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Five months after the firing of Art Briles at Baylor, the football program hardly registers on the recruiting radar.Local prospects visit Baylor to examine opposing Big 12 teams. Assistant coaches at the school are not active in pursuing coveted recruits. Baylor has collected just two commitments for its 2017 class -- none since July -- and even those are tenuous.According to acting coach Jim Grobe, theres plenty of time for the Bears recruiting to rebound.There will be a lot of kids who want to come to Baylor, Grobe said this week, but they want to see whos going to be their coach. As soon as that happens, there will be a lot of kids jumping in the boat.Briles was fired on May 26, and after collateral effects from the widely publicized sexual-assault scandal included the summer departures of more than half of the signed members of Baylors 17th-ranked recruiting class from February, Grobe and his staff of former Briles assistants are stuck in neutral in the push toward national signing day in February.I wish I had a better word for weird, said Jeff Hulme, coach at Waco Midway High School. Its a strange deal and not a good situation for the future of Baylor football, thats for sure.Recruiting, by comparison, pales in importance to Baylors on-field product, though it remains the logical next step.The Bears slipped from the top tier of College Football Playoff contenders with a 35-34 loss last Saturday at Texas. Soon, Baylor, 38-8 since 2013, figures to look past Grobe to a permanent head coach, presumably installed by first-year athletic director Mack Rhoades in early December.Like Grobe, the current assistants, tied to Briles and the negligence allegations that led to his departure, appear unlikely to stay.In the meantime, how are they supposed to recruit to Baylor? Well, apparently, they arent.Its like theyre not even trying anymore, a Big 12 assistant coach said. I havent talked to a single kid that mentions Baylor -- not a one -- and thats crazy to say, because weve always gone after the same type of athletes and recruited in the same areas in Texas.Grobe and his staff are far from the first set of coaches to face this situation.John L. Smith at Arkansas served as interim coach in 2012 after the spring firing of Bobby Petrino. The Razorbacks finished 4-8, but continued to recruit and signed a class that ranked 31st nationally under Bret Bielema in February 2013 that featured long-committed quarterback Austin Allen.One year earlier, Ohio State promoted Luke Fickell to interim coach after Jim Tressel resigned. More than half of the Buckeyes sixth-ranked Class of 2013 committed before Urban Meyers late-November hiring, including headliners Joshua Perry, Pat Elflein, Tyvis Powell and Adolphus Washington.Its a gamble to focus so little energy on recruiting.Grobe said he has visited with two groups of recruits on campus. On a pair of October open dates, Baylor coaches left campus to see high school coaches.Their impact appears minimal.I dont know what theyre doing there, but if you told me they werent recruiting at all, I wouldnt be surprised with what were seeing, the Big 12 assistant said. One less team to go against is just fine with Big 12 coaches.Hulme, the Waco Midway coach, said a few of his players have attended games at McLane Stadium this season on unofficial visits to observe rival teams. Oklahoma State and Kansas have played in Waco; TCU comes to town on Saturday.Theyll go and watch whoevers playing Baylor, said Hulme, whose school produced five players on the current Baylor roster. Its sort of sad.Hulme took over in February at Midway after coaching at Mansfield (Texas) High School. He visited regularly about recruits at his old school with Baylor running backs coach and passing game coordinator Jeff Lebby, Briles son-in-law. The ex-coachs son, Baylor offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, largely handled communication with coaches and prospects at Midway.Neither Lebby nor Kendal Briles has called or visited since May, Hulme said, despite the presence of quarterback Tanner Mordecai, who is uncommitted and ranked No. 90 in the ESPN Junior 300, and several other Midway players in whom Baylor showed initial interest.Other Texas high school coaches declined to comment about Baylor.I dont want to be a part of that situation, one coach said.Mike Overton, coach at Horn High School in Mesquite, Texas, east of Dallas, said Baylor coaches have not visited in several months. Hes heard of similar experiences at other area high schools.Before the apparent recruiting shutdown, the Bears were not actively recruiting any of his 2017 prospects, Overton said, but Art Briles several times did visit Horn QB Chris Robison, an early pledge to Oklahoma.Its disappointing for them, Hulme said. Its disappointing for me. Its disappointing for our program. I dont know whats going to happen when the season is over. ... Theyre just going to be behind every day.How far behind?Before Briles firing, Baylor counted six commitments, having already lost pledges from outside linebacker Baron Browning, No. 29 in the ESPN 300, and receiver Jhamon Ausbon, ranked 130th overall and now committed to LSU.Since then, gone from Baylors pledge list are ESPN 300 tight end Kedrick James to Alabama, defensive tackle Jayden Peevy to Texas A&M, safety Donovan Stiner to Houston, receiver Hezekiah Jones, ranked No. 112, to A&M and the most significant blow, Kellen Mond of the IMG Academy in Florida, ranked 58th and the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback nationally, to A&M. Four-star running back Eno Benjamin of Wylie, Texas, offered a scholarship by the Bears, tweeted in May that he was so glad he made the right choice and decided not to pursue Baylor.Benjamin pledged to Iowa in April, but has since decommitted. Its safe to assume he wont end up in Waco.The two remaining commitments came from defensive backs Jalen Pitre of Stafford, Texas, and Noah Daniels of League City, Texas. Daniels committed in July but recently received offers, he said, from Oklahoma State and TCU.Daniels said he plans to take official visits to all three schools.Im with Baylor, Daniels said, and I want to wait it out. But if something happens, Im open.He said he talks regularly with cornerbacks coach Carlton Buckels, a shred of evidence that Baylor hasnt faded entirely from this recruiting cycle. Daniels said Buckels tells him often how much the Bears like him and that hell fit well at the school.As for the future at Baylor, Daniels said, the coach doesnt really address it.How could he? Recruiting shapes the future. And for now, uncertainty and a lack of direction or progress define the recruiting efforts at Baylor. Buy Lebron 14 . 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CHICAGO -- Yu Darvish was pleased with his first start since June 8 after recovering from shoulder discomfort, even though his pitch count quickly rose and he fell short of pitching five innings.Darvish returned from the disabled list to strike out nine but was inefficient and wild at times, and Anthony Rizzos two-run double helped lead the Chicago Cubs past the Texas Rangers 3-1 on Saturday.Darvish (2-1) reached 98 mph and allowed only two runs and two hits, but the Japanese right-hander lasted just 4 1/3 innings thanks to four walks and shoddy defense.My shoulder felt fine, Darvish said through an interpreter.Jason Hammel (8-5) struck out seven in six innings for the Cubs, who won their second straight in the interleague matchup of division leaders.Hector Rondon pitched a perfect ninth to complete the three-hitter for his 15th save.Darvish, a three-time All-Star, was making his fourth start since missing all of 2015 following Tommy John surgery. A dominant slider dipping out of the strike zone accounted for seven of his strikeouts.I was throwing the ball well, Darvish said. It was a little different feeling from the last rehab outing in a good way.But he was lifted after 90 pitches when second baseman Rougned Odor dropped what could have been an inning-ending double play.We would have liked to got him the complete five, Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. I felt like he pitched well enough to handle that. We saw what we needed to see from him. The secondary stuff was exceptional, the fastball control, command, felt like (that) was there.Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he wanted his players to be patient at the plate, knowing Darvish faced a pitch count. Darvish got Kris Bryant looking on a 98 mph fastball in the first, but his velocity dipped as the game wore on.A guy like that, if you just let him have his way, hell be sitting on 70 (pitches) in the sixth inning, hes going to beat you up, Maddon said. His stuff is that good. KB has really not been in chase mode, and when hes chasing the slider you know how good it actually is.Darvish walked Miguel Montero, who entered hitting .201, to lead off the third. Then Rizzos two-out double to right extended hiis hitting streak to 11 games and put the Cubs ahead to stay.ddddddddddddI threw that slider where I wanted it to be, and I struck him out on the previous at-bat, Darvish said. I threw it where I wanted. Got to tip my hat to him.Hammel allowed three hits in his first victory since June 4. Matt Szczur pinch-hit for the right-hander in the sixth and hit a two-run single off Shawn Tolleson. It was Szczurs 10th pinch hit and second for an RBI in as many days.Texas lone run in the game -- and the series -- came in odd fashion in the second.Ryan Rua singled and scored from second on Elvis Andrus infield single after the first baseman Rizzo threw wildly to the plate.Texas has dropped a season high-tying four straight and nine of 11.Weve got to find a way of putting a good combination of a solid start and some solid offense on the board and play good defense, Banister said.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: RF Shin-Soo Choo (back) was out of the lineup for a second straight day, but an MRI showed no major issues. . RHP Kyle Lohse (oblique) threw a bullpen session before the game. Hes scheduled to start Tuesday against the Angels. . RHP Jose Leclerc was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock to make room for Darvish.DARVISH AT THE DISHDarvish batted for the first time since 2014 and went up left-handed. He didnt swing while striking out on three pitches in the third. Darvish batted right-handed in the past. Banister said Darvish has been hitting left-handed during batting practice.I thought it was easier hitting left-handed, and hitting right-handed put more stress on my right shoulder, right elbow, and I kind of didnt want to do it, Darvish said.KELA RETURNSRangers RHP Keone Kela struck out the side and walked one in a hitless seventh in his first appearance since April following elbow surgery.UP NEXTTexas LHP Cole Hamels (9-2, 3.21 ERA) on Sunday makes his first start at Wrigley Field since throwing a no-hitter against the Cubs last July. It came in his final start for Philadelphia. Cubs RHP John Lackey (7-5, 3.70) is winless in his last four starts. ' ' '