Hey guys, as the interloping Baylor fan around these parts, figured I'd give you some insight on your newest commit (writing this while sitting on the tarmac at SPI). First off, congrats on nabbing Dain.
The thread from Baylor's board linked earlier in this thread is a pretty accurate summation of the collective Baylor reaction. Dain has a TON of potential. Whether he'll ever be able to realize that potential is the million-dollar question.
The Good:
Crazy skilled on the offensive end. Elite post-up moves. Length for days. As mentioned earlier, took a redshirt last year, but was engaged from the bench in every game and seemed from all accounts to be a great teammate. I had high hopes he would give us 10-12 minutes/game this season.
The Not-So Good:
Took the redshirt because of academic issues. Injured his foot (never a good sign for a guy his size) and got very out of condition while rehabbing the injury. Couldn't crack our rotation this year despite the fact that we lost 4 starters from last season. He looked pretty doughy in his limited appearances for Baylor this year.
Bottom Line:
Dain was a bit of an odd fit for the way that Baylor has constructed rosters the last several years. He's a traditional big who needs post touches, which isn't really the way we route our offensive system. We also usually prefer to have hyper-athletes who defend multiple positions in our "switch everything" defense. Dain has the length to be a good defender, but the word was he maybe wasn't the most willing defender, and didn't seem to be super motivated to put the work in that would be necessary from a conditioning/weight room standpoint.
Obviously, take that with a massive grain of salt, because I don't have firsthand knowledge of his work ethic, and it's easy to sound like sour grapes with a guy who just didn't work out, which is absolutely not what I want to come across as.
Last thing - I saw some references to the Illini S&C program and the hope that he can improve his body/conditioning with time in the program. I would note that Baylor's program under Charlie Melton is no slouch, as evidenced by our complete bodying of Gonzaga in the championship game last year. So, it's not as though he's coming from a program that didn't have high-level S&C. For whatever reason, he wasn't able to benefit from it. Maybe all he needs is a change of scenery. Best of luck to him, and to you all this season!