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Baylor Recruiting -- 2016 Junior Day #1 Weekend Wrapup

Art Briles' staff welcomed in several dozen of the best recruits in the 2016 class this weekend, and the festivities did not disappoint.

By Mark C. Moore
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday, Baylor held its first Junior Day of the 2016 cycle beginning in the early afternoon and extending through until about 4:00 PM CST.  The recruits visited McLane Stadium, toured the practice and weightroom facilities, tried on a few jerseys and helmets, and generally enjoyed themselves meeting with players and coaches.  From the look of things, Art Briles was a predictably popular picture subject, as was his son Kendal Briles (our newly-minted Offensive Coordinator).

2015 Recruiting:

Before I get into the 2016 visitors, we should note that Baylor hosted an official visitor this weekend in the form of Arp DE Tyrone Hunt, who publicly affirmed his commitment today and became our 19th (and probably final) commit of the 2015 class.  I've posted his links and info in the January Recruiting Thread, but here it is again for good measure:

DE: Tyrone Hunt (HUDL)

This is Baylor's first (and almost certainly only) defensive line recruit in the 2015 class and one that I really like.  He's got a great frame at 6-5, 240 and a first step that makes you dream on what could be down the road.  It's going to take time for him to put on weight and steel himself for the rigors of the Big 12.

Before that visit even started on Friday, Baylor also got another big of great news with the commitment of Shreveport CB Henry Black.  We'd been looking for another CB to add to the class for quite a while and finally landed one over Texas Tech.  Here's his links:

CB: Henry Black (HUDL)

In all likelihood, Black and Hunt will mark the end of our 2015 class and all we have to handle now is poachers looking to fill their own classes.

2016 Recruiting:

Even though they fall in the closing days of the previous cycle, the first Junior Day marks, for all intents and purposes, the real beginning of the following one.  Though offers have already gone out to many recruits and some have already visited unofficially, this is the first time that recruits from the class to come receive the full attention of the staff and meet en masse.

Attendees:

To say that Baylor brought in a star-studded group yesterday is to delight in understatement.  I posted a pretty lengthy (but incomplete) list in the Primer/Open Thread Friday night, so I won't do it again.  Some of the bigger names include 4* S Eric Monroe, the Duvernay brothers Devin and Donovan, Arkansas DE McTelvin Agim, in-state DEs Isaiah Chambers and Mark Jackson, behemoth DT Michael Williams, OT J.P. Urquidez, 2017 QB Chris Robison, WR Jeremy Smith, and all of our current commits (listed below).

As you can see from the tweets, they had a pretty incredible time.

New Commits:

For Baylor the biggest news of the day, obviously, was our first commit on the defensive line.  Around 3:30, DE/DT Jordan Elliott of Westside HS in Houston, Texas made the call for the Bears with a rather memorable tweet:

(Briles would shortly confirm with his customary #DreamBigDreamBaylor2016 tweet.)  His profile links:

DE/DT Jordan Elliott (HUDL)

There's little doubt that Baylor will hit the trenches hard in this cycle considering we didn't in 2015, and that could mean as many as a half-dozen defensive linemen alone.  Elliott is a huge first step in that direction as a current DE that will likely move to DT as he continues to grow.

New Offers:

Baylor put out or confirmed three new offers yesterday to 2016 and 2017 recruits:

CB/S Kenan Ivy
WR/DB Donovan Duvernay

RB Toneil Carter (2017)

To be honest, I'm surprised there weren't more given the talent Baylor had there, but that's likely due to the fact that most of the top guys already had offers.  We might see a few more go out over the coming days and after the 2015 class is signed, sealed, and delivered on Wednesday.

Tweets:

WR Jeremy Smith

DT Michael Williams

ATH Greg Eisworth

QB Chris Robison

DT Braylon Jones

OL Tope Imade

DE McTelvin Agim

S Eric Monroe

CB Grayland Arnold

S Chris Brown

RB Toneil Carter

LB Dontavious Jackson

OG Dixie Wooten

I could go on, but I think you get the point.  Baylor made a huge impact yesterday in what could be the start of an incredible recruiting class.  Here's where things stand now for the 2016 Class:

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

DT: Jordan Elliott (HUDL)
CB: Grayland Arnold (HUDL)

Dream Big. Dream Baylor.

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