We're in the midst of the quietest time of the year in the recruiting world. That doesn't mean there is no news though. The Chamber is here to give all you die hard Mizzou fans the latest info on the Tigers. As always make sure to keep this info on The Tigers' Lair. Feel free to tell everyone you know how good this week's edition was however.
BASKETBALL
Pretty quiet week on the basketball recruiting front so we’re doing things a little differently this week.
With the Peach Jam and the Under Armour finals next week we’re going to preview the biggest things we’re trying to learn when we go down there next week.
2018:
1. What’s the deal with Jontay?: We assume Jontay Porter is going to reclassify to the 2017 class and the news could come shortly after the Peach Jam. Heck, he could even announce it down there given the media presence. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how the younger Porter plays and what he says his timetable is for all of this.
2. How about Carte’Are Gordon?: Last time we spoke to Gordon he said he hadn’t really heard from Mizzou since the new staff took over. We plan to ask him again. If he hasn’t heard from Missouri, then assume that’s the nail in the coffin and the new staff isn’t interested. The time to flip him is dwindling, so you have to assume that if he hasn’t heard by now then they’re not interested.
3. Catching up with Alex Lomax and T.J. Moss: We haven’t been able to speak to Moss since he got a Mizzou offer and Lomax has gone silent lately. It will be interesting to see where Missouri stands with both since we once thought it was very likely Lomax would wind up in the black and gold. Now we have no clue.
4. Then there's K.J. Hymes: Add him to the list of guys that we think Missouri is in good shape with but haven’t heard much on lately.
5. Anything new on Talen Horton-Tucker?: Boy what a strange recruitment. If you were to put a gun to The Chamber's head and say tell me where he’s going to school or I’ll shoot, this lovable weekly recruiting insider would be as good as dead. Have heard a new school every week it seems with no end in sight. He’s visited Missouri before so it makes sense that he’s been prioritizing other schools. But where they stand with him is very tough to gauge.
Things we care about but not as much:
1. Elijah Weaver: Love his game and he’s a great interview. If Missouri got him he could be an All-American. But it’s fair to ask if the staff ever really tried with him despite him saying that he wanted Missouri to recruit him. He plans to cut his list again soon and I doubt Missouri makes the cut.
2. Duane Washington Jr.: He’s interesting. Got on Missouri’s radar under Kim Anderson because he knew Steve Shields and has stayed on because he’s a Michigan kid and knows Cornell Mann. Washington started off as a low to mid-major prospect, but now has some Power 5 offers. He might be worth taking a flyer on. His dad played in the NBA and scouts have said he’s underrated. Neither of the in-state schools up there want him either. He could be the guy that starts a pipeline. He’s a good candidate for that.
3. Nassir Little: Everybody and their mother wants him. Including Missouri. Are they actually a player here? We find it hard to believe they are.
4. Darius Days: Another guy we haven’t spoken to. We think he at least visits Missouri. Would like to hear what he has to say though.
2019:
We’ll make this really simple for you boys and girls. Of all of the local guys, how many actually seem interested in Missouri: Mario McKinney, E.J. Liddell, Roman Wilson, Marcedus Leech, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Malik Hall, Francis Okoro, Zach Harvey, Isiaih Mosley and Yuri Collins are all rising juniors who live within four to five hours of Missouri. Maybe less but The Chamber is not looking at Google Earth right now.
Getting any combination of those guys would be a MONSTER class. Robinson-Earl, KcKinney and Liddell have all recently visited. Leech has been to Mizzou before, Mosley lives down the street and Wilson has said he wants to visit. What about the other guys and how serious are those guys we mentioned with Missouri. And have they discussed playing together? This isn’t as similar to the Tiger Ten but if a number of those guys came to Missouri together they could be remembered forever. A lot of differences here but a lot of those guys wouldn’t be on campus all four years like football.
Other things we care about:
Andrew Nembhard, Nobal Days and Rocket Watts since we haven’t spoken to any of them directly.
FOOTBALL
- As all of you should know Missouri added commitment number five to the 2018 class on the Fourth of July. Recently offered Danny Gray went ahead and pulled the trigger giving the Tigers wide receiver number three in this class.
Word is that the Mizzou coaches will have their hands full holding on to Gray till signing day once other schools start to hear about how he has progressed academically this spring. Gray told us a couple days before he committed that Oklahoma and Baylor had started to recruit him more aggressively and he thought offers from both schools could be in his future. The Dallas (Texas) Madison prospect was the 3A 100m state champion this past spring.
- Four of Missouri's five commitments are on the offensive side of the ball. There are rumblings that a couple more defensive additions could be in the not too distant future though. Vincent Gray and Tyrus Wheat are expected to visit early next week and there is a momentum building behind the chance of a commitment from both.
Gray is from Rochester, Michigan and would give Mizzou another talented cornerback with very good size. Wheat is from Amite, Louisiana and could play safety or linebacker depending on how he fills out in college.
If Missouri was able to land Gray they would likely be looking to add only one more corner. Donte Burton, Jakorey Hawkins and Kalon Gervin are three of the Tigers top remaining targets at cornerback. It's harder to predict what it would mean for the class if Wheat does end up committing. We've heard Mizzou would like three linebackers and two safeties in this class so depending on how they see him going forward either position could be impacted. Our educated guess at the moment is that the Tiger coaches would still look to add three linebackers (Chad Bailey, La'Dedric Jackson and Cameron Wilkins) and then one safety (Cameron Taylor).
- We'll wrap up this edition of The Chamber with a note on the remaining Tiger Ten targets. The Mizzou coaches are doing everything allowed withing the NCAA recruiting rules going after Kamryn Babb, Michael Thompson and Ronnie Perkins. They are still recruiting Trevor Trout, but not as aggressively as they once were. They have backed off even more on Cameron Brown, Dallas Craddieth and Daniel Parker. That's the bottom line. You can agree with it or not, but every indication we get from the players and all our sources are pointing to this conclusion.
Missouri is in good to very good shape with Babb and Thompson. They are by no means out of it for Perkins. Trout is a toss up. It would be a big surprise if any of the other three ended up at Mizzou.
BASKETBALL
Pretty quiet week on the basketball recruiting front so we’re doing things a little differently this week.
With the Peach Jam and the Under Armour finals next week we’re going to preview the biggest things we’re trying to learn when we go down there next week.
2018:
1. What’s the deal with Jontay?: We assume Jontay Porter is going to reclassify to the 2017 class and the news could come shortly after the Peach Jam. Heck, he could even announce it down there given the media presence. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how the younger Porter plays and what he says his timetable is for all of this.
2. How about Carte’Are Gordon?: Last time we spoke to Gordon he said he hadn’t really heard from Mizzou since the new staff took over. We plan to ask him again. If he hasn’t heard from Missouri, then assume that’s the nail in the coffin and the new staff isn’t interested. The time to flip him is dwindling, so you have to assume that if he hasn’t heard by now then they’re not interested.
3. Catching up with Alex Lomax and T.J. Moss: We haven’t been able to speak to Moss since he got a Mizzou offer and Lomax has gone silent lately. It will be interesting to see where Missouri stands with both since we once thought it was very likely Lomax would wind up in the black and gold. Now we have no clue.
4. Then there's K.J. Hymes: Add him to the list of guys that we think Missouri is in good shape with but haven’t heard much on lately.
5. Anything new on Talen Horton-Tucker?: Boy what a strange recruitment. If you were to put a gun to The Chamber's head and say tell me where he’s going to school or I’ll shoot, this lovable weekly recruiting insider would be as good as dead. Have heard a new school every week it seems with no end in sight. He’s visited Missouri before so it makes sense that he’s been prioritizing other schools. But where they stand with him is very tough to gauge.
Things we care about but not as much:
1. Elijah Weaver: Love his game and he’s a great interview. If Missouri got him he could be an All-American. But it’s fair to ask if the staff ever really tried with him despite him saying that he wanted Missouri to recruit him. He plans to cut his list again soon and I doubt Missouri makes the cut.
2. Duane Washington Jr.: He’s interesting. Got on Missouri’s radar under Kim Anderson because he knew Steve Shields and has stayed on because he’s a Michigan kid and knows Cornell Mann. Washington started off as a low to mid-major prospect, but now has some Power 5 offers. He might be worth taking a flyer on. His dad played in the NBA and scouts have said he’s underrated. Neither of the in-state schools up there want him either. He could be the guy that starts a pipeline. He’s a good candidate for that.
3. Nassir Little: Everybody and their mother wants him. Including Missouri. Are they actually a player here? We find it hard to believe they are.
4. Darius Days: Another guy we haven’t spoken to. We think he at least visits Missouri. Would like to hear what he has to say though.
2019:
We’ll make this really simple for you boys and girls. Of all of the local guys, how many actually seem interested in Missouri: Mario McKinney, E.J. Liddell, Roman Wilson, Marcedus Leech, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Malik Hall, Francis Okoro, Zach Harvey, Isiaih Mosley and Yuri Collins are all rising juniors who live within four to five hours of Missouri. Maybe less but The Chamber is not looking at Google Earth right now.
Getting any combination of those guys would be a MONSTER class. Robinson-Earl, KcKinney and Liddell have all recently visited. Leech has been to Mizzou before, Mosley lives down the street and Wilson has said he wants to visit. What about the other guys and how serious are those guys we mentioned with Missouri. And have they discussed playing together? This isn’t as similar to the Tiger Ten but if a number of those guys came to Missouri together they could be remembered forever. A lot of differences here but a lot of those guys wouldn’t be on campus all four years like football.
Other things we care about:
Andrew Nembhard, Nobal Days and Rocket Watts since we haven’t spoken to any of them directly.
FOOTBALL
- As all of you should know Missouri added commitment number five to the 2018 class on the Fourth of July. Recently offered Danny Gray went ahead and pulled the trigger giving the Tigers wide receiver number three in this class.
Word is that the Mizzou coaches will have their hands full holding on to Gray till signing day once other schools start to hear about how he has progressed academically this spring. Gray told us a couple days before he committed that Oklahoma and Baylor had started to recruit him more aggressively and he thought offers from both schools could be in his future. The Dallas (Texas) Madison prospect was the 3A 100m state champion this past spring.
- Four of Missouri's five commitments are on the offensive side of the ball. There are rumblings that a couple more defensive additions could be in the not too distant future though. Vincent Gray and Tyrus Wheat are expected to visit early next week and there is a momentum building behind the chance of a commitment from both.
Gray is from Rochester, Michigan and would give Mizzou another talented cornerback with very good size. Wheat is from Amite, Louisiana and could play safety or linebacker depending on how he fills out in college.
If Missouri was able to land Gray they would likely be looking to add only one more corner. Donte Burton, Jakorey Hawkins and Kalon Gervin are three of the Tigers top remaining targets at cornerback. It's harder to predict what it would mean for the class if Wheat does end up committing. We've heard Mizzou would like three linebackers and two safeties in this class so depending on how they see him going forward either position could be impacted. Our educated guess at the moment is that the Tiger coaches would still look to add three linebackers (Chad Bailey, La'Dedric Jackson and Cameron Wilkins) and then one safety (Cameron Taylor).
- We'll wrap up this edition of The Chamber with a note on the remaining Tiger Ten targets. The Mizzou coaches are doing everything allowed withing the NCAA recruiting rules going after Kamryn Babb, Michael Thompson and Ronnie Perkins. They are still recruiting Trevor Trout, but not as aggressively as they once were. They have backed off even more on Cameron Brown, Dallas Craddieth and Daniel Parker. That's the bottom line. You can agree with it or not, but every indication we get from the players and all our sources are pointing to this conclusion.
Missouri is in good to very good shape with Babb and Thompson. They are by no means out of it for Perkins. Trout is a toss up. It would be a big surprise if any of the other three ended up at Mizzou.
