The FRO: Five-Star Official Visitor, Blake Shapen's Health, NIL

In Facts, Rumors & Opinions (aka FRO), the SicEm365 staff compiles their knowledge and speculation from a number of conversations for a piece to cover a variety of interesting topics on Baylor University and Baylor Athletics including football, basketball and recruiting.

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Fact: Dave Aranda gave an injury update during his weekly press conference as more concrete timelines were established for some of the players lost early in the season. He mentioned that Blake Shapen and Devin Lemear will be out this week and are currently questionable for the Texas game. He also said that Garmon Randolph should be back this weekend and Jerrel Boykins is cleared to play for the first time this season.

Rumor: The questionable tag for Blake Shapen is a very interesting one as Aranda mentioned following his injury diagnosis that he would be out at least till the UCF game and that was the expectation.

Opinion: There might be some gamesmanship going on here by Dave Aranda as I don’t currently expect him to be ready for the Texas game. We will see if he is able to ramp up his practice schedule next week enough to give himself a chance but my current guess is that he will take the field for the UCF game but not sooner. Keep in mind the UCF game could also be in doubt if he suffers a setback once his practice schedule ramps up.

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Fact: In the spring, after implementing its base infrastructure in the many monthly leading up until that time, GxG made a big push in fundraising efforts to begin growing its NIL pool with businesses and individual contributions. Payments were distributed in the 2022-2023 athletic ahead of this fundraising effort.

Rumor: Expected distributions for 2023-2024 are expected to more than double across the board from what was distributed last year. Baylor is now a clear leader in distributions across all major programs, including specifically football, in comparison to its future conference peers, including most specifically the regional competition. 

Opinion: Overall alignment in all areas was a key focus for GxG and a solid plan was aspired for before jumping into the deep end. The slow and steady building of the foundation sets GxG up for more signficant growth for 2024-2025 and beyond for football and all sports. 

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Fact: Baylor Men’s Basketball is set to host five-star guard and top five prospect in the 2024 class, Tre Johnson‍, on an official visit next weekend for the Baylor vs. Texas primetime matchup.

Rumor: Johnson is leaning towards making a decision in the spring but if the visit next weekend goes well don’t be surprised if he decides to make a decision earlier than many expect. His top five is Kentucky, Baylor, Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas but it feels like Baylor, Kentucky, and Texas have separated themselves.

Opinion: The Baylor staff has a chance to seal the deal this weekend and land one of the top rated prospects in the nation which would likely complete a loaded 2024 class.