Once again, we’ll simply ask you that if it’s talked about here, it stays here. Even if it doesn’t seem earth-shattering, this is the stuff you guys pay for and the stuff you guys get that others don’t.
First off, let’s start with some hoops. Obviously, good news on Reginald Buckner from the story I had a couple days ago. Word is the Tiger coaches REALLY like Buckner. 6-8 with a seven foot wing span screams tailor made for this system. It also is good that the Tigers are in on him relatively early (meaning before some of the big boys come calling). They’ve assured themselves of an official visit at the least.
Mike Snaer was at camp. However, I talked to his mom tonight and he’s out of town and unreachable for about another week. I’ll try to track down some of his thoughts on elite camp, but the kid’s got a very, very busy summer.
Starting to hear the Tigers may be creeping back in the race with Christian Watford. He’s at the NBA players camp out in Virginia, but I’ll try to touch base with him early next week.
Another emerging name with Missouri is Charis Prep forward, 6-10 Keith Dewitt. At this point, I’m not sure how mutual the interest is, but it’s the same prep school where both Zaire Taylor and Justin Safford played. Dewitt committed to Bob Huggins at one point, but has backed off that. I hope to have more info in the next few days/weeks on Dewitt and how strong the interest is.
Now, on to the football recruiting trail:
Mizzou has offered Houston receiver Ja-Mes Logan, who Brian wrote a story on last week. He will have another story later today with Logan’s reaction to the Tiger offer. It’s obvious Missouri is making receiver a major priority in this class.
Asked around a little bit about Brayden Burnett. First of all, I’m not saying it’s not true, but I’d be surprised if the 25 offer number was accurate. Doesn’t mean he’s not a good player and I think all the schools he listed were legitimately showing some interest, but I don’t think Burnett had 25 offers on the table at the time. I’ll admit I could be wrong, but it’s neither here nor there at this point. Anyway, the word I got was that Burnett has a lot of potential, but a few schools might have backed off of him just a little bit this spring. He had a good junior year and really caught the attention of a lot of people. The Tigers obviously liked what they saw and stuck with him. I know this commitment caused some excitement around the program. He’s not a kid that’s likely to end up with four stars, but he is a very solid three star prospect.
Now, speaking of four stars, the big news of the week has been Ronnie Wingo. This may be a rehash for some of you, but I want to get the straight story out. Last Sunday night, it came to our attention that Wingo was strongly considering Mizzou. We actually got one tip that said he was committing that night. We checked it out and he wasn’t committing. However, we were told that the family was “90% sure it would happen this week.” By the next day, he was telling people he had three or four more visits he wanted to take. One of those visits, obviously, was OU. He loved it. Who wouldn’t? He will likely love Arkansas and Alabama too. He also plans to visit Minnesota next month.
Anyway, I would still be surprised to see an early commit out of Wingo, but not nearly as surprised as I would have been even last week at this time. I’ve said all along I think it will be Missouri or Illinois. It has to be a good sign for Missouri that Illinois isn’t getting mentioned much these days. The Tigers, however they’ve done it, have made huge strides with the top player in the state. Ford, Richardson, Meiners and Moe are in touch with this guy all the time. They’re in his ear every single day about Missouri. In fact, Moe has been in contact with him while he was in Norman and expects to hear from him after he’s in Fayetteville tomorrow. It can’t hurt.
Bottom line, if you asked me to handicap it today, Wingo’s a Tiger, but I won’t give a timetable on it.
More football, now we’ll focus on the team:
First off, at this point in time, Dominic Grooms is not working out with the team. I first heard about this about a week ago, but hadn’t really had a chance to check it out. I can’t honestly tell you exactly what the situation is. From what I can gather, the door is open for Grooms to come back, but right now, he’s not working out with the Tigers. I plan to get over to workouts some time next week and when I know more I’ll let you know.
For months, I’ve been saying I expect Wes Kemp to play this year. Physically, he’s the most ready player in the class in my opinion. He looks 21 years old now. Heard that after a slow start to workouts, he has really come on. Plus, he’s a manchild in the weight room.
With Dan Hoch, again, we’ve been expecting him to play for months. I’ve even heard one scenario where he could start. Down the road, Hoch is a left tackle, but I don’t think he plays there this year. Fact is, you don’t start a true freshman at left tackle on a team with a chance to win a national title. You just don’t. I’d look for Kurtis Gregory to move to left tackle and Hoch to be invited to battle it out with Dain Wise and Jaysen Palmgren at right guard. If Hoch is good enough in camp, I think it’s at least possible he starts the season opener at right guard.
Also, we like to pass along some things that we hear, even when we find them not to be true. Got a tip last week that Del Howard had switched to receiver. It surprised the heck out of me, but I did check into it. Appears not to be true. Howard will remain at safety.
First off, let’s start with some hoops. Obviously, good news on Reginald Buckner from the story I had a couple days ago. Word is the Tiger coaches REALLY like Buckner. 6-8 with a seven foot wing span screams tailor made for this system. It also is good that the Tigers are in on him relatively early (meaning before some of the big boys come calling). They’ve assured themselves of an official visit at the least.
Mike Snaer was at camp. However, I talked to his mom tonight and he’s out of town and unreachable for about another week. I’ll try to track down some of his thoughts on elite camp, but the kid’s got a very, very busy summer.
Starting to hear the Tigers may be creeping back in the race with Christian Watford. He’s at the NBA players camp out in Virginia, but I’ll try to touch base with him early next week.
Another emerging name with Missouri is Charis Prep forward, 6-10 Keith Dewitt. At this point, I’m not sure how mutual the interest is, but it’s the same prep school where both Zaire Taylor and Justin Safford played. Dewitt committed to Bob Huggins at one point, but has backed off that. I hope to have more info in the next few days/weeks on Dewitt and how strong the interest is.
Now, on to the football recruiting trail:
Mizzou has offered Houston receiver Ja-Mes Logan, who Brian wrote a story on last week. He will have another story later today with Logan’s reaction to the Tiger offer. It’s obvious Missouri is making receiver a major priority in this class.
Asked around a little bit about Brayden Burnett. First of all, I’m not saying it’s not true, but I’d be surprised if the 25 offer number was accurate. Doesn’t mean he’s not a good player and I think all the schools he listed were legitimately showing some interest, but I don’t think Burnett had 25 offers on the table at the time. I’ll admit I could be wrong, but it’s neither here nor there at this point. Anyway, the word I got was that Burnett has a lot of potential, but a few schools might have backed off of him just a little bit this spring. He had a good junior year and really caught the attention of a lot of people. The Tigers obviously liked what they saw and stuck with him. I know this commitment caused some excitement around the program. He’s not a kid that’s likely to end up with four stars, but he is a very solid three star prospect.
Now, speaking of four stars, the big news of the week has been Ronnie Wingo. This may be a rehash for some of you, but I want to get the straight story out. Last Sunday night, it came to our attention that Wingo was strongly considering Mizzou. We actually got one tip that said he was committing that night. We checked it out and he wasn’t committing. However, we were told that the family was “90% sure it would happen this week.” By the next day, he was telling people he had three or four more visits he wanted to take. One of those visits, obviously, was OU. He loved it. Who wouldn’t? He will likely love Arkansas and Alabama too. He also plans to visit Minnesota next month.
Anyway, I would still be surprised to see an early commit out of Wingo, but not nearly as surprised as I would have been even last week at this time. I’ve said all along I think it will be Missouri or Illinois. It has to be a good sign for Missouri that Illinois isn’t getting mentioned much these days. The Tigers, however they’ve done it, have made huge strides with the top player in the state. Ford, Richardson, Meiners and Moe are in touch with this guy all the time. They’re in his ear every single day about Missouri. In fact, Moe has been in contact with him while he was in Norman and expects to hear from him after he’s in Fayetteville tomorrow. It can’t hurt.
Bottom line, if you asked me to handicap it today, Wingo’s a Tiger, but I won’t give a timetable on it.
More football, now we’ll focus on the team:
First off, at this point in time, Dominic Grooms is not working out with the team. I first heard about this about a week ago, but hadn’t really had a chance to check it out. I can’t honestly tell you exactly what the situation is. From what I can gather, the door is open for Grooms to come back, but right now, he’s not working out with the Tigers. I plan to get over to workouts some time next week and when I know more I’ll let you know.
For months, I’ve been saying I expect Wes Kemp to play this year. Physically, he’s the most ready player in the class in my opinion. He looks 21 years old now. Heard that after a slow start to workouts, he has really come on. Plus, he’s a manchild in the weight room.
With Dan Hoch, again, we’ve been expecting him to play for months. I’ve even heard one scenario where he could start. Down the road, Hoch is a left tackle, but I don’t think he plays there this year. Fact is, you don’t start a true freshman at left tackle on a team with a chance to win a national title. You just don’t. I’d look for Kurtis Gregory to move to left tackle and Hoch to be invited to battle it out with Dain Wise and Jaysen Palmgren at right guard. If Hoch is good enough in camp, I think it’s at least possible he starts the season opener at right guard.
Also, we like to pass along some things that we hear, even when we find them not to be true. Got a tip last week that Del Howard had switched to receiver. It surprised the heck out of me, but I did check into it. Appears not to be true. Howard will remain at safety.
