FOOTBALL RECRUITING
James Foster loves Missouri. We were able to speak to his mother and she also loves Missouri and the coaching staff. It seems after speaking to him, not a matter of if, but when, Foster will commit. He seems like a leader already and the coaching staff is going to look towards him to start building the Class of 2018. While Florida State and Louisville will get visits, they don't seem to be in his recruitment at this time.
That said, he hasn't committed. And Missouri offered three quarterbacks yesterday. It is our strong belief those are probably not committable offers at this time. They're still not going to take a quarterback that isn't James Foster right now. But you have to have other plans as well. If Foster gets an Alabama offer and commits in October, you have to be able to go back to these other guys and say "Hey, can we get you campus? We offered you back in March, so you know we really like you." Is it silly? Yeah. Does it happen? Everywhere.
It can also backfire just a little bit. This happened with Blaine Gabbert. Missouri told him right around this time of year "We want you and you're our number one guy. But we absolutely have to offer some other quarterbacks just in case something happens and you don't come here." And from what I was told at the time, this bothered Gabbert and may have been a small factor in him initially choosing Nebraska. It's not an easy balance to pull off, but you have to make it clear to your top guy that he's your top guy while also having some backup plans in place.
BTW, if you missed it, those quarterbacks Mizzou offered were Tyler Shough, Cammon Cooper, and Chase Wolf.
*Dunbar (Fla.) wide receiver target Shocky Jacques-Louis lists Mizzou as a top school and has built a great relationship with OC/QB coach Josh Heupel. He plans to camp at Mizzou this summer and possibly visit before then as well.
*Mizzou is obviously expected to have some visitors for the April 15th spring game, Timberview (Tex.) running back target Jalen Knox confirmed with us that he'll be visiting that day. As we have written previously, Israel Antwine will also be in town. We'll track down as many visitors as we can next week.
*Many (La.) running back target A.J. Carter has told us that he intends to release a top five list of schools soon. He is very high on Missouri and says the Tigers will definitely be on that list.
*Head coach Jermaine Crowell brought his Belleville (MI) team down to see Mizzou on Wednesday (yes, the whole team). That team features some major talent like Julian Barnett and Devontae Dobbs. It appears Crowell (who knows AJ Ofodile) is impressed with the Missouri staff:
*This weekend, the Tigers are expected to host Springdale AR defensive end Isaiah Nichols and Coppell TX offensive lineman Mike Ruth. We'll try to get both after the visits.
Speaking of visits...
BASKETBALL RECRUITING
What a weekend we have on our plates.
Kevin Knox, Blake Harris and Michael Porter Jr. all come to town in what is one of the biggest recruiting weekends this program has had in a while.
CJ Roberts tried to come to up to help with the recruiting efforts but couldn’t find a decent priced plane ticket.
Here’s our take on Knox and Harris:
Knox- Extremely impressive Missouri was able to get him on campus. Let’s see what they can sell now that they have him. Duke is considered the leader for him and they lose eight players to the draft, graduation and transfers. There’s plenty of playing time and need for him. Plus, look at the success that Duke has had the past few years at his position. Jabari Parker, Justice Winslow, Brandon Ingram and now Jayson Tatum. Plus that Coach K isn’t bad at his job either. And Knox’s other three schools (North Carolina, Florida State and Kentucky) aren’t doing bad either. North Carolina seems to have gained just a little bit of momentum in this one and so, obviously, does Missouri.
Knox hasn't directly told anybody "here's why I like Mizzou" other than the chance to play with Porter. And don't underrate that. Because they play basically the same position (they're both wings so you can play one as a 2, one as a 3 or one as a 3, one as a four), they're both going to have similar guys defending them. What that means is that on every possession, one of those guys isn't going to be guarded by the best defender on the other team. They've both used the word "unstoppable" at times. Maybe not unstoppable, but very, very, very difficult to stop.
Is it going to be easy? No. But Missouri is in the mix here.
Harris- He’s Missouri’s to lose. We’ll be a bit surprised if he doesn’t commit shortly after visiting. He’s had in-home’s with UConn and Georgia Tech but they don't hold the weight that Missouri does. Harris has said he’s wanted to play with Michael Porter Jr. for a while and I think if Missouri wants him they’ll get him. The threat to Missouri here would be Michigan State.
*Some other nuggets:
Mark Smith got a Kentucky offer. I’ve heard all week that Michigan State is in the driver’s seat for him. Maybe that changes with the Kentucky offer but the point is I think Missouri isn’t likely getting him. That said, we heard from a source that Cuonzo Martin's in-home with him went very well and that Missouri has him as a priority (which is obvious given that's where Martin was for a visit last night). There's no doubt the Tigers want him. It seems like it will be an uphill battle, though.
Now for Jeremiah Tilmon. Assuming he gets released Missouri is in great shape with him. We were told by a couple of people to watch out for Kansas. They may be trying to get involved. Illinois will release him eventually. Once that happens, the vast majority expect Missouri to be the leader.
*Finally Missouri made the top 12 for Elijah Weaver who is a top ranked kid in 2018.
Frankly it came as a big surprise Missouri made the cut. It appears Missouri’s recent recruiting momentum is carrying into 2018. We haven’t spoken to Weaver yet (we hope to next week when these visits blow over) but asking around it seems like he wants to give the new staff an opportunity to recruit him.
We don’t think Missouri is anywhere near the top of his list right now but we're curious to see if they can make up some ground for Weaver. He’s certainly giving them the chance.
*Simeon (Ill.) 2018 small forward target Talen Horton-Tucker has told us that Missouri assistant coach Cornell Mann has reached out to him. Horton-Tucker held an offer from the previous staff and is one of the faster rising players in 2018.
*ICYMI, we had Eric Bossi on the podcast and he talked about all of this and more.
James Foster loves Missouri. We were able to speak to his mother and she also loves Missouri and the coaching staff. It seems after speaking to him, not a matter of if, but when, Foster will commit. He seems like a leader already and the coaching staff is going to look towards him to start building the Class of 2018. While Florida State and Louisville will get visits, they don't seem to be in his recruitment at this time.
That said, he hasn't committed. And Missouri offered three quarterbacks yesterday. It is our strong belief those are probably not committable offers at this time. They're still not going to take a quarterback that isn't James Foster right now. But you have to have other plans as well. If Foster gets an Alabama offer and commits in October, you have to be able to go back to these other guys and say "Hey, can we get you campus? We offered you back in March, so you know we really like you." Is it silly? Yeah. Does it happen? Everywhere.
It can also backfire just a little bit. This happened with Blaine Gabbert. Missouri told him right around this time of year "We want you and you're our number one guy. But we absolutely have to offer some other quarterbacks just in case something happens and you don't come here." And from what I was told at the time, this bothered Gabbert and may have been a small factor in him initially choosing Nebraska. It's not an easy balance to pull off, but you have to make it clear to your top guy that he's your top guy while also having some backup plans in place.
BTW, if you missed it, those quarterbacks Mizzou offered were Tyler Shough, Cammon Cooper, and Chase Wolf.
*Dunbar (Fla.) wide receiver target Shocky Jacques-Louis lists Mizzou as a top school and has built a great relationship with OC/QB coach Josh Heupel. He plans to camp at Mizzou this summer and possibly visit before then as well.
*Mizzou is obviously expected to have some visitors for the April 15th spring game, Timberview (Tex.) running back target Jalen Knox confirmed with us that he'll be visiting that day. As we have written previously, Israel Antwine will also be in town. We'll track down as many visitors as we can next week.
*Many (La.) running back target A.J. Carter has told us that he intends to release a top five list of schools soon. He is very high on Missouri and says the Tigers will definitely be on that list.
*Head coach Jermaine Crowell brought his Belleville (MI) team down to see Mizzou on Wednesday (yes, the whole team). That team features some major talent like Julian Barnett and Devontae Dobbs. It appears Crowell (who knows AJ Ofodile) is impressed with the Missouri staff:
*This weekend, the Tigers are expected to host Springdale AR defensive end Isaiah Nichols and Coppell TX offensive lineman Mike Ruth. We'll try to get both after the visits.
Speaking of visits...
BASKETBALL RECRUITING
What a weekend we have on our plates.
Kevin Knox, Blake Harris and Michael Porter Jr. all come to town in what is one of the biggest recruiting weekends this program has had in a while.
CJ Roberts tried to come to up to help with the recruiting efforts but couldn’t find a decent priced plane ticket.
Here’s our take on Knox and Harris:
Knox- Extremely impressive Missouri was able to get him on campus. Let’s see what they can sell now that they have him. Duke is considered the leader for him and they lose eight players to the draft, graduation and transfers. There’s plenty of playing time and need for him. Plus, look at the success that Duke has had the past few years at his position. Jabari Parker, Justice Winslow, Brandon Ingram and now Jayson Tatum. Plus that Coach K isn’t bad at his job either. And Knox’s other three schools (North Carolina, Florida State and Kentucky) aren’t doing bad either. North Carolina seems to have gained just a little bit of momentum in this one and so, obviously, does Missouri.
Knox hasn't directly told anybody "here's why I like Mizzou" other than the chance to play with Porter. And don't underrate that. Because they play basically the same position (they're both wings so you can play one as a 2, one as a 3 or one as a 3, one as a four), they're both going to have similar guys defending them. What that means is that on every possession, one of those guys isn't going to be guarded by the best defender on the other team. They've both used the word "unstoppable" at times. Maybe not unstoppable, but very, very, very difficult to stop.
Is it going to be easy? No. But Missouri is in the mix here.
Harris- He’s Missouri’s to lose. We’ll be a bit surprised if he doesn’t commit shortly after visiting. He’s had in-home’s with UConn and Georgia Tech but they don't hold the weight that Missouri does. Harris has said he’s wanted to play with Michael Porter Jr. for a while and I think if Missouri wants him they’ll get him. The threat to Missouri here would be Michigan State.
*Some other nuggets:
Mark Smith got a Kentucky offer. I’ve heard all week that Michigan State is in the driver’s seat for him. Maybe that changes with the Kentucky offer but the point is I think Missouri isn’t likely getting him. That said, we heard from a source that Cuonzo Martin's in-home with him went very well and that Missouri has him as a priority (which is obvious given that's where Martin was for a visit last night). There's no doubt the Tigers want him. It seems like it will be an uphill battle, though.
Now for Jeremiah Tilmon. Assuming he gets released Missouri is in great shape with him. We were told by a couple of people to watch out for Kansas. They may be trying to get involved. Illinois will release him eventually. Once that happens, the vast majority expect Missouri to be the leader.
*Finally Missouri made the top 12 for Elijah Weaver who is a top ranked kid in 2018.
Frankly it came as a big surprise Missouri made the cut. It appears Missouri’s recent recruiting momentum is carrying into 2018. We haven’t spoken to Weaver yet (we hope to next week when these visits blow over) but asking around it seems like he wants to give the new staff an opportunity to recruit him.
We don’t think Missouri is anywhere near the top of his list right now but we're curious to see if they can make up some ground for Weaver. He’s certainly giving them the chance.
*Simeon (Ill.) 2018 small forward target Talen Horton-Tucker has told us that Missouri assistant coach Cornell Mann has reached out to him. Horton-Tucker held an offer from the previous staff and is one of the faster rising players in 2018.
*ICYMI, we had Eric Bossi on the podcast and he talked about all of this and more.
