Baylor Basketball: How Keyonte George’s commitment impacts Bears

The blue-chip prospect from Lewisville, Texas announced his commitment on Sunday, as Keyonte George chose Baylor Basketball.

George committed to Baylor over Texas, Kansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State.

With the news of center Jalen Duren and forward Emoni Bates re-classifying, George has made a jump in the recruiting rankings. George is the third-ranked recruit in the nation, according to 247, and second, according to 247 Composite.

After being a Texas lean for the majority of his recruitment, the Bears made a late impression that led to a lot of recruiting experts inserting their predictions.

The slew of predictions began on July 28, when three crystal balls went toward Baylor, headlined by Horns247 expert Nick Harris.

The Bears are looking to reload, after their 2020-2021 National Championship season, headlined by the trio backcourt of Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler, and MaCio Teague.

Looking ahead toward the future, the Bears can duplicate that same trio with George, fellow Top-75 2022 recruit Dillon Hunter, and Fairmont State transfer Dale Bonner.

George’s commitment not only impacts the Bears on the court but also off. Take a look into how Keyonte George impacts Baylor, not only in the short-term but in the long.

The impact of a national championship is being shown on the recruiting trail.

George is the highest-ranked commitment in Baylor history at No.3 in his class and is the highest-rated since Isaiah Austin in 2011. Austin was ranked No. 4 nationally in that class.

Just in the previous class, prior to the beginning of the season, Baylor got a pledge from the fourth-highest ranked recruit in program history and Top-20 recruit forward Kendall Brown.

This is a similar success that Villanova has gotten, since their first national championship in 2016.

The Wildcats have gotten three top-20 recruiting classes during that stretch, headlined by two top 10 classes in back-to-back seasons. The 2018 recruiting class was headlined by Top-30 recruit guard Jahvon Quinerly and 2019 is Villanova’s best class yet, with two five-stars.

Forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was recently selected in the NBA Draft and regardless of his lack of success in the program to this point, Bryan Antoine was right behind him in the recruiting rankings at 17th overall, according to 247.

With Baylor getting five-stars in back-to-back classes, shows the recruiting is replicating the on-court success.

The backcourt in Waco is getting deeper.

Projecting the future is hard, and especially with the transfer portal being at it’s peak, attrition is the expectation within every program. However, George’s talent makes him an immediate go-to scorer, on any program in the country.

If the backcourt stays intact leading up to George’s arrival, it will be crowded. With the aforementioned Bonner and Hunter, Baylor also has LJ Cryer and Langston Love, who are expected to get playing time next season.

The status of Adam Flagler will be in question too, after averaging 9.1 points per game on 43% from beyond the arc off the bench last year.

How head coach Scott Drew can handle that, will be the next mission. George’s biggest asset on the court is his explosiveness near the rim and smooth play.

George can score in anyway and lateral quickness makes up for lapses in defense. His six-foot-four frame is solid for today’s prototypical guard and can be used for tipped passes and closing in on passing lanes.

George will immediately become one of the best players in the Big 12 and is already hearing buzz from the NBA toward the 2023 Draft.

(4) DLo 2.0!?? Keyonte George is a 6’5 KILLER on the Court! – YouTube

George’s impact with the rest of the 2022 class

With George’s commitment, Baylor slides to the No.10 spot in 247’s 2022 recruiting rankings. Although the class is off to a great start, there are more targets on the board.

One of the prospects that benefited from Duren and Bate’s decision to re-classify is center Vince Iwuchukwu. Iwuchukwu has been promoted to the No.22 spot in the country and earned his fifth star over the past week.

All of the crystal balls in his recruitment point Baylor’s way, as the bears are the favorite to land his services.

After going after two six-foot-four guards, adding height and a true rim protector to this class would be the icing on the cake for the Bears’ best-recruiting class to date.

George’s commitment keeps the boat rolling for a program that earned the highest winning percentage among Power 5 schools over the past two seasons at .900 and a 54-6 record.

The Bears are expected to contend for the Big 12 conference once again next season and adding George just keeps the future of the Bears as bright as the neon in their uniforms.