Class of 2025 recruits

91,449 Views | 450 Replies | Last: 5 days ago by ScottyB_The_Baylor_King
Dcheetah
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Agreed. Just find it hard to believe we have so much trouble pulling a top HS recruit. Portal will be same if we don't step up our NIL.

We did get some Simpson money but obviously what we are offering either isn't resonating or isn't enough.
Dcheetah
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Agree with your predictions about Deniya and Jaliya but I hope to be very surprised. Deniya has been rumored Vols for a while. USCe has a number of long talented players at her position but watch them get her anyway. I hope CNC proves me wrong.
Bear3
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Yes. Football recruiting definitely got much better when they got more NIL. Currently I believe football is # 3 in Big 12 for 2025 recruiting and before we were at bottom of conference. I realize Wbb is very different from football, but if we want a competitive Wbb team, we have to do something about the NIL
Dcheetah
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Totally agree.
BearTiger
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Some Baylor alum and fans are loaded with $$. Texas is loaded with $$. We should not have problems obtaining NIL from individuals and companies. Something is going on, why is Coach N and WBB not able to sell our program, our wonderful Baylor brand? We have 3 nat'l championships. How many WBB schools can sell that?
Dcheetah
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We have players that love this coach and staff. We have a prostyle offense that can be beautiful when played well and we have incredible new facilities,good culture and happy players and our players show development...
Bear3
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Yes! This has to be extremely frustrating for Nicki and staff. They have gotten a number of top 30 recruits to visit but can't close deal because of money………

I personally think NIL has ruined college athletics but it is what it is. You have to pay to have a competitive team..
Wbbfan29
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Money is definitely the deal breaker. I would love to get Deniya. Heard Tennessee offering her 250-300k. We can't compete with that. I expect her to choose Tennessee. I would love her at baylor but I would be in total shock if she chose us. I would love her buggs and bella on the same team . I wish some of these recruits would give baylor a chance.
Bear3
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Yes. Nicki is no longer following Deniya on social media so pretty certain she will be committing to Tennessee… Unfortunately, money talks.
Wbbfan29
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Wow we are like 0-6... well at least that's the way it feels.
Baylorwbbb12
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Bear3
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Yes………. We have been on so many players finalist lists this year. We are losing a lot seniors after this season and it is perfect opportunity for young players to come in and start: We really need some good high school recruits.
BUatbirth
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All good takes. I see us spending what $$ we have to get quality transfers to make up, or fill in the gaps, for our recruiting misses. In so doing, our budget shrinks, leaving less for top talent. Double edged sword.
IowaBear
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We're going to have to find away to get solid recruits . Relying this heavily on transfers is going to limit the teams ceiling yearly. Filling holes with transfers is great. But those are almost always stop gaps. The foundation lays with recruiting and developing HS players
BUVA
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IowaBear said:

We're going to have to find away to get solid recruits . Relying this heavily on transfers is going to limit the teams ceiling yearly. Filling holes with transfers is great. But those are almost always stop gaps. The foundation lays with recruiting and developing HS players


Can think of several coaches that have been very successful with nurturing homegrown talent in the past--KM, Vic, and Bill Fennelly. Curious to see if that continues or they will start leaning more heavily on portal. NIL will weigh heavily in poaching home talent. HS talent needs to be almost generational, like Crooks, Watkins, Hidalgo, Booker, etc. in order to hold their own against seasoned portal players.
IowaBear
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The sweet spot is probably somewhere in the middle. Transfers are great I have nothing against going that route. Unless you're building your entire team through the portal. That's not a recipe for success imo
blackie
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We had been trending to rely more on transfers even the last couple of years Mulkey was here, highlighted with the likes of Jackson, Cooper, and Carrington. You almost had to feel bad about the guard position for a HS recruit coming to Baylor hoping to get that position. You would think your time was here and we would go get a grad transfer. And that was important, because it doesn't take a strong argument to believe the last championship and the run the next year that ended against UConn would not have happened without that key transfer. The upcoming season when Mulkey left we had a bunch of transfers coming in, more than in the past and when the change was made most of them bailed causing our gutted roster numbers.

I would guess that none of the teams in the Big XII have the resources for WBB NIL that is going to match up with most of the teams (and conferences) to whom we have been coming up short, and I doubt that is going to change. We whiffed on many elite players even a decade ago supposedly because they just didn't want to come to Baylor. It also didn't help that the two big dogs (name and resource wise) in the conference bailed to the SEC (although very glad they are gone). While like in football the conference is very competitive and entertaining it is not going to get the prime TV slots on the weekends. Recruits know that.

But on the flip side the UConns, South Carolinas, LSUs, etc. can't take them all and some will go there believing they will be the future of those programs and then they get bumped with a high-dollar transfer. Some we miss on now will be looking for homes in the future. Just have to show that Baylor is still a good destination for them.
IowaBear
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Your 1st paragraph just isn't true… we took transfers but it was typically one a year. That's not relying on transfers. Relying on transfers is pulling 3-4 yearly. That's not what was being done prior to CNCs arrival. The portal should absolutely be used by BU to fill gaps when needed or to upgrade weaknesses. But that's not where BU is trending. We're getting to the point where CNC and staff are relying to heavily on the portal. We have to be able to recruit solid HS players as foundational 4 yr players
Bear3
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You are very correct in saying that current big 12 teams do not have the amount of NIL other conferences have (SEC and Big 10). To date only 1 top 30 2025 recruit has committed to a Big 12 team (Kansas State)?
IowaBear
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We don't need top 30 players. Bella and DLB were both outside top 30 weren't they? Could be wrong on that.
Bear3
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Unfortunately, I don't see our high school recruiting changing much unless we can be more competitive with NIL.
Bear3
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Buggs was a McDonald's all American and very highly ranked. I believe she was #17. Bella was ranked in low 40s. And everyone said she would have been ranked much higher had she not been injured towards the end of her high school career.
IowaBear
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Didn't realize DLB was that high. Was thinking she was 40s-50's. As long as we can continue getting top 100 prospects we should be ok. Probably going to be hard getting those top 20 players going forward. However, a deep run in Larch can't hurt. We took a big step last year getting to the S16. Hopefully taking that next step E8 or further gets recruits interested
blackie
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IowaBear said:

Your 1st paragraph just isn't true… we took transfers but it was typically one a year. That's not relying on transfers. Relying on transfers is pulling 3-4 yearly. That's not what was being done prior to CNCs arrival. The portal should absolutely be used by BU to fill gaps when needed or to upgrade weaknesses. But that's not where BU is trending. We're getting to the point where CNC and staff are relying to heavily on the portal. We have to be able to recruit solid HS players as foundational 4 yr players
I guess it is how you look at it but we seemed to be trending in the direction. The last year Mulkey was here we had 4 transfers on the team (Owens, Carrington, McDaniel and Chrislyn Carr). As I recall I think Carr's sister was slated to come the next year and then backed out when the coaching change occurred and they both ended up at Syracuse. But I can't find any info on the Internet that confirms my memory on the second Carr. The year before we had two transfers on the team (Cooper and DeGrate). The year before we just had Jackson. Prior to that it was rare. But that is getting back to a time when transferring was much more limited by rule. But it seemed we were trending more to rely on transfers than HS. I don't know if that was because we just were not recruiting HS hard or just not getting commitments.

I think the only HS recruit of note that I remember slated for the 2021-2022 season was the girl from Arkansas and word was that even before Mulkey left, she wanted out of her NLI. So, I think we were trending more toward relying on transfers. If you want to pick a number as to whether or not to agree, that's fine. I just know the transfer numbers were going up.

I think with limited $ for NIL, it forces a lot of coaches to use it for proven talent at the collegiate level (transfer) vs. a HS recruit that may or may not pan out, especially if you are trying to build a program back up. I would think a great example would be the Wagner girl that we were suppose to likely get had Mulkey stayed. From what I read she doesn't even get much playing time. A lot of $$ there would probably have been wasted.

Of course, CNC is the only person that could tell us why she thinks she doesn't get someone that we hear about, but that is not going to happen. Our comments at the end of the day are nothing more than speculation.
Dcheetah
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Pretty sure Bella was top 30 and maybe as high as top 20 before she git hurt and fell into the mid 90s. She had a really good AAU senior season and was avle to get into the 40s in final rankings.
BearTiger
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Yes agree, if Baylor is to be competitive with other top teams, we need to have good WBB NIL. We will have successful seasons and national exposure. Mulkey just secured #1 recruiting class with four 5-star recruits in the Top 25 with no NIL's upfront for any of the 4 committed recruits. They committed because they wanted to be coached by Mulkey and their natl championship culture. They do have 2 NIL staff on WBB team and NIL Dept that have companies continuously donating to WBB. Those 4 new 5-star recruits will probably get NIL's during their 1st year due to their national exposure. Baylor needs to do something aggressive about WBB NIL to attract top 30 recruits. And we have 3 natl championships, only handful of teams have that many nattys. Baylor has rich alum and fans, and TX is loaded with multi millionaires.
blackie
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BearTiger said:

Yes agree, if Baylor is to be competitive with other top teams, we need to have good WBB NIL. We will have successful seasons and national exposure. Mulkey just secured #1 recruiting class with four 5-star recruits in the Top 25 with no NIL's upfront for any of the 4 committed recruits. They committed because they wanted to be coached by Mulkey and their natl championship culture. They do have 2 NIL staff on WBB team and NIL Dept that have companies continuously donating to WBB. Those 4 new 5-star recruits will probably get NIL's during their 1st year due to their national exposure. Baylor needs to do something aggressive about WBB NIL to attract top 30 recruits. And we have 3 natl championships, only handful of teams have that many nattys. Baylor has rich alum and fans, and TX is loaded with multi millionaires.
I fail to see how many national championships Baylor has had in the PAST relates to HS recruits when the last one was 5 years ago under a different coach. It is nice to say we have done that in the past, but it is like what is said in the financial world...."Past results do not guarantee future returns." And in this case the prime reason for those championships is no longer here. That is not going to be unique with Baylor. It is true for every major historical successful program. When Mulkey retires, LSU will most likely no longer get such high recruiting classes or will have to considerably up the ante on NIL to compensate. I feel confident in saying the same will be true when Geno steps down. The highest level recruits didn't flock to Tennessee when Pat had to step aside. It is the coach and the perception recruits have of the coach that matter way more than anything done in the past under someone else.

Baylor has plenty to recruit with, but past championships under a different coach in a different era (prior the free agency with no salary caps era NIL has brought) don't really move the needle, IMO.
Brusinbear2001
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Bella was due to Injury DLB was a top 20 and also a Mcdonald's All American
I replied before reading all of this so i wouldn't forget.
BearTiger
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I totally disagree with your logic that our 3 natl championships don't matter to HS recruits, nor matter to transfers, since they were obtained in the past with a former coach. If that's the case, then Coach N and staff should stop taking photos and videos of every recruit holding up our NC trophies. We should remove the 3 NC trophies from our display case, remove the 3 NC banners. Not saying we will definitely win a NC again, but it's a selling point, top athletes want to play for a winner, and Baylor has a proven track record.
If I was the head coach, you better believe I would sell nattys to every recruit that walks in the door. If you were applying for a job, your resume will reflect what you have done in the past, your proven track record, to help you secure the new job.
Dcheetah
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Whatb3 NCs and all the conference championships does show is that with the right coach and players is that you have the potential for long term and great success here. and most programs can say that but can't show it.



blackie
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BearTiger said:

I totally disagree with your logic that our 3 natl championships don't matter to HS recruits, nor matter to transfers, since they were obtained in the past with a former coach. If that's the case, then Coach N and staff should stop taking photos and videos of every recruit holding up our NC trophies. We should remove the 3 NC trophies from our display case, remove the 3 NC banners. Not saying we will definitely win a NC again, but it's a selling point, top athletes want to play for a winner, and Baylor has a proven track record.
If I was the head coach, you better believe I would sell nattys to every recruit that walks in the door. If you were applying for a job, your resume will reflect what you have done in the past, your proven track record, to help you secure the new job.
Guess we will disagree on this one, which is fine. And I do believe what DCheeta says is correct, but I think recruits must believe that the current coach is the one that can prove the past can occur again.

Certainly you celebrate the past and you can push it and take all the photos you want, but what recruits are going to look at is if I were them is what the current coach has done. They are going to play for CNC not the one that left. And since we are in year what, 4?, that is what I as a player or parent would look at (both record and progress), not what was done in the past under someone else because that doesn't portend anything in the future. I am glad CNC is our coach, but her resume does not show any nattys on it.

I totally believe elite WBB players are coming for the coach, not the school. If the coach isn't the prime factor for a recruit saying "yes", UT would have never had their extended dropoff. Texas was Texas all those years when Aston was there and did not perk up until a recent F4 coach arrived. All of Baylor's championships are not going to develop players and get them rings. It is the coaching staff that does that....the current coaching staff. They have to sell the recruit that they can do it, not base their sell on what happened in the past under someone else.
ScottyB_The_Baylor_King
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Dcheetah
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Want to know why recruiting is hard



https://www.wbir.com/article/sports/current-lady-vols-react-to-kim-caldwells-lamborghini-recruiting-tactic-october-24-2024/51-0d9b3053-0d99-4e20-963b-c25f4bc5a13e

Another poster on site said the word on the circuit was that she also received a car plus NIL although the lambo in the pic was not what she received, if any car at all. Nevertheless, young people eat that up. UT football parking lit sells itself. Her interview with Sportscenter says she chose Tennessee because they contacted her everyday and cared for her the most. Ok...
BearTiger
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Prawl is an international student, temporary immigrant, from Canada. She cannot receive NIL money, car, etc, from any college in the US (except for tshirts/jerseys allowed). She can only receive NIL money from Canada or other foreign countries. Congress/Senate have not passed an immigration law allowing international students, temporary immigrants, to receive NIL money. New coach at Tennessee has to be very careful.
BUVA
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BearTiger said:

Prawl is an international student, temporary immigrant, from Canada. She cannot receive NIL money, car, etc, from any college in the US (except for tshirts/jerseys allowed). She can only receive NIL money from Canada or other foreign countries. Congress/Senate have not passed an immigration law allowing international students, temporary immigrants, to receive NIL money. New coach at Tennessee has to be very careful.


Saw that Last-Tear Poa has filed suit against US Immigration as her visa doesn't allow NIL compensation. She's been around awhile, so likely started playing before NIL went into effect.
 
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