Baylor loses No. 9 TE recruit after Briles discipline

7:35 PM ET

Hours after Baylor announced that coach Art Briles was going to be fired in response to an investigation into the school’s response to allegations of sexual assaults by students, the Bears lost a key member of their 2017 recruiting class.

Kedrick James, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end from Waco (Texas) La Vega High School, announced on Twitter on Thursday afternoon that he was backing away from his longtime commitment to Baylor because of Briles’ departure.

Due to the departure of Coach Briles, I’d like to open my recruiting and decommit from Baylor. Thank u Baylor staff esp Coach Lebby & Bedell

— Kedrick James (@kedrickjames044) May 26, 2016

James, the nation’s ninth-ranked tight end and the No. 259 player in the ESPN 300, originally pledged to the Bears in July 2015 and was the third-highest-ranked recruit in the Bears’ class.

Even before news of Briles’ pending dismissal broke, James had been looking at several other schools, namely Texas A&M, which he visited …

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