0/1), DE (0/0), LB (1/2), NB (1/1), CB (2/2), S (1/2)

LB: Breckyn Hager
LB/NB: Clay Johnston
CB: Jordan Tolbert
DB: Jameson Houston
S: Montrel Wilson

K/P: Drew Galitz

2015 Wish List:

(Percentages are drawn from 247Sports' Crystal Ball, not my own imagination.)

RB (speed): Corey Dauphine (Tech, 64% BU to flip) | Ronald Jones, Jr. (OSU)
RB (big back): Soso Jamobo (35% BU, leading)
OT: Deya Mhiesen (100% Baylor) | Dominic Desouza (no predictions)

DT: Darrion Daniels (100% Baylor),
OLB: Malik Jefferson (58% A&M, 3% BU) | Anthony Wheeler (69% UT, 0% BU) | Cameron Townsend (100% UT, 0% BU)
CB: Holton Hill (69% UT, 6% BU) | Kris Boyd (48% A&M, 0% BU)
S: Kahlil Haughton (80% 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.

Players Removed (who did not commit to us): OT Madison Akamnonu (interest has waned), OT Conner Dyer (Texas Tech), S PJ Locke (Oregon), WR Damarkus Lodge (A&M), DT/OT Du'Vonta Lampkin (Baylor out), WR Ryan Newsome (spot gone), DE James Lockhart (down to A&M/Alabama), LB Richard Moore (spot gone, A&M), CB Marcus Lewis (Florida), OT Keaton Sutherland (A&M), CB P.J. Mbanasor (I think we're out), LB Ricky DeBerry (Baylor out), RB Chris Warren (Baylor backed off), QB Jarrett Stidham (Texas Tech), S Larry Pryor (A&M).

2016 Recruiting Class -- National Rank: 2, Commits: 6

OFFENSE: QB (1/?), RB (1/?), WR (1/?), OL (1/?)

QB: Zach Smith (Film)
RB: Kameron Martin (Film)
WR: Tren'Davian Dickson (Film)
OL: Patrick Hudson (Film)

DEFENSE: CB (1/?)

CB: KeShawn Somerville (Film)
CB: Eric Cuffee (Film)

2016 Wish List:

This will be basically a shot in the dark based off our 2016 offer list.  Some of them are more obvious than others based on who we've had in town and how many times we've heard their names. I think we can assume that we'll be at 85 scholarships again with the 2015 class.  We have 17 juniors (by their classification now) graduating in 2016.  I think we're safe projecting a class of around 20, maybe more, on that basis.

QB: Tristen Wallace (20% BU)
RB: Devwah Whaley
WR: Devin Duvernay (10% BU)
WR: Courtney Lark (38% BU)
WR: Jeremy Smith (33% BU)
OL: J.P. Urquidez (46% BU)

DT: Kendell Jones
DE: Isaiah Chambers
DE: Justin Madubuike
DE/LB: Erick Fowler
CB: Jared Mayden (46% BU)
S: Deontay Anderson
S: Brandon Jones

This is by far the earliest I've ever tried to put together a Wish List, and before you tell me that the vast majority of these guys are 5*s we won't get, I know that.  There will be a ton of movement on this list since I'm starting so early.

UPDATES:

McLane Stadium is opening up this weekend, and Baylor is bringing in a very impressive list of visitors to see it.  BearsTruth has a running list going that members should check out, as does Baylor's Scout site, BearsIllustrated.  I won't share all of the names, but trust me when I say it is something to behold.  Having the game Sunday will end up being a huge boon to attendance.

At this time, it looks like all of our 2015 and 2016 commits will be there Sunday for the game, as well as several other 4 and 5* players from 2015, 2016, and even 2017.

2015 Recruiting:

RB Ronald Jones (8/29): Coming this weekend.

CB Holton Hill (8/28): Coming this weekend.

RB Soso Jamobo (8/28): Coming this weekend.

K/P Drew Galitz (8/26): Flipped his commitment tonight from Miami to Baylor.  He's been invited to the Under Armor All-American game.  Check out his HUDL highlights and video from KohlsKicking.com.

LB Malik Jefferson (8/25):  VISITING FOR THE GAME SUNDAY per A&M's 247Sports site.

OT Deya Mhiesen (8/25): Taking his official visit to Baylor this weekend. Could get a #DreamBigDreamBaylor from the JUCO stud if Baylor puts on the hard sell.

DT Darrion Daniels (8/9): Announced a Top 10 with us included on it.  Says Baylor, Tech, and OU will make his top 3, which is basically like announcing a top 3.

CB Kendall Sheffield (8/7): Announced a top 12 with us included on it.  I wouldn't get too excited about it because our chances seem very slim, but still.

S Kahlil Haughton (8/7): Delaying his commitment until he takes all of his official visits. Announced via Twitter.

DB Jameson Houston (7/30): Committed to Baylor today.  Has offers from KSU and Purdue.  This came completely out of left field, and it may take me a while to get enough information together for a full post.

2016 Recruiting:

DE/LB Erick Fowler (8/31): Will be in Waco today. Visited earlier this month.

ATH D'Eriq King (8/31): Visiting Baylor today.

DT Kendell Jones (8/29): Visiting Sunday per several places.

CB Jared Mayden (8/26): Will be at the opener Sunday.

S Eric Monroe (7/31): Baylor offered today.  LSU looks like the team to beat at this point.

2017 Recruiting:

RB Eno Benjamin (8/31): Will be there today.

OL Jack Anderson (8/26): Will be at the opener Sunday.

LB Baron Browning (8/7): Visited practice Thursday.  He's been very vocal in liking Baylor.

LB Anthony Hines (8/6): Visited practice Wednesday.

SB Nation Recruiting Scouting Reports:

The fine gentlemen at SB Nation Recruiting have been putting together scouting reports by the dozen for major 2015 prospects. A few of those reports are germane to us as Baylor fans:

QB Chad President
RB Ronald Jones
RB Soso Jamobo
RB Tyreik Gray
RB/WR JaMycal Hasty
WR Damarkus Lodge
DT Darrion Daniels
DE James Lockhart
LB Malik Jefferson

RECRUITING THOUGHTS:

As you can tell from the fact that this actually dropped off the cover for a while due to lack of updates, recruiting has slowed WAY down with fall camp in full swing.  Don't worry-- things will heat up again in short order with the start of the HS and college seasons.

Changelog:

8/2/2014: Created August thread, update on Kahlil Haughton's decision.
8/5/2014: Updated Crystal Ball predictions. Kahlil Haughton visit.
8/7/2014: Updated Kahlil Haugton information based on his tweet.
8/8/2014: Added a couple of updates missed from 8/6 and 8/7.
8/9/2014: DT Darrion Daniels' Top 10.
8/11/2014: Added update on 2016 DE/LB Erick Fowler, who is now on the Wish List.
8/12/2014: Added yesterday's announcement of a commitment date for Malik Jefferson.
8/15/2014: Updated a couple of Crystal Ball %s.
8/21/2014: Update about Malik, a few thoughts.  Also, we offered a kicker last week.
8/25/2014: A couple of visitors for this weekend.  There will be many more.
8/26/2014: Visit news for Sunday.
8/28/2014: More visits for Sunday, including 4/5* RB Soso Jamobo.
8/29/2014: Another visitor for Sunday, 4* RB Ronald Jones.
8/31/2014: A couple more visitors.

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