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Baylor Football

BREAKING: Kentucky safety Devin Neal commits to Baylor

December 15, 2019
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Update: Four-star defensive lineman reacts to Baylor official visit

Baylor has landed a commitment from 2020 safety Devin Neal‍ out of Lexington, Kentucky. The one-time Cincinnati pledge took an official visit to Baylor over the weekend and opted to sign with the Bears instead.

“The place overall is great and especially the coaches,” Neal said. “Coach (Matt) Rhule and Coach (Phil) Snow have a great plan that I like and it’s much bigger than football. They are raising successful young men and that’s what I’m seeking.”

2020 BAYLOR FOOTBALL COMMITMENT LIST

One of the major factors in his decision was the family atmosphere he was able to see firsthand. 

“The loyalty that everyone has there,” Neal said. “There is a lot a lot of ex-Baylor players that are coaches for them and that’s a really great thing to see. Because to me it shows how tight that Baylor family is and that they help their own.” 

An under recruited athlete prospect, Neal is being recruited as a safety by the Baylor coaching staff and is the prototype prospect for Phil Snow’s defensive scheme.

At 6-foot-0 and 190 pounds, Neal ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash, jumped a 39.2 inch vertical, and posted a 4.28-second shuttle time at The Opening Regional in Nashville in the spring. His 119.25 SPARQ score was one of the best in the country for the 2020 class. 

Neal picked up an offer from the Baylor coaching staff back at the end of November. 

Discussion from...

BREAKING: Kentucky safety Devin Neal commits to Baylor

17,658 Views | 41 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by Heisman25g
Jacques Strap
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I like the sparq number! I remember Clay Johnston had a great sparq number too but did not get a lot of recruiting interest out of HS and he turned out great.

https://247sports.com/Player/Devin-Neal-46051329/

Offers
Cincy
Bowling Green
Eastern Michigan
Grizz Air
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Grizz Air
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Grizz Air
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Grizz Air
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BaylorLit 01
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His hudl highlights are pretty good, 6' is good height for a safety, and we should be able to put his athleticism to good use. 84 3-star isn't going to grab headlines, but there's plenty here to work with.
Jayman1963
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He's only 17 or 18 so he's going to continue to grow and will add strength/weight in the BU weight room!
BaylorLit 01
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Hoping we got more than 1 commit out of this weekend. I know we hosted several uncommitted prospects.
Timbear
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I'm glad he's coming. This year is still a mystery as to why our recruiting is lagging behind after the big improvement last year, and our record setting Season this year.
Brian Ethridge
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Staff
Timbear said:

I'm glad he's coming. This year is still a mystery as to why our recruiting is lagging behind after the big improvement last year, and our record setting Season this year.
The staff is recruiting the kids they want. This kid ran 4.42 laser and isn't afraid of contact.
Jacques Strap
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Brian Ethridge said:

Timbear said:

I'm glad he's coming. This year is still a mystery as to why our recruiting is lagging behind after the big improvement last year, and our record setting Season this year.
The staff is recruiting the kids they want. This kid ran 4.42 laser and isn't afraid of contact.
The way it should be. Their jobs depend on signing the right players so no one has more motivation to get the evaluation right and then develop them.

Timbear
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So... we don't want 4* recruits? Rhule must not want them if he's recruiting who he wants. A lot of guys are fast and love contact. We rank last in the Big 12. Why? Here's hoping we improve.
Jorkel
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Timbear said:

So... we don't want 4* recruits? Rhule must not want them if he's recruiting who he wants. A lot of guys are fast and love contact. We rank last in the Big 12. Why? Here's hoping we improve.


Pretty sure he offered tons of high profile high school players. It's hard for Baylor to get them to come play for the university...it's nothing new? Next best thing to do is get players that fit your scheme defensively and offensively or will eventually after some development..even if they might be a little bit of a protect. You hit on some you miss some...just like all the other schools.
BUBear24
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Timbear said:

So... we don't want 4* recruits? Rhule must not want them if he's recruiting who he wants. A lot of guys are fast and love contact. We rank last in the Big 12. Why? Here's hoping we improve.


They are recruiting 4 star kids.. we're in it for a couple come Wednesday. But if you ask the staff which they would rather take, a 4 star with low Sparq score, or an average 3 star with an off the wall Sparq score, they'll take that 3 star all day. A high Sparq means speed and athleticism, the 2 things no one can't coach. Would we all love a full roster of 4 stars? Absolutely. But instead he has his own method for finding potential high upside guys, that'll contribute in years 3-4.
BaylorLit 01
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Hope they sign this week and don't leave us waiting until February; we haven't fared very well with Feb decisions.
OldMain2014
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Timbear said:

So... we don't want 4* recruits? Rhule must not want them if he's recruiting who he wants. A lot of guys are fast and love contact. We rank last in the Big 12. Why? Here's hoping we improve.


Are you trolling?

You do realize that the recruiting season doesn't end until February, right?
BaylorLit 01
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Malik Hornsby, our primary (only?) QB target, just said he's not signing until February.

He has 80% crystal ball predictions to Baylor right now. I can't imagine we're happy to see him wait.
BaylorLit 01
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BearTruth13
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Recruiting has been very disappointing this year.

Don't like to see us trailing TCU by so much in recruiting.

Don't say the line "recruiting the players they want". No one doesn't want 4 star players and no one wants the #56 recruiting class. That is something fans tell themselves to feel better.

Baylor is fully capable of recruiting well. We've been a consistent top 30-40 recruiting team for a decade now.

This is so far our weakest class since 2008.
BUBear24
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BaylorLit 01 said:

Malik Hornsby, our primary (only?) QB target, just said he's not signing until February.

He has 80% crystal ball predictions to Baylor right now. I can't imagine we're happy to see him wait.


We knew that.
ScottS
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Timbear said:

So... we don't want 4* recruits? Rhule must not want them if he's recruiting who he wants. A lot of guys are fast and love contact. We rank last in the Big 12. Why? Here's hoping we improve.
How do we have a top 10 team in the country and the last Big12 recruiting class?
BUBear24
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The thing, which still isn't as good, to pay attention to, is the recruit average ranking, not class ranking. We're not going to have a 25 person class like KU that affects that ranking. Our average recruit is 8th in big 12. If just two of the guys they want commit between now and feb, that would push us to 4/5 in Big12.

The big bump for recruiting from this years results will be in 2021. A lot of these 2020 kids had already made commits or ideas of where they wanted to go by mid Oct/Nov, so that awesome season won't come nearly into play as much as kids still having a year to mull decisions.
BaylorLit 01
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Since they started the early signing period, have we won any recruits in February? Seems like if a kid isn't committed and wants to drag it out, we're the fallback plan. And don't come at me with secret commits; Tommy Bush was a secret commit.
Jacques Strap
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1. The class is not finished yet.
2. Not every recruit will qualify, so some other teams rankings may be inflated if their players wind up not qualifying.

Always interesting to see who gets signed and also more importantly who enrolls and qualifies.
BaylorLit 01
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PMP, the freshman OL, was a Feb signee last year. So there's 1 I can remember.
BearFan33
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There was a thread earlier about recruiting and the coaches are offering a lot of guys they evaluate in there camps. Some kids weren't highly recruited but impressed the coaches enough for them to offer.

In any case Neal looks like a good one.
Jacques Strap
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BaylorLit 01 said:

PMP, the freshman OL, was a Feb signee last year. So there's 1 I can remember.
and All Pro CB Xavien Howard was a late qualifier and signed very late like May or something.
EvilTroyAndAbed
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OldMain2014 said:

Timbear said:

So... we don't want 4* recruits? Rhule must not want them if he's recruiting who he wants. A lot of guys are fast and love contact. We rank last in the Big 12. Why? Here's hoping we improve.


Are you trolling?

You do realize that the recruiting season doesn't end until February, right?
Of course he's trolling. Timbear has made no illusions of his disgust with the current coaches. It's been a tough year for him, so he'll find perceived victories where he can, like recruiting.
Texasjeremy
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BAYLOR COMMITS OTHER P5 OFFERS

James Sylvester, DE (Newton, TX)
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida State
Georgia
Kansas
Kansas State
LSU
Minnesota
Missouri
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Oregon
TCU
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Virginia

Jahdae Barron, CB (Austin, TX)
Arizona
Iowa State
Oklahoma State
Rutgers
TCU
Tennessee
Texas Tech

Taye McWilliams, RB (Rosenberg, TX)
Arkansas
Texas
Texas Tech

Gavin Byers, OL (Colleyville, TX)
Arkansas
Syracuse
Texas Tech

Seth Jones, WR (Pearland, TX)
Boston College
TCU
Texas A&M
Utah

Mose Jeffery, OL (Kilgore JC)
Iowa State
Texasjeremy
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TOP 5 RATED COMMITS (BY 247SPORTS COMPOSITE RATINGS)

BAYLOR
89.71 (#13 WDE) - James Sylvester (Newton, TX)
89.33 (#26 CB) - Jahdaw Barron (Austin, TX)
88.50 (#28 RB) - Taye McWiliams (Rosenberg, TX)
85.80 (#63 OLB) - Will Garner (Spring, TX)
85.52 (#72 CB) - A.J. McCarty (Brownwood, TX)

IOWA STATE
90.08 (#12 DT QB) - Hunter Dekkers (Hawarden, IA)
87.89 (#3 JC DT) - Latrell Bankston (Hutchinson CC)
87.22 (#24 PS QB) - Aidan Bouman (Buffalo, MN)
87.06 (#42 OLB) - Cole Pedersen (Leon, IA)
87.02 (#99 WR) - Daniel Jackson (Cibolo, TX)

KANSAS
87.91 (#20 ILB) - Brennon Scott (Dallas, TX)
87.42 (#39 CB) - JaCobee Bryant (Evergreen, AL)
86.60 (#109 WR) - Lawrence Arnold (DeSoto, TX)
86.46 (#59 CB) - Duece Mayberry (Owasso, OK)
86.26 (#53 OLB) - Krishawn Brown (Tulsa, OK)

KANSAS STATE
86.88 (#28 ILB) - Jeremiah Harris (Pearland, TX)
86.68 (#30 WDE) - Nate Matlack (Olathe, KS)
86.23 (#50 OG) - Talor Warner (Gardner, KS)
85.93 (#37 TE) - Will Swanson (Papillion, NE)
85.74 (#7 JC DT) - Robert Hentz (NW Mississippi CC)

OKLAHOMA
97.87 (#8 RB) - Jase McClellan (Aledo, TX)
97.51 (#1 OG) - Nate Anderson (Frisco, TX)
96.02 (#2 OG) - Andrew Raym (Broken Arrow, OK)
95.93 (#6 WDE) - Reggie Grimes (Brentwood, TN)
94.00 (#13 RB) - Seth McGowan (Mesquite, TX)

OKLAHOMA STATE
93.22 (#5 PS QB) - Shane Illingworth (Norco, CA)
88.17 (#25 OG) - Trent Pullen (Waco, TX)
87.96 (#28 OG) - Eli Russ (Ardmore, OK)
87.76 (#36 CB) - Korie Black (Waco, TX)
87.35 (#91 WR - Matt Polk (Scottsdale, AZ)

TCU
96.70 (#13 WR) - Quentin Johnston (Temple, TX)
96.56 (#10 OT) - Garrett Hayes (Athens, TX)
90.95 (#25 DT) - Patrick Jenkins (Marrero, LA)
90.62 (#19 CB) - Keontae Jenkings (Virginia Beach, VA)
88.93 (#3 JC WR) - Danny Gray (Blinn College)

TEXAS
99.30 (#2 RB) - Bijan Robinson (Tucson, AZ)
96.97 (#2 DT QB) - Hudson Card (Austin, TX)
96.54 (#3 ATH) - Ja'Quinden Jackson (Duncanville, TX)
95.05 (#11 DT) - Vernon Broughton (Houston, TX)
94.08 (#10 OLB) - Prince Dorbah (Dallas, TX)

TEXAS TECH
89.84 (#53 WR) - Loic Fouonji (Midland, TX)
88.09 (#77 WR) - Ja'Lynn Polk (Lufkin, TX)
87.63 (#40 RB) - Tahj Brooks (Manor, TX)
86.68 (#39 ATH) - Myles Price (The Colony, TX)
86.61 (#33 SDE) - Philip Blidi (Portales, NM)

WEST VIRGINIA
90.49 (#21 CB) - Davis Vincent-Okoli (Potomac, MD)
88.24 (#22 OG) - Chris Mayo (Hightstown, NJ)
87.67 (#23 SDE) - Sean Martin (Bluefield, WV)
87.29 (#19 DT QB) - Garrett Greene (Tallahassee, FL)
87.26 (#12 OC) - Zach Frazier (Fairmont, WV)
BaylorLit 01
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so right now our top 5 are better than Kansas and K State, on par with Iowa State and Texas Tech, and behind the rest.
Texasjeremy
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BUBear24 said:

The thing, which still isn't as good, to pay attention to, is the recruit average ranking, not class ranking. We're not going to have a 25 person class like KU that affects that ranking. Our average recruit is 8th in big 12. If just two of the guys they want commit between now and feb, that would push us to 4/5 in Big12.

The big bump for recruiting from this years results will be in 2021. A lot of these 2020 kids had already made commits or ideas of where they wanted to go by mid Oct/Nov, so that awesome season won't come nearly into play as much as kids still having a year to mull decisions.

USING 247SPORTS COMPOSITE RATINGS (100 POINT SCALE)

OVERALL AVERAGE
92.30 - Texas
91.08 - Oklahoma
88.74 - TCU
86.31 - West Virginia
85.89 - Oklahoma State
85.75 - Texas Tech
85.47 - Baylor
85.33 - Iowa State
84.54 - Kansas State
84.51 - Kansas

TOP 5 AVERAGE
96.39 - Texas
96.27 - Oklahoma
92.75 - TCU
88.89 - Oklahoma State
88.19 - West Virginia
87.85 - Iowa State
87.77 - Baylor
87.77 - Texas Tech
86.93 - Kansas
86.29 - Kansas State

TOP 10 AVERAGE
94.67 - Texas
94.03 - Oklahoma
89.89 - TCU
87.41 - Oklahoma State
87.33 - West Virginia
86.85 - Iowa State
86.70 - Texas Tech
86.30 - Baylor
86.21 - Kansas
85.66 - Kansas State

MEDIAN
92.90 - Texas
90.99 - Oklahoma
86.82 - TCU
86.35 - West Virginia
85.38 - Oklahoma State
85.29 - Texas Tech
85.25 - Iowa State
84.94 - Baylor
84.67 - Kansas
84.64 - Kansas State
Timbear
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Guys, I just look at published statistics, and analyze what I see on the field, and what I hear Rhule say. You can call it what you like.
BaylorLit 01
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Are you including Quentin Johnston, the 97 4-star, in TCU's class? He flipped to them from Texas yesterday.

13th best WR in the nation
Texasjeremy
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BAYLOR'S TOP 10 RATED PLAYERS PER CLASS (MATT RHULE ERA)

2017
89.00 (#20 OG) - Xavier Newman (DeSoto, TX)
87.91 (#64 WR) - Gavin Holmes (Justin, TX)
87.86 (#65 WR) - R.J. Sneed (Cypress, TX)
87.72 (#28 ATH) - Trestan Ebner (Henderson, TX)
86.84 (#35 ATH) - John Lovett (Marlton, NJ)
86.70 (#51 CB) - Harrison Hand (Cherry Hill, NJ)
86.55 (#35 OLB) - DeMarco Artis (Seminole, FL)
86.30 (#59 CB) - TImarcus Davis (College Station, TX)
86.10 (#48 DT) - James Lynch (Round Rock, TX)
86.07 (#24 SDE) - Justin Harris (Gonzales, LA)

OTHER NOTABLE
85.06 (#36 PS QB) - Charlie Brewer (Austin, TX)
84.38 (#66 OLB) - Terrel Bernard (La Porte, TX)
83.47 (#114 OT) - Khalil Keith (Alpine, AL)
79.81 (#108 SDE) - Rob Saulin (Pennsville, NJ)

2018
91.17 (#10 DT QB) - Gerry Bohanon (Earle, AR)
91.14 (#11 ATH) - B.J. Hanspard (DeSoto, TX)
89.84 (#50 WR) - Josh Fleeks (Cedar Hill, TX)
89.71 (#53 WR) - Tyquan Thornton (Miami, FL)
89.37 (#11 APB) - Craig Williams (Crosby, TX)
89.28 (#24 OT) - Connor Galvin (Katy, TX)
88.84 (#66 WR) - Kalon Barnes (Silsbee, TX)
87.91 (#34 DT) - Josh Landry (Houston, TX)
87.65 (#1 JC OG) - Johncarlo Valentin (ASA College-Brooklyn)
87.09 (#42 S) - Christian Morgan (Porter, TX)

OTHER NOTABLE
86.54 (#35 TE) - Christoph Henle (Arlington, TX)
86.08 (#68 ATH) - Mark Milton (Friendswood, TX)
85.81 (#72 OT) - Casey Phillips (Franklin, TX)
85.59 (#69 S) - J.T. Woods (Cibolo, TX)
80.34 (#7 P) - Issac Power (Parker, CO)

2019
90.60 (#14 ATH) - Peyton Powerll (Odessa, TX)
90.48 (#8 PS QB) - Jacob Zeno (San Antonio, TX)
88.43 (#55 WR) - Jaylen Ellis (Round Rock, TX)
88.16 (#33 RB) - Qualan Jones (Cedar Hill, TX)
87.22 (#39 WDE) - Matt Jones (Odessa, TX)
87.09 (#43 OLB) - Tyrone Brown (Beaumont, TX)
86.76 (#32 TE) - Garmon Randolph (Jefferson, GA)
86.69 (#5 JC WDE) - Niadre Zouzoua (Monroe College)
86.67 (#48 WDE) - Logan Compton (Tomball, TX)
86.53 (#57 OLB) - Will Williams (El Paso, TX)

OTHER NOTABLE
86.22 (#61 DT) - Gabriel Hall (Waller, TX)
84.95 (#11 JC OT) - Blake Bedier (Snow College)
84.73 (#78 SDE) - T.J. Franklin (Temple, TX)
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