Baylor announced its intention to fire football coach Art Briles May 26 for his role in a major scandal unearthed by an investigation that revealed the program poorly addressed sexual assault allegations against his players.
Briles still got paid, though, reaching a settlement with his former employer June 17 after he claimed wrongful termination. The Bears hired Jim Grobe as interim coach May 30.
Since then, Baylor granted release from the program to 11 of its 22 commits in its 2016 recruiting class (after initially being unsure about it). The 11th, three-star defensive end Brandon Bowen, received his release Friday.
From espn.com:
Bowen is the 11th signee from the Bears' nationally ranked recruiting class to leave the school since former coach Art Briles was fired in May.
A three-star recruit from Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club, Texas, Bowen asked Baylor officials to release him from his national letter of intent earlier this week. Baylor athletics department spokesman Heath Nielsen confirmed Friday morning to the Waco Tribune that the school had granted Bowen's request, which allows him to transfer to another school without sitting out a year under NCAA transfer rules.
The Bears have lost half of the 22 players from their 2016 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 17 nationally by ESPN Recruiting after February's national signing day.
For what it is worth, 247Sports ranked the class 36th.
Bowen is the seventh would-be true freshman from the group granted his release. One player (Devin Duvernay) is now at Texas after Baylor failed to properly submit his National Lettor of Intent to the Big 12 in February, wide receiver Tren'davian Dickson transferred to Houston after he enrolled in January and a pair of junior college players left the school.
What a mess.
