5.20.2013 Daily Bears Report: More about Brittney Griner

To wrap things up from this past weekend, Baylor got its 8th commitment on Saturday from OT Patrick Lawrence, Baseball's season is, for all intents and purposes, over before the Big 12 Tournament has even started, and ESPN's article about Brittney Griner and Baylor's response to her homosexuality generated a bit of discussion here yesterday.

Before we talk about that again, I want to let you guys know that I plan to start up the second annual Recruit Impact Rankings this week. I realized a short time ago that I hadn't done it yet with everything else going on, and it's something people have responded well to in the past, so I'll do it again. If you want to speculate in the comments about how you think my rankings will probably go, feel free. Here's my google spreadsheet about the 2013 class. You can add the Muir brothers (Hawaii transfer and Australia greyshirt) to that if you want.

Ok, to the news:

As most probably expected, the Griner thing has taken off a bit since yesterday. The original ESPN article has over 4,000 "likes" on facebook, it's been tweeted 300+ times, and there are currently 377 comments. People on all sides of the political spectrum are weighing in, and coverage from outside sources appears to run the gamut. Forbes had a particularly interesting look this morning on the "Economics of Suppression" that delved into our motivations for the basic "don't ask, don't tell" policy, while SB Nation's own OutSports.com had an enlightening post including an excerpt from an interview with Kim Mulkey over a year ago. I hadn't read that before, probably because OutSports wasn't a part of SB Nation a year ago.

FanSided looks at our 8th commitment, Patrick Lawrence, whose offer sheet is much more impressive than his early rankings.

SB Nation's OU blog, Crimson and Cream Machine, is previewing all the Big 12 teams. Baylor's went up last week and I forgot to link it here.

I posted a bit about this before, I believe, but just in case you missed it: Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy has rewritten the book on how to be a douche when a kid wants to transfer. Supposedly, his list of schools to which he would not release Wes Lunt is almost 40 names deep, including the entire SEC, Big 12, Pac12, and every school Oklahoma State has on their schedule in the next few years. Oh, and also Southern Mississippi, where former OSU OC Todd Monken is now the head coach. Jason Kirk had a bit of fun with this story this morning, playing GeoGuessr with Wes Lunt's transfer options.

I don't think I have to tell you that this is a terrible decision that will only end negatively for Oklahoma State. They are getting absolutely slammed in the media and on twitter for Gundy's vindictiveness, which includes neither rhyme nor reason. I can understand, as anyone could, not releasing him to a Big 12 school or someone on OSU's schedule. Even if he doesn't play, he could give them information about play-calling or tendencies, since he was your QB for a big portion of 2012. But schools you don't even play, like the entire Pac12? What's the point there? And you're concerned about the Pac12 enough to limit it categorically, but not the B1G? This makes no sense. And even worse, it makes you look extremely petty, like a spurned high school boyfriend who decides that if you can't have that girl, nobody can. It's dumb, Gundy. Just let him go. There's no way this plays well for you in recruiting, which should be your primary concern. Unless you're scared he goes somewhere and lights it up, making you look bad for not choosing him in the starting competition. Transfers are a fact of life these days in college athletics, something you're going to have to deal with. Don't make this a bigger issue than it has to be.

By the way, this seems like a good time to mention that Baylor released both of our basketball transfers, Deuce Bello and LJ Rose, without restrictions. And Deuce has apparently chosen Missouri, according to their Rivals board.

Speaking of basketball, Baylor has confirmed the addition of Royce O'Neale with a release.

Odyssey Sims will apparently play for the US in the Second World Games competition. I don't really know what that is.

Baylor Softball's season ended yesterday with a run-ruling at the hands of A&M in their second game of the day. They forced the second game by beating A&M in the first after winning an elimination game Saturday night. They ended the season at 42-17.

Baseball is also nearly the end of a lackluster season (in totality). They lost their final series of the season this weekend to Texas Tech and will enter the Big 12 Tournament needing to win the whole thing to make the NCAAs. That's probably not going to happen.

Finally, from the mothership, check out the silliest 2013 non-conference schedules for CFB.