Almost four months ago, teenagers across Texas faxed in the paperwork to finalize their decision to play football at Baylor and celebrated one of the biggest days of their young lives.
Many prized recruits were set to follow suit next February when the Class of 2017 can sign national letters of intent. But since Baylor fired coach Art Briles last week, the Bears' commitments have all but disappeared. The fallout will seemingly only get worse as things continue to unravel in Waco after an investigation showed the university and football team mishandled several sexual assault cases.
Four players have already withdrawn their commitments, leaving just two players left in the Bears' current recruiting class. One of those is IMG Academy quarterback Kellen Mond.
Mond, who already seemed on the verge of looking for another school before Briles, could decommit by the end of the week, according to 247Sports.com.
If Mond decommits, that leaves Houston Stafford safety Jalen Pitre as the lone nonbinding verbal pledge left in the Bears' class.
Granted, it's still incredibly early in the process. TCU only has four commitments so far and Texas has seven, according to 247Sports. Baylor signed 22 players last February, but now one of the many questions surrounding the program is if those signees will ever make it to campus.
Two players have already been reported to not enroll for this week's summer classes after Baylor effectively fired coach Art Briles last Thursday. Port Arthur Memorial running back Kameron Martin has requested a release from his letter of intent, according to ESPN.com. ESPN also reported that Silsbee offensive lineman Patrick Hudson will follow suit.
If the NCAA or Baylor does not approve the releases, signees like Martin and Hudson must sit out a year because of the current transfer policy.
Jim Grobe will be named the school's new interim coach while the Bears search for a long-term replacement. The NCAA has also not said if it will be sanctioning the Bears for their most recent troubles.
There are other questions outside of football that need to be answered, too. It will be a while before the impact of what happened at Baylor over the last few years will be fully seen.
