The Baylor Bears will have another dynamic weapon to deploy from the backfield in coming years after picking up a Saturday pledge from Longview (Texas) all-purpose back JaMycal Hasty.
Four-star RB JaMycal Hasty commits to the Baylor Bears
The Longview product looks like a perfect fit in the Bears offense.
In a relatively rare circumstance, the commitment from broken by Baylor head coach Art Briles instead of the recruiting services or the player, as Briles sent out the following:
#903 #DreamBigDreamBaylor
— Coach Art Briles (@CoachArtBriles) March 29, 2014
Since the 903 in the tweet is the area code of Longview, it was immediately assumed that the commit was from Hasty, but it took some time to officially put Hasty among the Bear commits in the 2015 class.
The first member of the so-called Fab Five to commit to a school other than the Texas A&M Aggies, the 5’8, 185-pound Hasty is a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 4 all-purpose back in the country and the No. 28 player in Texas, as well as the No. 173 player nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Hasty also held offers from Houston, Oklahoma State, Oregon, TCU, Texas, and Texas Tech -- the offer list for the Longview product was probably depressed because of the fact that he was considered a longtime Baylor lean.
The members of the Fab Five had planned on playing college football together, but Hasty didn’t have a committable offer from the Aggies after A&M took commitments from Splendora (Texas) product Jay Bradford and Rodney Anderson of Katy early in the process.
Gladewater (Texas) defensive tackle Daylon Mack, Whitehouse (Texas) safety/outside linebacker Justin Dunning, and Sulphur Springs (Texas) safety Larry Pryor are the three members of the Fab Five committed to A&M, while Mesquite (Texas) Poteet linebacker Malik Jefferson is considered in some circles to be an Aggie lean.
However, Hasty won’t be entirely alone at Baylor, as fellow East Texas product Blake Lynch, an athlete out of Troup who could play quarterback in college, congratulated Hasty on his commitment:
Congrats @TheJaMycalHasty on the commitment bro,Ready to do work with you on the field. #BaylorGang
— Wolf (@BlakeLynch7) March 29, 2014
The Bears also picked up several big East Texas signees in the 2014 class, including wide receivers KD Cannon and Davion Hall, two of the top players in the state.
The Longview head coach provided the basic scouting report on his star player:
Longview HC John King on #Baylor commit JaMycal Hasty, "great vision, change of direction, route running, hands, perfect fit 4 their style."
— David Smoak (@DavidSmoak) March 29, 2014
Indeed, Hasty ran a 4.49 40 at a Nike event, turning in a 4.15 shuttle, and a 35.3-inch vertical leap. He has been tested as low as 4.31 in the 40 and has a run a 10.59 100m.
He’ll have to adjust to running from the shotgun at Baylor after working from a deep position at Longview in their power-rushing offense, but he’s an ideal fit for the Bears scheme because of his speed. Capable of getting behind his pads to break tackles, Hasty is difficult to bring down because of his low center of gravity and because he can cut sharply at high speed, as well as slide cut through traffic.
With 12 receptions for 255 yards and three touchdowns as a junior, Hasty is also a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield.
Hasty is the sixth commit in the 2015 class for Baylor, which currently ranks No. 13 nationally in the Composite team rankings and No. 3 in the Big 12.
