From a high school perspective, Collen hasn't recruited very well with the HS kids. There's also a pretty big drop in talent in women's basketball so I think some of it is swing for the fences and if you miss, fill with portal players.
class of 2026 recruits
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Last: 1 mo ago by blackie
I think biggest problem in HS recruiting is our NIL. Most of these recruits and parents are looking for big paycheck and are going to go with the money. Our NIL is just not competitive with Big 10 and SEC. Our conference could also play a part in recruiting struggles. Big 12 just does not have visibility of SEC and Big 10. There are still a lot of Big 12 teams with no recruits.
Nicki is doing what she can to get visibility for Baylor by scheduling games with top teams (Duke, UT and Iowa) which will be televised nationally. If we play well in those games that may help some.
I doubt we will get any high school recruits this year. Minus supposedly is going to Tennessee and Byles finalist list includes Baylor and high profile Big 10 teams.with a lot of NIL money .
We lose 4 players this year and Nicki can replace them with portal, She has done well with the portal in past years. As someone previously said, we may just be a portal team. Nicki has signed some very good players from the portal.
Nicki is doing what she can to get visibility for Baylor by scheduling games with top teams (Duke, UT and Iowa) which will be televised nationally. If we play well in those games that may help some.
I doubt we will get any high school recruits this year. Minus supposedly is going to Tennessee and Byles finalist list includes Baylor and high profile Big 10 teams.with a lot of NIL money .
We lose 4 players this year and Nicki can replace them with portal, She has done well with the portal in past years. As someone previously said, we may just be a portal team. Nicki has signed some very good players from the portal.
Thankfully the big 12 made an announcement today on the games situation on visibility but you're right. The big 12 as a whole has to get better. I also agree NIL plays a factor.
https://big12sports.com/news/2025/10/12/big-12-womens-basketball-linear-tv-coverage-expands-to-seven-year-high-for-2025-26-season.aspx
https://big12sports.com/news/2025/10/12/big-12-womens-basketball-linear-tv-coverage-expands-to-seven-year-high-for-2025-26-season.aspx
Baylor WBB needs that one deep Tourney Run or one high profile player to "get over the hump" in recruiting.
People conveniently forget that before Griner, Mulkey's best recruit (Sophia Young) was being recruited by Ark State, ULM, etc. and the second best recruit (Lambert) was a juco.
Unfortunately recruiting can be a Chicken and Egg situation…….hard to win big without top recruits, hard to get top recruits without winning big.
This year is the team that can change everything or seal Collen's fate.
People conveniently forget that before Griner, Mulkey's best recruit (Sophia Young) was being recruited by Ark State, ULM, etc. and the second best recruit (Lambert) was a juco.
Unfortunately recruiting can be a Chicken and Egg situation…….hard to win big without top recruits, hard to get top recruits without winning big.
This year is the team that can change everything or seal Collen's fate.
There is a school of thought that you spend on proven college talent over HS talent. Maybe CNC subscribes to that. If you have buckets of NIL $$$ you can pay both…we don't. Exposure is needed…deep tourney run would help for sure.
Which players that CNC recruited are or will play in the WNBA ?
The only assistant that is a proven recruiter is Harris.
Why are we not recruiting well in Texas?
The last eleven years KM was at Baylor, we won the Conference every year.
Can she Coach?
Will CNC win one NC before KM wins her 5th.
Just asking for a friend, AP.
The only assistant that is a proven recruiter is Harris.
Why are we not recruiting well in Texas?
The last eleven years KM was at Baylor, we won the Conference every year.
Can she Coach?
Will CNC win one NC before KM wins her 5th.
Just asking for a friend, AP.
ScottyB_The_Baylor_King said:
https://instagr.am/p/DPwxZ9RAbXH it's official.
Really need to win the game in Paris now; maybe its just me, but this win just became much more important.
Winning this nationally televised game would be huge and great start to season!
DFWBill
Is the game televised live? There is a seven hour time difference between Paris, France and CST here.
It's 6:00 PM here, it's 1:00 AM in Paris.
Is the game televised live? There is a seven hour time difference between Paris, France and CST here.
It's 6:00 PM here, it's 1:00 AM in Paris.
Clearly someone forgot what time the Baylor vs Duke in Paris, France starts. It is an 11 am CT on espn.
Thank you Scotty, I can watch it.
DFW Bill said:
DFWBill
Is the game televised live? There is a seven hour time difference between Paris, France and CST here.
It's 6:00 PM here, it's 1:00 AM in Paris.
ESPN @ 1100 central time Nov 3
DFW Bill said:
Which players that CNC recruited are or will play in the WNBA ?
The only assistant that is a proven recruiter is Harris.
Why are we not recruiting well in Texas?
The last eleven years KM was at Baylor, we won the Conference every year.
Can she Coach?
Will CNC win one NC before KM wins her 5th.
Just asking for a friend, AP.
Since Collen's first recruiting class are seniors in college, why would anyone expect them to currently be playing in the WNBA? Asking for a friend.
Future? Who knows but Fontleroy very much fits a pro build/skillset.
Collen first four years as HC: 4 NCAAT, 1 Sweet 16
Mulkey first four years as HC: 3 NCAAT, 1 Sweet 16
or is an Apples to Apples discussion too problematic for you?
funny how facts and agendas don't always align
DFW Bill said:
Which players that CNC recruited are or will play in the WNBA ?
The only assistant that is a proven recruiter is Harris.
Why are we not recruiting well in Texas?
The last eleven years KM was at Baylor, we won the Conference every year.
Can she Coach?
Will CNC win one NC before KM wins her 5th.
Just asking for a friend, AP.
What is your solution? Tell us what should be done.
It is really hard to compare to the past. Post KM we lost our blue blood names from the conference.. Post KM NIL made this a pay for play sport and apparently that pay means a lot to these players.....pay that we don't have or at least not enough to keep what we have and bring in the new ones. During those years of conference championships the only competition we had was UT and a few times OU and that was not consistent. So, in many of those years, how stiff was our competition? It certainly didn't prepare us for the NCAA several times. And outside of Griner and Sims there were many threads on this board trying to figure out why we didn't have more WNBA players and for those that we did have, how long did they stick?
We are not in the most glamorous conference any longer which is saying a lot because our conference didn't get a whole lot of respect in our dominating years. How many times did we end up with a two-seed when our record indicated it should have been a one....and too often those people were proven right.
I suspect that most of our NIL money will continue to go to football, which is probably what most people on SICEM365 want (not necessarily on this particular board, but overall). Will we ever have someone like the Tech guy that bought them the $1M pitcher in softball and got them to the WCWS or the windfall that McGuire got in football. I think that none of us like where this has gone.
You can go out and buy yourself a team (Tech, for example) and come really close to winning a national championship, but what have you proven? All you have proven is that you can buy a championship. Unless we get those types of donors that are willing to spend on WBB, I think our best hope is to buy, yes buy, proven talent in the portal.
The thing I do see in this program, just like in football, we don't really lose players that we want to keep to the portal. To me that says something is right, not wrong. We get the visits from these top players and often times are in the last 2 or 3 considered. If there was a problem with the staff or program, I don't think we would be in the running at all. I think we are just not overcoming the conference affiliation and the money. I and I suspect most, if not all of you, are not really in a position to know why we can't close on these players.
If you can't reset your expectations and want to live in the past, a past that is much different than today's environment, I don't think you will ever enjoy this program again. Heck, I don't see why anyone wants to be a college coach anymore. At least the pros have a salary cap and contracts. Today's coaches can't even plan a roster for the future on paper because they have to re-recruit what they already have.
So, it gets back....what is the solution today for the situation we have TODAY?
We need to win. That's it. Nicki knows how to recruit, that's why she had such a good class in her initial class almost 5 years ago. Unfortunately, after that, NIL became the big driver and ever since that happened, We have not been successful in high school recruiting. The only high-level recruit we have signed in the last three years is Marcayla and she signed on very early at the very beginning of NIL because she loved this team and she loved Coach Nicki. Other than Kayla and Ines, both whom are very good but not considered top level recruits, we have not successfully recruited any high school player other than Marcayla in the last 3 yrs. Last year I was told directly by Nicki before the season that almost every top 25-50 player is primarily NIL driven no matter what they tell you. Obviously there are a few exceptions, but they are few. I did a post last year outlining this clearly showing that every big recruit that we got on campus signed with an SEC or Big Ten school with the exception of a few players that stayed in their home State if someone wants to find it. We even had players thought to be committed like Deniya Prawl who went elsewhere late (lady Vol). Those money numbers are definitely widening. As AP said, we need to win big this season, E8 or better and hope we can get someone to sign aboard. Maybe we need to hold out for one or two top recruits and plan on getting everyone else through the portal. However, top money going to high school recruits will limit top money going to the portal most likely. It has to be very frustrating for Nikki and team to keep being left holding the bag because I know they have worked hard to get attention and good recruits on campus. I really felt that we would do well this season finally but I was wrong. Really hard to watch the effort put in to get so little payback. I know that Chloe Johnson really likes our team and Nikki, but after recent years, I am not confident in anyway that she will be a Bear. She is also a 2028. We need top level recruits sooner. It really is hard for me to understand how we cannot get any top HS recruit to come on board currently with our good coaching and excellent environment and top level facilities,but winning solves most problems. Win consistently and I think this will sort itself out. If we do not, then I don't see a lot changing.
Yes, winning big would help but I also think we still have to get much better NIL to get top HS recruits. . Nicki Collen would absolutely be killing it in recruiting if there was no NIL. Players love her and want to play for her. But money wins over everything. Even with winning, I just don't see us being able to complete with Big 1O and SEC for the top high school recruits with our current NIL.
Maybe we should do like NC State and just focus on a few HS recruits in 35 - 60 rankings and put more money on proven players in the portal who fit Nicki's system. .. If we can get 1 or 2 players ranked mid 30d to 60, Nicki can develop them and then grab several stars from portal like Taliah and Ajiah Blackball. Unfortunately Ajiah was not productive at Baylor due to injury.
Maybe we should do like NC State and just focus on a few HS recruits in 35 - 60 rankings and put more money on proven players in the portal who fit Nicki's system. .. If we can get 1 or 2 players ranked mid 30d to 60, Nicki can develop them and then grab several stars from portal like Taliah and Ajiah Blackball. Unfortunately Ajiah was not productive at Baylor due to injury.
Bear3 said:
Yes, winning big would help but I also think we still have to get much better NIL to be get top HS recruits. . Nicki Collen would absolutely be killing it in recruiting if there was no NIL. Players love her and want to play for her. But money wins over everything. I just don't see us being able to complete with Big 1O and SEC for the top high school recruits.
Maybe we should do like NC State and just focus on a few HS recruits in 35 - 60 rankings and put more money on proven players in the portal who fit Nicki's system. . We just aren't going to get top HS recruits with our NIL….. We lose every time……. If we can get 1 or 2 players ranked mid 30d to 60, Nicki can develop them.
Unfortunately, NIL is being paid in alarming rates to players in Top 120.
Baylor either needs female alumni to donate aggressively or accept that we are a transfer school.
the male alumni simply will primarily fund football, MBB, and baseball unless they have some personal attachment (think tennis and a fantastically generous alum).
Bear3 said:
grab several stars from portal like Taliah and Ajiah Blackball.
Hmmm.......had to think a little while about that one. LOL Typing mistakes can sometimes be hilarious.
Totally agree about NIL which I referenced in Nicki's comments. however, if we can't find that big booster, we are going to have to get back on the national map. I look at sites all over and we have seemed to be an afterthought for most of the last several years in local and national media, even when we have played well, so hopefully this team and this year can change that.
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/womens-basketball/2025/10/13/bella-flemings-commits-duke-over-tennessee-lady-vols-basketball/86678486007/
Sounds like we may not have even been 2nd for Bella
Sounds like we may not have even been 2nd for Bella
I agree. Unfortunately Baylor and the BIg 12 have become afterthoughts in national media. Every story or discussion is about SEC or Big 10.
However we are starting our season with 3 huge nationally televised games
(Duke, UT, Iowa), If we can do well in those games, it would be a huge help getting our name back in the national media. These games are opportunities for some massive wins. I am praying we do well and take advantage of this opportunity Nicki has provided to the team.
However we are starting our season with 3 huge nationally televised games
(Duke, UT, Iowa), If we can do well in those games, it would be a huge help getting our name back in the national media. These games are opportunities for some massive wins. I am praying we do well and take advantage of this opportunity Nicki has provided to the team.
I'm sure NIL plays a part. But IMO the B12 being a distant 4th among the P4 is probably a bigger issue than people realize. The B12 has had little to no success in March since the departure of Texas and OU and that's hurting the B12. I'll get dogged for saying this but the league just sucks. There's really no other way to spin it.
Baylor like many have mentioned need a deep run in March. S16 isn't gonna cut it. Gonna need to get to the E8 , F4 to start getting some of these recruits. Also probably smart to take UCONNs strategy and load up in the non con and play as many top 25 teams as possible. Conference play doesn't afford many opportunities at marquee wins
Baylor like many have mentioned need a deep run in March. S16 isn't gonna cut it. Gonna need to get to the E8 , F4 to start getting some of these recruits. Also probably smart to take UCONNs strategy and load up in the non con and play as many top 25 teams as possible. Conference play doesn't afford many opportunities at marquee wins
AP you forget one large factor..Mulkey had a very very large hole to dig out of compared to NC.
IMHO the only Big12 WBB team with any shine right now is TCU. They made a deep run last season, with lots of media attention with HVL, and attention they didn't want with Prince. Plus a coach with a very good recruiting reputation, and apparently some deep NIL pockets. And they got Olivia Miles from ND which will put them in the spotlight again this season. Beating us three times in a season probably didn't hurt, either.
Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to. ~ Mark Twain
Sonja Hogg was the one that dug Baylor WBB out of the hole (NIT Finals in '98, NIT in '99), Mulkey took it from there and started the ascent up the mountain. Hogg should get credit for what she accomplished.
Delmar 2.0 said:
Sonja Hogg was the one that dug Baylor WBB out of the hole (NIT Finals in '98, NIT in '99), Mulkey took it from there and started the ascent up the mountain. Hogg should get credit for what she accomplished.
She likely improved the marketing of the team with her BS talk from day 1, but the on-court product improvement was because of her assistant coaches, Larry Tidwell and Angela Lawson in particular. Same thing can be said about her prior success at La Tech -- enter Leon Barmore as her assistant. She was not an x's and o's coach. Prime example, with 12 seconds left on the game clock against SMU, Baylor WBB had a 6 point lead and possession of the ball, and LOST. She was simply the name riding the work and knowledge of her assistant coaches.
Signed - a former player that managed to survive her reign
Big Bear said:
AP you forget one large factor..Mulkey had a very very large hole to dig out of compared to NC.
Collen inherited a roster of six players with five being seniors or grad students. But for the COVID fifth year ruling, Collen would have only returned one inherited player her second year. As it was, she returned two she inherited.
Collen inherited a disastrous roster situation.
Facts matter.
baylorbear33 said:Delmar 2.0 said:
Sonja Hogg was the one that dug Baylor WBB out of the hole (NIT Finals in '98, NIT in '99), Mulkey took it from there and started the ascent up the mountain. Hogg should get credit for what she accomplished.
She likely improved the marketing of the team with her BS talk from day 1, but the on-court product improvement was because of her assistant coaches, Larry Tidwell and Angela Lawson in particular. Same thing can be said about her prior success at La Tech -- enter Leon Barmore as her assistant. She was not an x's and o's coach. Prime example, with 12 seconds left on the game clock against SMU, Baylor WBB had a 6 point lead and possession of the ball, and LOST. She was simply the name riding the work and knowledge of her assistant coaches.
Signed - a former player that managed to survive her reign
Point being Baylor WBB was not some crap team when Mulkey took over like many eroneously believe. Losing in the WNIT final by a few points then gettting back to the WNIT the next year is not what crap teams do.
How many ncaa appearances did BU have prior to Mulkeys arrival? Honest question as I don't know. But from all accounts the program was horrible prior to arrival. When your beating your chest about WNIT appearances its a good sign the program is a bottom feeder
I wonder if Big 12 games being on ESPN+ hurts us at all. The SEC and ACC games are built into a normal cable subscription (you get them if you get ESPN).
IowaBear said:
How many ncaa appearances did BU have prior to Mulkeys arrival? Honest question as I don't know. But from all accounts the program was horrible prior to arrival. When your beating your chest about WNIT appearances its a good sign the program is a bottom feeder
Zero. Prior to Hogg, Baylor WBB was coached by Pam Bowers for 15 years and the program was basically an afterthought; nobody went to games, they lost much more than they won, had no support from the Ath. Dept., and so on. Bowers record was about 90 games under .500, with 3 winning seasons out of 15, an avg season was about an 11-17 record. It was bad, but my point was going from that to a couple point loss in the WNIT Championship game was a big leap....and it was under Hogg that they did that. Mulkey inherited a pretty good program coming off 2 postseason years not the doormat team that Bowers ran. Facts matter.
Facts do matter and you just unknowingly made my point…
Zero ncaa appearances when Mulkey took over… zero. Give Hogg all the flowers you want (we have a former player in this very thread talking about how bad Hogg was) it doesn't change the fact that Mulkey took over a program with 0 NCAA appearances. That's about as bottom of the barrel as you can get imo.
Zero ncaa appearances when Mulkey took over… zero. Give Hogg all the flowers you want (we have a former player in this very thread talking about how bad Hogg was) it doesn't change the fact that Mulkey took over a program with 0 NCAA appearances. That's about as bottom of the barrel as you can get imo.
For folks interested…….Baylor WBB actually had some success in the 70s.
Before the NCAAT began in 1982, WBB was run by the AIAW and the powerhouse programs were Immaculata, Delta State, etc. Go back to the 60s and the clear powerhouse was Wayland Baptist…….weird.
In 1976, Baylor tied for 12th place. In 1977, Baylor finished in 5th place.
With the NCAA taking over in 1982, the big programs were initially USC, La Tech and Old Dominion.
Eventually Tennessee & Connecticut took over and dominated for decades.
Baylor played in a barn and hired a bad coach.
Then Baylor invested resources and won.
Then Baylor decided losing more money on WBB than all other non-revenue sports combined was bad business.
The cost of Bad Mulkey started substantially exceeding the value of Good Mulkey.
Here we are.
Before the NCAAT began in 1982, WBB was run by the AIAW and the powerhouse programs were Immaculata, Delta State, etc. Go back to the 60s and the clear powerhouse was Wayland Baptist…….weird.
In 1976, Baylor tied for 12th place. In 1977, Baylor finished in 5th place.
With the NCAA taking over in 1982, the big programs were initially USC, La Tech and Old Dominion.
Eventually Tennessee & Connecticut took over and dominated for decades.
Baylor played in a barn and hired a bad coach.
Then Baylor invested resources and won.
Then Baylor decided losing more money on WBB than all other non-revenue sports combined was bad business.
The cost of Bad Mulkey started substantially exceeding the value of Good Mulkey.
Here we are.
No official visits to Iowa or Stanford for Amari Byles as she's announced that she's down to a final four of Baylor, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oregon https://t.co/jHCwewOCbA
— Raoul (@Raoul_000) October 15, 2025
What are our chances that Amari becomes a Bear? I'm trying to be positive…but.
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