Big 12 Notes

WACO – Twenty-eight student-athletes reported to Baylor on Thursday to begin preparations for the 2000 football season. Twenty true freshmen and one junior college transfer – all on scholarship – as well as seven walk-ons met the 5 p.m. reporting deadline, coach Kevin Steele said. Freshman workouts begin Saturday. The rest of the team reports Monday.

Baylor signees David Denby, a defensive lineman from Lufkin, and Robert Forney, a linebacker from Lufkin, are headed to Trinity Valley Community College this year. Only one other Baylor signee was absent Thursday – receiver Robert Quiroga, a sprinter from San Antonio Holmes who is attending an AAU track meet this week.

– Chip Brown

Sudden impact

WACO – Baylor coach Kevin Steele can't wait for the days when freshmen report and there is limited opportunity because of established talent. Those days aren't here yet.

Steele said freshmen could have an impact at linebacker and wide receiver, as well as at defensive back in dime and nickel packages.

– Chip Brown

The first real look

LUBBOCK – Texas Tech's 27 newcomers got their first significant look at first-year coach Mike Leach's defense and complicated offensive scheme Thursday, the same day that the Red Raiders' upperclassmen reported for physicals.

"We just tried to make sure we didn't blow out any brain circuits," Leach said after holding the second day of two-a-day practices. "We definitely taxed them mentally, though."

– Bart Hubbuch

SMU facilities report

By the end of next week, the Loyd All-Sports Center should resemble an up-and-running support system for SMU athletics. Weight room equipment, office furniture, training tables and chairs for meeting rooms are just some of the items being loaded into the facility, which is adjacent to the $56.8 million Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

The locker rooms are virtually completed for the football team, as well as for the track, soccer and women's rowing teams, according to SMU facilities director David Miller.

– Rana L. Cash

Briefly ...

Kansas State defensive lineman Anthony Bates died of a heart attack that led to a car crash, an autopsy shows. He suffered from a condition that caused excessive thickening of the heart muscle. ... Coco Reed, a 5-11 forward from Houston Jersey Village, has committed to the Texas women's basketball team.