Strong close from Baylor creates buzz, but one large target still remains

Ah, the crazy season. Just when you think everything is falling into place perfectly... they aren’t. At least not fully.

Baylor football officially welcomed 19 new prospects into the program on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period that concludes on Friday. As college football fanatics know, recruiting is the lifeblood their favorite program school and the success on the recruiting trail is nearly as important as the coach on the field. 

For the third time in three years, Matt Rhule’s Baylor staff finished with a bang. Opening the day with a total of 17 verbal pledges, Baylor’s class grew to 21 overall prospects and 19 of those submitted their National Letter of Intents, a document binding the prospect and the University together.

In order, the new additions to the class came in the form of tight end Sam Snyder‍ (Orange Park, FL/Fleming Island), quarterback/athlete Peyton Powell‍ (Odessa Permian), offensive lineman Davis DiVall‍ (North Bridgton, ME/Bridgton Academy) and offensive lineman Blake Bedier‍ (Snow College). The four prospects signing LOI’s signified numerous recruiting victories over major programs across the country.

Snyder chose the Bears over offers from Florida State, Missouri, Louisville and Maryland while Powell made his decision over Ohio State, Texas, TCU and several others.

Divall, a prep prospect originally from Arizona, chose Baylor over Oregon, Maryland and Temple. A NJCAA All-American, Bedier signed with the Bears over offers from Texas, Utah, Missouri, Auburn and several others. 

To review the rest of the class and their offers from additional programs, check out the Baylor football commit page on SicEm365.

The news could still continue to get sweeter, however, if Rhule’s staff is able to pull off another crucial recruiting coup. Made a priority to sign by Baylor in the early three-day window, Sugar Land (TX) Dulles High School four-star offensive lineman Isaiah Hookfin‍ is still in play for the Bears. 

Hookfin was originally expected to sign on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. CT, but a series of events led Hookfin to delay the scheduled announcement by 90 minutes before eventually cancelling it for the day. Hookfin tweeted that he would announce his decision at a later day.

Heading into Wednesday, the battle was directly between the Bears and the Texas Longhorns, the apparent favorites to land Hookfin. Hookfin had recently finished an official visit in Austin, but on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, all indications pointed towards the Bears maintaining their momentum and projected to ink the talented Houston-area talent. 

If he does find his way into Baylor’s class by the end of the day on Thursday, he will be the third prospect in the last 24-48 hours to agree to play his college ball in Waco who also held a valid offer from Texas. 

Baylor doesn’t win a ton of those, but ones like this can be incredibly important as the program continues to move upward.