Before we start, here are the Daily Down Low links from throughout the week in case you missed anything:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Before we get to the visitors this weekend, just a quick new offer we saw this morning, to 2018 guard and top 25 national prospect Ayo Dosunmu
This week, the Chamber is all about a big-time recruiting weekend. So far as we can remember, this is probably the biggest weekend for on-campus visitors during the season. Most of the visitors are unofficial, but this is clearly a plan by the staff to get as many guys as they can on campus together. Coaches of many sports over many years have reinforced what we all know: Big-time players want to play with other big-time players. You want to get them on campus at the same time. Having a bunch of high-profile prospects on campus, looking around and seeing a bunch of other high-profile guys, is not an accident. They get to talking, get to know each other, it increases your chances not only of getting one, but getting a bunch of them. This weekend has been targeted by the staff for quite some time. It's the regular season version of Night at the Zou.
So let's get to it. Most of these names have been on the board as having visited throughout the week, but we're going to put them all in one place for you guys here.
Let's start with a guy that won't be here. Earlier this week, Brian posted that Trevor Trout is visiting Nebraska. We've been told by someone familiar with Trout's recruitment that Missouri is solidly in Trout's top three. As he has said throughout, a decision isn't going to come until after his senior season, but there's no reason to panic that he's not coming this weekend. Trout is very familiar with Missouri, constantly interacting with other guys Mizzou is recruiting, was tweeting about Sheldon Richardson last night and even wears Mizzou gear around St. Louis sometimes. Bottom line, it's not going to be an easy fight, but Missouri is going to be in this one all the way. He's going to look at some other places, he's going to take visits and we don't know where he'll sign, but the Tigers remain in the top three (Ohio State is in there for sure. Not sure who the third is, but Nebraska is a possibility I think).
2017 OFFICIAL VISITS
AJ Davis
Terry Petry
UNOFFICIAL VISITS
2017
Aubrey Miller
Hyrin White
Logan Christopherson
Tony Adams (unconfirmed)
Case Cook
Reyondous Estes
Jeff Thomas
Jafar Armstrong
DaRon Davis
Emmit Gooden (he still could be 2018, depends when he finishes juco, also this is his juco profile, he was a four-star out of high school)
2018
Daniel Parker Jr.
Michael Thompson
Kamryn Babb
Cameron Brown
Ronnie Perkins
Dallas Craddieth
Tyler Walton
Verdis Brown (possible, not positive)
Brad Papez
Jake Papez
2019
Jalani Williams
Isaiah Williams
Marcus Washington
BASKETBALL OFFICIAL VISITS
C.J. Roberts
BASKETBALL UNOFFICIAL VISITS
Torrence Watson
Carte'Are Gordon
So let's do a little analysis now. We'll start with football.
Missouri is in pretty solid shape with both official visitors. AJ Davis really hasn't done any interviews about his recruitment that I can find, but he'll almost definitely visit Louisville (in fact, he was considering a trip there this weekend for the game against Florida State, but when the start time was 11 am, he switched it up and will see Mizzou this weekend instead). With Terry Petry, he is committed to Houston, but told us "I'm very open to Mizzou which is why I'm taking this trip." We are set to talk to Petry on Sunday when his visit ends. We don't think it's out of the question he commits, but also wouldn't say you should count on it.
Emmit Gooden committed to Mississippi State out of high school and remains committed, but has always listened to Mizzou. He told us a few weeks back, "Still committed but am keeping my options open! Got much love for Mizzou since the hire of Coach Shipp who recruited me at Arizona State." Gooden started at Holmes CC, but is now at Independence.
Maybe the most intriguing 2017 name on the list is Tony Adams. We've heard some chatter that he is visiting, but haven't been able to confirm that with him. Adams committed to Illinois, but from what we hear, Missouri remains very much in the picture (family very much likes the Mizzou staff and what Missouri has to offer). He tore his ACL earlier this week, but that won't impact the status of the Mizzou offer. He's right up there with Da'Ron Davis as the best athlete in the state this year. If we get further info about the visit, we will pass it on. Right now, put him down as a "possible" not a "definite." (The same goes for Verdis Brown at this point in time).
Obviously it's very good news to have Jeff Thomas on campus (FWIW, we were told again this week by a new source that the academic situation is better than had initially been thought). A lot of the East St. Louis guys don't take a lot of trips, so any time you can get him up here, especially with his already committed teammate, is a very good thing. Same can be said for Michael Thompson, who is recruited at the same level as a lot of those other 2018 St. Louis kids, but for some reason hasn't gotten quite the attention of some of the others (probably as simple as he doesn't talk a lot, but he has told us he'll do an interview Sunday after the trip).
Has to be a good thing to have seven 2017 commitments on campus, including guys from Tennessee, Indiana and Georgia. Shows a level of commitment from those guys to make a long trip on their own dime and you'd have to imagine they're going to be the best recruiters Missouri has this weekend. We'll definitely be in touch with as many of these guys as we can in the days after the game, but we leave them alone and let the coaches do their jobs while the kids are on campus. If there's breaking news, we'll pass it on, but I don't think you should come away disappointed if there aren't any commitments out of this weekend.
Okay, now on to basketball. We've told you for a while we're hearing there is a decent chance C.J. Roberts commits while he is here. That would leave one spot in Mizzou's 2017 class. We'll pass along anything that happens on that front.
The more interesting stuff might be the 2018 kids, Carte'Are Gordon and Torrence Watson. We've been pretty consistent saying Kansas leads for Gordon and we still feel that way. However, from what we're told, Watson really likes Mizzou and is in Gordon's ear about playing together there and Gordon has been receptive. Not saying anything is imminent and we know how potentially positive hoops recruiting news is greeted around here, just passing along what we are hearing. If it were to happen, it would be significant news for Missouri basketball.
We will keep you updated on anything that happens throughout the weekend and any changes that might be made to the visitor list.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Before we get to the visitors this weekend, just a quick new offer we saw this morning, to 2018 guard and top 25 national prospect Ayo Dosunmu
This week, the Chamber is all about a big-time recruiting weekend. So far as we can remember, this is probably the biggest weekend for on-campus visitors during the season. Most of the visitors are unofficial, but this is clearly a plan by the staff to get as many guys as they can on campus together. Coaches of many sports over many years have reinforced what we all know: Big-time players want to play with other big-time players. You want to get them on campus at the same time. Having a bunch of high-profile prospects on campus, looking around and seeing a bunch of other high-profile guys, is not an accident. They get to talking, get to know each other, it increases your chances not only of getting one, but getting a bunch of them. This weekend has been targeted by the staff for quite some time. It's the regular season version of Night at the Zou.
So let's get to it. Most of these names have been on the board as having visited throughout the week, but we're going to put them all in one place for you guys here.
Let's start with a guy that won't be here. Earlier this week, Brian posted that Trevor Trout is visiting Nebraska. We've been told by someone familiar with Trout's recruitment that Missouri is solidly in Trout's top three. As he has said throughout, a decision isn't going to come until after his senior season, but there's no reason to panic that he's not coming this weekend. Trout is very familiar with Missouri, constantly interacting with other guys Mizzou is recruiting, was tweeting about Sheldon Richardson last night and even wears Mizzou gear around St. Louis sometimes. Bottom line, it's not going to be an easy fight, but Missouri is going to be in this one all the way. He's going to look at some other places, he's going to take visits and we don't know where he'll sign, but the Tigers remain in the top three (Ohio State is in there for sure. Not sure who the third is, but Nebraska is a possibility I think).
2017 OFFICIAL VISITS
AJ Davis
Terry Petry
UNOFFICIAL VISITS
2017
Aubrey Miller
Hyrin White
Logan Christopherson
Tony Adams (unconfirmed)
Case Cook
Reyondous Estes
Jeff Thomas
Jafar Armstrong
DaRon Davis
Emmit Gooden (he still could be 2018, depends when he finishes juco, also this is his juco profile, he was a four-star out of high school)
2018
Daniel Parker Jr.
Michael Thompson
Kamryn Babb
Cameron Brown
Ronnie Perkins
Dallas Craddieth
Tyler Walton
Verdis Brown (possible, not positive)
Brad Papez
Jake Papez
2019
Jalani Williams
Isaiah Williams
Marcus Washington
BASKETBALL OFFICIAL VISITS
C.J. Roberts
BASKETBALL UNOFFICIAL VISITS
Torrence Watson
Carte'Are Gordon
So let's do a little analysis now. We'll start with football.
Missouri is in pretty solid shape with both official visitors. AJ Davis really hasn't done any interviews about his recruitment that I can find, but he'll almost definitely visit Louisville (in fact, he was considering a trip there this weekend for the game against Florida State, but when the start time was 11 am, he switched it up and will see Mizzou this weekend instead). With Terry Petry, he is committed to Houston, but told us "I'm very open to Mizzou which is why I'm taking this trip." We are set to talk to Petry on Sunday when his visit ends. We don't think it's out of the question he commits, but also wouldn't say you should count on it.
Emmit Gooden committed to Mississippi State out of high school and remains committed, but has always listened to Mizzou. He told us a few weeks back, "Still committed but am keeping my options open! Got much love for Mizzou since the hire of Coach Shipp who recruited me at Arizona State." Gooden started at Holmes CC, but is now at Independence.
Maybe the most intriguing 2017 name on the list is Tony Adams. We've heard some chatter that he is visiting, but haven't been able to confirm that with him. Adams committed to Illinois, but from what we hear, Missouri remains very much in the picture (family very much likes the Mizzou staff and what Missouri has to offer). He tore his ACL earlier this week, but that won't impact the status of the Mizzou offer. He's right up there with Da'Ron Davis as the best athlete in the state this year. If we get further info about the visit, we will pass it on. Right now, put him down as a "possible" not a "definite." (The same goes for Verdis Brown at this point in time).
Obviously it's very good news to have Jeff Thomas on campus (FWIW, we were told again this week by a new source that the academic situation is better than had initially been thought). A lot of the East St. Louis guys don't take a lot of trips, so any time you can get him up here, especially with his already committed teammate, is a very good thing. Same can be said for Michael Thompson, who is recruited at the same level as a lot of those other 2018 St. Louis kids, but for some reason hasn't gotten quite the attention of some of the others (probably as simple as he doesn't talk a lot, but he has told us he'll do an interview Sunday after the trip).
Has to be a good thing to have seven 2017 commitments on campus, including guys from Tennessee, Indiana and Georgia. Shows a level of commitment from those guys to make a long trip on their own dime and you'd have to imagine they're going to be the best recruiters Missouri has this weekend. We'll definitely be in touch with as many of these guys as we can in the days after the game, but we leave them alone and let the coaches do their jobs while the kids are on campus. If there's breaking news, we'll pass it on, but I don't think you should come away disappointed if there aren't any commitments out of this weekend.
Okay, now on to basketball. We've told you for a while we're hearing there is a decent chance C.J. Roberts commits while he is here. That would leave one spot in Mizzou's 2017 class. We'll pass along anything that happens on that front.
The more interesting stuff might be the 2018 kids, Carte'Are Gordon and Torrence Watson. We've been pretty consistent saying Kansas leads for Gordon and we still feel that way. However, from what we're told, Watson really likes Mizzou and is in Gordon's ear about playing together there and Gordon has been receptive. Not saying anything is imminent and we know how potentially positive hoops recruiting news is greeted around here, just passing along what we are hearing. If it were to happen, it would be significant news for Missouri basketball.
We will keep you updated on anything that happens throughout the weekend and any changes that might be made to the visitor list.
