Kalvin Dinkins

Hopefully everyone has enjoyed all the information Colt and I have been posting leading up to the National Signing Day tomorrow. It is going to be a fun one for sure as they always are. I am simply going to outline where I am currently at with how I expect tomorrow to go, some good and some bad. Either way this class is going to set a great foundation for the program going forward which is very exciting. Let's dive in.....- I expect Armani Winfield decision to come down to Baylor and Texas. Baylor is the leader as of tonight as the official visit really solidified Baylor in that top position for him. His parents love Baylor and he loves Baylor but that doesn't mean that is where he will end up. There is one day left and Texas will likely pull out all the stops to make sure he ends up in Austin. If he doesn't end up signing with Baylor then I would take that as an indication that the Longhorns likely focused on the NIL part of his recruitment which as we know is becoming more and more common across the college football landscape. I still think he signs with Baylor at this time.- It looks like Kalvin Dinkins will be choosing elsewhere as of tonight. My guess is the pull in the state of Mississippi keeps him there and he ends up signing with Mississippi State tomorrow. They would be my prediction right now so Baylor has ground to make up before tomorrow morning.- I am very intrigued to see what happens with Khamari Terrell as the Bears have been clear leaders for a long time. He could sign, he could not. Ultimately it will come down to if he wants to see other schools or not and if he does then that will make things even tougher for the staff in February. This is the best opportunity to land the talented cornerback. He will be one to watch but, at this time, my prediction is he does not sign tomorrow.- The staff didn't feel good about landing Neto Umeozulu after the unofficial visit mainly because of outside factors BUT I have been talking about him a lot on the board because of his relationship with the staff especially Brian Nance and Eric Mateos. He really likes Baylor as is evident by his unofficial visit this summer, his game visit, and his most recent visit on Thursday. I don't know all the ins and outs of what his decision will be but if he chooses Baylor that would not surprise me as that is where my prediction has been since the beginning of November strictly due to his relationships with the staff. This news will make tomorrow even more interesting.- Adding to the momentum a little.... I think there is a good chance that Baylor lands a very important commit soon in a different class. Don't forget to check out the National Signing Day Show with myself and Craig tomorrow morning at 7:30am. We will have four of the commits in the class on and full coverage of the day. It's going to be fun.

Some quick hitters to get you to tomorrow...- I think it's important to reemphasize here that beginning now and moving forward, the transfer portal is a key layer to each recruiting cycle at Baylor. Because of immediately eligibility, it's replacing junior college in terms of evaluations and recruiting, and prospects added through the portal should be an equally valued. That's how this staff is treating the portal and will build the roster accordingly. After this early period, I expect Baylor to utilize the portal more heavily to add to the 2022 class. - This is the last cycle that NIL isn't having a direct and drastic impact on recruiting at Baylor. There are a lot of guys in this class that Baylor would have missed on a year from now without proper NIL structure in place. "But Baylor doesn't have the four and five-start talent that this will impact." This is going to impact more than just the top 250 prospects in the country. Baylor will benefit in the transfer portal on the back end, but by this time 12 months from now, there better be at least a basic layer out there or the rules will need to be modified by the NCAA. A this point, I wouldn't count on the latter happening. This is not being done inside athletic departments at other universities and is not going to be done by Baylor. Unfortunately, this is done by the donors. But fortunately, that means it's fair game. - Tomorrow Baylor has three known targets on the table: Khamari Terrell and Armani Winfield. As of this moment, I believe that there is about 15-20% chance the KT signs his LOI with anyone tomorrow. Three days ago, that was 90% chance, but his recruitment has been all over the map so this is surprising and not surprising at the same time. He is only receiving an LOI from Baylor tomorrow, while Florida and LSU are selling him on the long game and holding off to sign in February. He held an LSU offer and was pursued by Corey Raymond who is now at Florida with Billy Napier. To be clear, he loves Baylor and that's why I'm not completely writing it off. Things have been heating up with Winfield for a bit now. Let me be clear and say that no one is going to have the information on where he is going because he and his parents aren't talking to anyone. If someone is making a strong prediction, they are doing it so they can say they did it after the fact. Any information that anyone has is one sided and purely speculation. Now, what is a fact is that Baylor was in good shape after his official visit over the weekend. I would say the leader and maybe a solid leader at that. But we know what type of calls can happen after visits and it will come down to how strong that feeling was. I feel good about Baylor, but there is no way to know for sure. The last piece is Kalvin Dinkins out of Mississippi. As a program, Baylor is really in a good position here. The issue is getting KD out of his state and away from the Southeast. There is a fighters chance here, but I put the odds at low. - Lastly, I don't think it can be overstated that this is a class full of guys that were evaluated and pursued by this staff. Full of four-stars? No, but the next class at Baylor that's full of 'em will be the first in awhile. This class is full of guys that fit molds for certain positions and are the character quality that Dave Aranda strives to have on his team. I can go on about defending and explaining why the rankings don't tell the entire story (and they clearly do not), but I think we will look back 3-4-5 years from now and there are a lot of seasoned contributors out of this class with a lot of production. As Eric Mateos likes to say, there's something to be said about grit. Winning will elevate the overall quality of football prospect that is coming into the program, but the standard from grit and character will never be relinquished.

Follow along below to see which prospects have put their pin to paper and are now officially Bears in the SicEm365 Letters of Intent tracker.