Well, first of all, I feel this very important to say again at this time. Please keep the information here. The Chamber is a feature that is available only to our subscribers and we'd like to keep it that way. If other people want this information, they can sign up for a premium membership. Thanks for trying to help me out on this issue.
Now, we're going to focus almost exclusively on football recruiting, but I want to get to a couple of football issues first:
Off the top, it's almost a certainty Jeremy Maclin is gone. He has maintained all along that he would come back if he wasn't a first rounder. Everyone I've seen projecting these things has him as a first round pick. Also, I've got multiple sources close to Jeremy and to the coaching staff telling me the decision is in. Maclin has a meeting with Missouri coaches prior to his press conference tomorrow, but it is a near-certainty that he has played his last game as a Tiger.
Got some “news” on the coaching front. I use the quotation marks because this is just what I'm hearing and nothing that has been substantiated on the record. I feel very confident saying that Bruce Walker is going to be the new offensive line coach. Andy Hill will add tight ends and coach both that position and the wide receivers. Missouri will then add another coach, and all indications I've gotten is that it will be on the defensive side of the football. There would likely be some position re-assignment of coaches to make room for the new guy. I'm not sure how it would work exactly. I am hearing that an announcement on that could come as soon as next week. But only Gary Pinkel knows who is under serious consideration. I've heard Jon Hoke's name batted around, but I honestly can't tell you how serious a candidate he is. We probably won't have anything concrete here until Pinkel comes out with an announcement of the new Tiger assistant.
Okay, now on to recruiting. Some of this will be a rehash for some of you, but I understand that with as much activity as there is on the board, not every subscriber can read every post. I'll just go prospect by prospect here.
Ty Phillips has told me he is planning to visit Missouri this weekend, but I am hearing there's a chance that actually happens on January 16th. He'll visit Illinois on the 23rd. If the Illini offer, I'll tell you there is a chance he switches. Personally, I think Missouri has the edge here, but it's not a rock-solid verbal in my opinion.
I talked to Donavan Bonner's head coach earlier this week, Tyson Garner. I asked about rumors that Bonner had switched his commitment to Mizzou.
“He loves Missouri. I love Missouri,” Garner said. “If his family decides that is the route he wants to go, we will support him, but I haven't heard anything official on that.”
Garner had effusive praise for the recruiting efforts Bruce Walker has done in Dallas. Went out of his way to praise Walker at least three times in a five-minute conversation. I think the Tigers will get Bonner. In fact, I think it's possible they already have but he's just not ready to announce it publicly. Still, until he is ready to announce it, we can't count him in the commit column.
With another Texan, Kendial Lawrence, there really isn't much to report. He's playing it very close to the vest and obviously would just as soon not talk to reporters about the situation. I've heard multiple indications that the Tigers lead for Lawrence, but the kid has said nothing to me (or anyone else on the record) to really support that yet.
Cobi Hamilton visits Arkansas this weekend and has said they're on top. He may visit Oklahoma, but the Sooners haven't offered. Oklahoma State is out. Missouri is technically still in the race, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised by a commitment on his official visit to Fayetteville this weekend.
With Hamilton moving on, it appears that Ja-Mes Logan has picked up an Oklahoma State offer. I've never been able to read the kid. Something just tells me he's going to end up elsewhere.
Speaking of Arkansas, Ronnie Wingo will be down there this weekend. This is the big weekend for Wingo. He will go to Minnesota next week, but he is saying he looks forward to meeting all the coaches. I just can't imagine that the Gopher staff can make that big an impression on Wingo when all these other schools have been recruiting him for at least a year. I just haven't heard enough about Wingo and Illinois lately to lead me to believe they are a major threat. I think it's Mizzou and Arkansas, with Kansas as a potential darkhorse. I think it favors the Tigers that the Arkansas visit is now, rather than his final trip. Ultimately, I still feel Wingo signs with Mizzou. He had in-home visits this week with Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota and Tennessee.
Coaches from Tennessee, Missouri and Miami were also at Sheldon Richardson's house this week. He has said he's going to be a Tiger and I believe him. I'll admit I understand why some people are a little bit nervous that he continues to listen to these other coaches, but I think Sheldon just has a hard time saying no and wants to make sure he doesn't cut off any options. Again, he'll be a Tiger.
With the third St. Louis guy worth mentioning right now, I continue to hear rumors Bryant Allen isn't that solid. But I'm also hearing even if he does switch, Missouri isn't likely to be his destination. What it comes down to is that Allen simply didn't feel the urgency from Missouri's basketball coaches. I don't honestly know exactly what that means, but it's my personal opinion that Mike Anderson was probably simply honest with Allen about how difficult it would be to walk on in mid-January and earn major minutes. Also, and this is COMPLETELY my speculation, I wonder if there isn't some resentment on Allen's part that the Tigers offered Marcus Denmon and Mike Dixon, but not Allen. Maybe not, but I think it's certainly something that has to be considered.
Just a few quick notes to end it: Mark Hill is set to visit next weekend and I would be surprised if he isn't a Tiger at the end of the trip. With Terry Hawthorne, I'm not going to bug him. There's no real reason. He visits Illinois on January 23rd. My opinion is that one of two things will happen: He will reaffirm his commitment to Illinois after that visit and there's nothing that really publicly happens. Or, he will continue to privately waffle and pull the switch on signing day. I don't believe Hawthorne will publicly state he's switching to Missouri prior to signing day no matter what. If he does, we'll have the news, but I'm not going to browbeat the kid with phone calls because I think it's unlikely he would publicly turn to the Tigers prior to signing his letter of intent. If the schedule works out and there's a chance of a switch, I'll be at East St. Louis on signing day. As far as the 16th goes, I have a feeling there will be a few more visitors than just Hill and Phillips. We don't have anything concrete yet, but hope to some time in the next week.
Now, we're going to focus almost exclusively on football recruiting, but I want to get to a couple of football issues first:
Off the top, it's almost a certainty Jeremy Maclin is gone. He has maintained all along that he would come back if he wasn't a first rounder. Everyone I've seen projecting these things has him as a first round pick. Also, I've got multiple sources close to Jeremy and to the coaching staff telling me the decision is in. Maclin has a meeting with Missouri coaches prior to his press conference tomorrow, but it is a near-certainty that he has played his last game as a Tiger.
Got some “news” on the coaching front. I use the quotation marks because this is just what I'm hearing and nothing that has been substantiated on the record. I feel very confident saying that Bruce Walker is going to be the new offensive line coach. Andy Hill will add tight ends and coach both that position and the wide receivers. Missouri will then add another coach, and all indications I've gotten is that it will be on the defensive side of the football. There would likely be some position re-assignment of coaches to make room for the new guy. I'm not sure how it would work exactly. I am hearing that an announcement on that could come as soon as next week. But only Gary Pinkel knows who is under serious consideration. I've heard Jon Hoke's name batted around, but I honestly can't tell you how serious a candidate he is. We probably won't have anything concrete here until Pinkel comes out with an announcement of the new Tiger assistant.
Okay, now on to recruiting. Some of this will be a rehash for some of you, but I understand that with as much activity as there is on the board, not every subscriber can read every post. I'll just go prospect by prospect here.
Ty Phillips has told me he is planning to visit Missouri this weekend, but I am hearing there's a chance that actually happens on January 16th. He'll visit Illinois on the 23rd. If the Illini offer, I'll tell you there is a chance he switches. Personally, I think Missouri has the edge here, but it's not a rock-solid verbal in my opinion.
I talked to Donavan Bonner's head coach earlier this week, Tyson Garner. I asked about rumors that Bonner had switched his commitment to Mizzou.
“He loves Missouri. I love Missouri,” Garner said. “If his family decides that is the route he wants to go, we will support him, but I haven't heard anything official on that.”
Garner had effusive praise for the recruiting efforts Bruce Walker has done in Dallas. Went out of his way to praise Walker at least three times in a five-minute conversation. I think the Tigers will get Bonner. In fact, I think it's possible they already have but he's just not ready to announce it publicly. Still, until he is ready to announce it, we can't count him in the commit column.
With another Texan, Kendial Lawrence, there really isn't much to report. He's playing it very close to the vest and obviously would just as soon not talk to reporters about the situation. I've heard multiple indications that the Tigers lead for Lawrence, but the kid has said nothing to me (or anyone else on the record) to really support that yet.
Cobi Hamilton visits Arkansas this weekend and has said they're on top. He may visit Oklahoma, but the Sooners haven't offered. Oklahoma State is out. Missouri is technically still in the race, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised by a commitment on his official visit to Fayetteville this weekend.
With Hamilton moving on, it appears that Ja-Mes Logan has picked up an Oklahoma State offer. I've never been able to read the kid. Something just tells me he's going to end up elsewhere.
Speaking of Arkansas, Ronnie Wingo will be down there this weekend. This is the big weekend for Wingo. He will go to Minnesota next week, but he is saying he looks forward to meeting all the coaches. I just can't imagine that the Gopher staff can make that big an impression on Wingo when all these other schools have been recruiting him for at least a year. I just haven't heard enough about Wingo and Illinois lately to lead me to believe they are a major threat. I think it's Mizzou and Arkansas, with Kansas as a potential darkhorse. I think it favors the Tigers that the Arkansas visit is now, rather than his final trip. Ultimately, I still feel Wingo signs with Mizzou. He had in-home visits this week with Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota and Tennessee.
Coaches from Tennessee, Missouri and Miami were also at Sheldon Richardson's house this week. He has said he's going to be a Tiger and I believe him. I'll admit I understand why some people are a little bit nervous that he continues to listen to these other coaches, but I think Sheldon just has a hard time saying no and wants to make sure he doesn't cut off any options. Again, he'll be a Tiger.
With the third St. Louis guy worth mentioning right now, I continue to hear rumors Bryant Allen isn't that solid. But I'm also hearing even if he does switch, Missouri isn't likely to be his destination. What it comes down to is that Allen simply didn't feel the urgency from Missouri's basketball coaches. I don't honestly know exactly what that means, but it's my personal opinion that Mike Anderson was probably simply honest with Allen about how difficult it would be to walk on in mid-January and earn major minutes. Also, and this is COMPLETELY my speculation, I wonder if there isn't some resentment on Allen's part that the Tigers offered Marcus Denmon and Mike Dixon, but not Allen. Maybe not, but I think it's certainly something that has to be considered.
Just a few quick notes to end it: Mark Hill is set to visit next weekend and I would be surprised if he isn't a Tiger at the end of the trip. With Terry Hawthorne, I'm not going to bug him. There's no real reason. He visits Illinois on January 23rd. My opinion is that one of two things will happen: He will reaffirm his commitment to Illinois after that visit and there's nothing that really publicly happens. Or, he will continue to privately waffle and pull the switch on signing day. I don't believe Hawthorne will publicly state he's switching to Missouri prior to signing day no matter what. If he does, we'll have the news, but I'm not going to browbeat the kid with phone calls because I think it's unlikely he would publicly turn to the Tigers prior to signing his letter of intent. If the schedule works out and there's a chance of a switch, I'll be at East St. Louis on signing day. As far as the 16th goes, I have a feeling there will be a few more visitors than just Hill and Phillips. We don't have anything concrete yet, but hope to some time in the next week.
