Baylor’s long recruiting nightmare is over, for now.
On Wednesday, the Bears football program landed its first commitment since the stunning dismissal of longtime head coach Art Briles. Clear Creek cornerback Noah Daniels, a 6-foot, 180-pound Texas native, chose Baylor ahead of scholarship offers from Arkansas, Illinois, Houston, Texas Tech and Utah, among others.
Daniels announced his decision on Twitter (where else), and used an NFL Draft statistic as one of the panels in his photo gallery as a reason for why he is heading to Waco. Conspicuously absent was any mention of the sexual assault scandal that has hung over the school for months.
Daniels is also the first recruit for Baylor’s new coach, Jim Grobe, by default. Baylor’s class of 2017 now consists of Daniels and fellow defensive back Jalen Pitre, a fellow Texas native (he played at Stafford High). That means Grobe and his staff have plenty of work to do. They’ll surely hope Daniels’ pledge is a momentum builder for a program in desperate need of good news of any sort.