Crabtree reports that four-star offensive guard Patrick Hudson, four-star offensive tackle J.P. Urquidez, three-star receiver Jared Atkinson, four-star running back Kameron Martin, four-star cornerback Parrish Cobb and three-star receiver Donovan Duvernay have all requested to be released from their NLI’s.
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However, the compliance office said they weren’t willing to grant Cobb’s release.
Baylor signed its best recruiting class in school history three months ago, and now, nearly one third of it is jumping ship. However, the wideout has been seeking a release from his letter after the sexual assault scandal at Baylor which cost head coach Art Briles his job.
Cobb is one of six players that have already requested a release from their National Letters of Intent with Baylor. That is because the athlete signs with the school and not with a specific coach. It just looks like the school is trying to save face and their football program by trying to convince these players to rethink their decision.
On Wednesday, Ken Starr resigned as Baylor University’s chancellor. So right now, these players’ fates are in Baylor’s hands, and the school has 30 days to respond to these requests. It can also decide whether to lift the recruiting ban that prohibits contact between the recruit and coaches at other schools. If all seven of the aforementioned players are released from their NLI’s the Bears’ program will take a huge hit, and that’s not even considering that more defections/transfers/dcommitments could be on the way.
Martin, Baylor’s four-star signee from Port Arthur (Texas) Memorial, said he has no interest in enrolling at Baylor and would have not picked the school had he known about the Pepper Hamilton investigation that led to Briles’ termination.
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“I don’t feel comfortable at all sending my son to be in that type of environment”, Martin’s mother Marion Harris told ESPN. “We just want Baylor to do the right thing by releasing all of us”.
