Arp Defensive End Tyrone Hunt Announces Commitment To Baylor

Count Arp defensive end Tyrone Hunt as one of 12 East Texas players planning to play college football in the power five conferences.

Hunt confirmed to David Smoak of ESPN 1660 AM in Waco that he will remain with Baylor after silently committing to the program on Wednesday. An official weekend visit to campus sealed his jump from UTSA to the Bears' camp.

The Arp defensive end finished his senior season with 93 tackles, six sacks, seven quarterback pressures, four forced fumbles, three recoveries and two passes broken up. He helped lead the Tigers to a 9-2 record and a berth in the area round of the Class 3A Division II playoffs.

Hunt (6-4, 230) joins Gilmer receiver Blake Lynch and Longview running back JaMycal Hasty as East Texans in Baylor's 2015 recruiting class. Lynch graduated high school in December and is already with the football program.

The perception of the Bears has changed dramatically over the course of the past four seasons. It struggled in Big 12 play since the league's inception for the 1996 season, but head coach Art Briles arrived in 2008 and by 2010 Baylor had clinched its first bowl game in 16 years.

Quarterback Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy in 2011, the first in school history.

Briles and company have not missed a bowl game since 2010, including a Fiesta Bowl appearance in 2013 and an invitation to the Cotton Bowl after narrowly missing the College Football Playoffs last season.

Baylor won the 2013 Big 12 title outright and claimed a share of the 2014 league title with TCU en route to finishing the season ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press poll. The Bears and Horned Frogs are the early frontrunners to compete for the 2015 conference championship.

Hunt had been committed to UTSA since Aug. 25 before the late call from Briles' staff.

Like all East Texas senior football players with scholarship offers, Hunt will become eligible to sign a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday.

2015 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

• Jarion Anderson, WR, Texas High, 5-11, 165 – committed to Tulsa (1)
• Rodney Bendy, WR, John Tyler, 6-4, 180 – committed to North Texas; additional offer from ULM (2)
• William Brown, DL, Texas High, 6-3, 259 – offers from Arkansas State, Texas State (2)
• Kris Boyd, ATH, Gilmer, 6-0, 180 — offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Cal, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (14)
• Chaston Brooks, ATH, Tatum, 6-0, 183 – offer from New Mexico State (1)
• Nate Brooks, DB, Whitehouse, 6-0, 150 — committed to North Texas; additional offer from Louisiana Tech (2)
• Nick Cain, ATH, John Tyler, 5-10, 165 — committed to ULM (1)
• Key’Vantanie “KeKe” Coutee, ATH, Lufkin, 5-10, 160 — committed to Texas Tech; additional offers from Louisville, Oklahoma, Texas, Tulsa (5)
• Justin Dunning, S, Whitehouse, 6-4, 200 — committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt (11)
• Brandon Durman, LB, Tyler Lee, 6-2, 230 – committed to Louisiana Tech (1)
• Chandler Eiland, QB, Canton, 6-0, 178 – committed to ULM (1)
• Roney Elam, CB/S, Newton, 6-3, 175 — committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, LSU, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech (10)
• Jeff Gladney, ATH, New Boston, 6-0, 174 – committed to TCU; additional offers from North Texas, Northern Illinois, Rice, Texas State, Tulsa, UTSA (7)
• JaMycal Hasty, RB, Longview, 5-9, 181 — committed to Baylor; additional offers from Houston, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (9)
• Tyrone Hunt, DE, Arp, 6-4, 230 – committed to Baylor; additional offer from UTSA (2)
• Marcalas Johnson, Arp, 5-10, 181 – offer from Colorado State (1)
• Kevrin Justice, RB, Kilgore, 6-0, 177 — committed to Houston (1)
• Jaylon Lane, CB, Nacogdoches, 6-2, 185 — offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Boise State, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia State, Houston, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue, South Alabama, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech, UCLA, ULL, Utah State, Wake Forest, Washington State (38)
• Blake Lynch, ATH, Gilmer, 6-3, 193 — committed to Baylor; additional offers from Clemson, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, TCU (6)
• Daylon Mack, DT, Gladewater, 6-1, 330 – offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, SMU, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, USC (21)
• Terry Mark, WR, Lufkin, 6-1, 180 — committed to Houston (1)
• Erik McCoy, OL, Lufkin, 6-4, 297 — committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Arkansas State, Houston, Kansas, New Mexico State, North Texas, Oklahoma State, ULL (8)
• Samuel Miller, DE, Canton, 6-3, 220 – committed to ULM; additional offers from Arkansas State, Houston, Kansas State, Memphis, Nevada, North Texas, Oregon State, Texas State, UTEP, UTSA (11)
• Chett Munden, OL, Marshall, 6-6, 303 — committed to North Texas; additional offer from ULM (2)
• Larry Pryor, S, Sulphur Springs, 6-1, 185 — committed to Texas A&M; additional offers from Arkansas, Baylor, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech (10)
• Jassavia Reese, DE, John Tyler, 6-4, 227 – committed to New Mexico State (1)
• Kyshaun Smith, S/LB, Tatum, 6-2, 178 — offers from Houston, Memphis, North Texas, Texas State (4)
• Chris Spikes, WR, Jasper, 6-3, 175 — offer from Houston (1)
• Javon Thomas, RB, Texas High, 6-3, 211 – committed to Tulsa; additional offers from Navy, New Mexico, Rice, Toledo, ULM (6)
• Jackson Tyner, QB, Edgewood, 6-5, 220 – committed to Rice (1)
• Isaac Warren, CB/S, John Tyler, 6-1, 189 — offers from Arizona State, New Mexico State, Purdue, SMU, UTEP (5)
• Broderick Washington, OL/DL, Longview, 6-3, 285 — committed to Texas Tech; additional offers from Arkansas State, Houston, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, North Texas, ULL, UTSA (8)
• Matthew Weeks, OT, Tyler Lee, 6-6, 274 — offer from SMU (1)