| Hank Baskett III |
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NEW MEXICO:
New Mexico's top pass catcher who has established himself as one of the best in an outstanding group of wide receivers in the Mountain West Conference...entered the season as one of the top unheralded receivers in the country, but
has stepped into the spotlight with his play in 2005...Biletnikoff Award candidate who has seen his NFL stock soar early in the year...
ranked by ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 2 senior WR in the country and 21st-best senior player in the country this fall (as of Nov. 3)...flourished as the Lobos' No. 1 target last fall and has been sensational this season in the team's expanded passing attack...2005 team captain...turned in one of the best spring and fall camp performances of any player on the team...
130 receptions for 2,145 yards and 16 TDs, averaging an impressive 16.5 yards per catch in his career...ranks 4th all-time at UNM in receiving yards, 6th in receptions, and is tied for 2nd in receiving TDs...
8 100-yard receiving games in his career...has gone over the century mark in 6 of his last 12 games...has caught at least one pass in 22-straight games...23 starts in 41 career games...extremely hard-working athlete and an intense competitor every time he takes the field...has blocked a punt that was recovered for a TD, made 3 special teams tackles and completed a 46-yard pass during his UNM career...still plays on the Lobo punt block team, rushing off the edge...was a little raw early in his career, but worked to polish his receiver skills over the past three years...
says he takes more pride in his blocking ability than anything else...is a big, strong target and has tremendous leaping ability, along with deceptive speed and athleticism...
a 7-foot high jumper and standout hurdler in high school...
2004 MWC outdoor high jump champion (6-11.00) and a three-time all-conference honoree in the event for head track & field coach Matt Henry...two-time NCAA Midwest Regional qualifier, despite being probably the heaviest elite high jumper in the country...squats 435 pounds and has a max of 315 in the bench, 285 incline and 308 in the power clean...also an outstanding student who is a three-time academic all-MWC honoree and a first team academic all-district selection
...will graduate in December with a degree in General Management...played mostly quarterback as a senior at Clovis HS, but also earned all-state honors as a receiver and punter...missed half of 2002 after suffering a frightening spinal concussion during a blocking drill in preseason practice...was taken off the field on a backboard and admitted to University Hospital with minimal movement in his extremities for several hours...full name is Henry Randall Baskett III...his best friend and roommate is Lobo QB Kole McKamey...UNM kicker and fellow roommate Garth Archibald jokes that the duo are so close, he just refers them by one name - "Kank."
2005 (SENIOR):
Has established himself as one the nation's top receivers with a sensational senior season...
ranks 11th nationally and leads a sensational group of Mountain West Conference WRs, averaging 103.1 receiving yards through 9 games...is one of 5 MWC players among the top-30 in total receiving yards, ranking 8th in the country with a career-high 928...season yardage total is already the 9th-highest in UNM history...
has gone over 100 yards receiving in 4 games this year and twice in the past 4 weeks...career-high 57 receptions are 3rd in the MWC and T16th nationally...2nd among MWC reception leaders with a 16.3 avg. per catch...8 TD catches are 5 more than he had in 12 games last year and tied for 6th on the UNM single-season list...defenders have been flagged for pass interference 8 times while trying to cover him this year...he has caught 2 passes for 76 yards on plays where he was hit before the ball arrived
...vs. Colorado State...Just missed another 100-yard game, finishing with 91 yards on 5 receptions...brushed off a big hit by 2 defenders, turning an 8-yard grab into a gain of 16 on his first reception...later pulled in a season-long 51-yard TD as he was falling backward into the end zone...also had 3 knockdowns blocking downfield for the running game
...at San Diego State...Bounced back in a big way with a healthy QB Kole McKamey in the lineup...finished with 141 yards on 7 catches and 2 TDs, all of which came in the first 3 quarters before UNM ran the ball almost exclusively in the 4th quarter to secure the victory...4 of his receptions went for 20 yards or more and 2 were good for 1st downs on 3rd-and-long plays...had a 24-yard catch-and-run through 2 defenders on a 3rd-and-9 screen play that led to his first TD in the 2nd quarter...later got UNM out of a big hole on its own 11...made an over-the-shoulder 39-yard grab on the first play following the Aztecs' blocked punt return for a TD in the 3rd quarter...catch eventually led to his second score...notched his second multiple TD game of the season
...at Wyoming...Caught just 2 passes for 12 yards, but was only thrown to 6 times (no drops) as the Lobos had 66 rushing attempts...caught a 9-yard pass in tight coverage on a 3rd-and-8 play in the 3rd quarter...UNM scored a game-tying TD 3 plays later
...vs. BYU...Turned in a tremendous, gutty performance...caught a career-high 11 balls for 141 yards and forced the Cougar DBs into a season-high 3 pass interference penalties against him...had just 1 catch for 3 yards in the first quarter, but grabbed 10 for 138 over the next 3 periods...pulled in a long pass of 43 yards on a play where QB Kole McKamey escaped a pair of defenders in the backfield...notched his second straight 100-yard game against BYU...
at TCU...Tallied 7 more catches for 78 yards...went high over the CB on a jump-ball to snare the Lobos' first TD of the night...scored was the 13th of his career, tying Pascal Volz for sixth on the UNM all-time list... also drew 2 more pass interference penalties, including one which he caught anyway for a 28-yard gain down the sideline...
at UTEP...Worked hard to get his 6 catches for 66 yards...took a screen pass 30 yards on the second play of the game and made a high-flying 19-yard catch in the 2nd quarter...had a tremendous 24-yard grab down the sideline wiped out by an encroachment penalty in the 3rd quarter...catch would have gotten UNM out of a hole near its own end zone, instead UTEP scored on a blocked punt 3 plays later
...vs. New Mexico State...Was double-covered virtually the entire night, but still got free for 3 catches for 58 yards in three quarters of play...turned a 5-yard screen pass into a 46-yard gain in the 3rd quarter...juked the first defender, cut across the field and might have scored with one more block downfield...raced downfield to serve as Kole McKamey's personal blocking escort during the final half of McKamey's 71-yard TD run...finished with 3 knockdown blocks on the night
...at Missouri...Turned in one of the best receiving performances in New Mexico history, recording career-highs of 10 receptions for 209 yards and 3 TDs...became the third Lobo ever to tally 200 yards receiving in a game and the first since Terance Mathis (252) did it against Utah in 1989...his 3 TDs tied a UNM single-game record held by five others, most recently Pascal Volz against TCU in 1997...it was the 6th 100-yard receiving game of his career and third straight...tied with Eric Morgan (1989-90) and Mike Henderson (1987-90) for 7th on the UNM all-time list with his 12th TD catch...performance earned him
MWC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career and a spot on the
CollegeFootballNews.com national "Who's Hot" list for week 2...had 4 catches for 52 yards, including a 25-yard TD, in the first half, then exploded for 157 yards on 6 second half receptions...skied between 2 Tiger DBs to pull in a 25-yard halfback pass from DonTrell Moore at the MU 16, then turned up field and dragged 2 more defenders with him across the goal line to knot the game at 28 at the end of the 3rd quarter...had catches of 47 and 22 yards, and drew a pass interference penalty in the 4th quarter...sealed the Lobos' upset win with a 9-yard TD with 2:01 remaining, out-jumping the Mizzou defensive back once again in the back corner of the end zone
...vs. UNLV...Opened the year with a bang in the ESPN2-televised opener...caught four balls for 75 yards in the first quarter, including a 47-yard TD, and finished with 6 catches for 132 yards (22 per catch)...notched the 5th 100-yard game of his career in his best performance since the 2004 season-opener vs. Washington State...also drew two pass interference penalties, including one in which he caught the ball anyway for a 48-yard gain to set up the Lobos' go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter.
2002 (REDSHIRT FRESHMAN):
Suffered a spinal concussion during two-a-days on Aug. 14 that required him to be taken off the field on a backboard and admitted to University Hospital with minimal movement in his extremities for several hours...sat idle for nearly 2 months before being cleared for contact on Oct. 6...traveled, but did not play at UNLV...made his collegiate debut the next week at Utah State...has come a long way since he came to UNM last year...saw a significant amount of time late in the season on special teams, where he had three tackles...
Utah State...first 2 career catches (9 & 12 yards) were both for touchdowns...second TD appeared to send the game into a second OT period before UNM failed on the PAT attempt...just missed hauling in a third TD reception from 13 yards out at the end of the 1st half.
HIGH SCHOOL:
Extremely versatile and bright student-athlete who competed in football, basketball and track, and also had a 4.0 GPA...played in six games at quarterback and four at receiver for coach Eric Roanhaus...second team all-state punter and receiver as a senior...punted all three years...one of the nation's top schoolboy high jumpers with a state-record leap of 7-0 at the 2000 state track meet in Albuquerque...also won the title as a senior at 6-11...jumped 7 -00.25 at a meet in May...averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats' basketball team...a second team all-state selection on the court as a junior...not surprising, he was the Wildcats' athlete of the year as a junior.
PERSONAL:
Born September 4th, 1982, in Clovis...age is 20...full name is Henry Randall Baskett III...son of Henry Jr., and Judy...father spent 30 years in the Air Force and now serves as director of a four-county program for abused children...older brother Randy Curtis is in the Army, serving in Korea...major is Management.
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