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Leading up to the expected decommitment of three-star safety Dyllon Williams in October, Missouri made late pushes for three Class of 2025 safeties: four-star Byron Baldwin, three-star Rylon Dillard-Allen and three-star Zack Harden. The Tigers pitched the promise of contributing early as freshmen.

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Baldwin -- who decommitted from Indiana in October -- received an offer from safeties coach Jacob Yoro in September. The Tigers never got Baldwin on campus, as it came down to Colorado -- the program he trended toward until two weeks ago -- being the true threat to the Hoosiers. Baldwin jumped back onto his commitment to Indiana on Friday.

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Missouri defensive assistant Christopher Ball offered Dillard-Allen -- a Washington commit -- in October. Ball was the head coach at Division-I FCS Northern Arizona from 2019-2023, and he knew the No. 5 recruit in Arizona well. Dillard-Allen took an unofficial visit to Washington on Nov. 2 to reaffirm his commitment and close his recruitment. His parents also didn’t approve of visits to other schools when he was committed to the Huskies. The three-star was previously committed to Arizona State.

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Harden is quieter than Baldwin and Dillard-Allen about his recruitment. Covington (Ga.) Newton head coach Joshua Skelton told Rivals.com that Harden would be taking an official visit to Missouri but then went silent over the past few weeks, as Harden kept strong to his commitment to Minnesota. It was a big decision for Harden since he doesn’t take many official visits.

As of right now, the Tigers haven’t made any strides with other Class of 2025 defensive backs, leaving the current class with only two secondary commits in Charles Bass and Mark Manfred. It will behoove Missouri to add a safety in the transfer portal this winter.

Both notes on Dillard-Allen and Harden were mentioned in recent editions of the Friday File.

I swear I'm not trying to start WWIII, but this is an honest request for advice.

In August, I'm taking two of my kids on a BBQ tour of KC (we're in Columbia). The idea is to stop at 3-5 places throughout the course of the day, getting one menu item at each stop. So what would your best suggestion be for each of the following categories:

• Ribs
• Pulled pork
• Brisket
• Burnt ends
• Sides/dessert
• Other

Thanks — and let's be nice to each other, 'kay?

Here's your reading list for before today's game against South Carolina.

First, my predictions and keys

Here's Kenny's projected starters as recruits

And the scouting report

Finally, the deep dives
Quarterbacks, receivers and pass coverages

Running backs, offensive lines and front 7s

How many years does hunter Dickinson get? He seems to have been in college for 7 years now

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Davion Hannah will announce his decision at 5:30 p.m. CST Friday at Glendale (Wis.) Nicolet, where he was enrolled prior to transferring to Branson (Mo.) Link Year. He is down to Alabama, Cincinnati, Missouri and Ohio State.

The four-star forward first received a FutureCast to Alabama from Tide Illustrated head basketball analyst Jordan Harper on Wednesday.

In the Friday File, the MizzouToday staff opens up their notebooks and drops the news, rumors, tidbits and speculations you need to know heading into the weekend. As we have for weeks now, we're talking Brady Cook's injury stats, but we've also prepared a ton of recruiting news for you. Here we go...

FOOTBALL​

There's almost certainly some gamesmanship going on with Brady Cook's injury status. I think there's a reason the football team hasn't allowed media at a single practice since Homecoming. Plus, entering last week's injury report as questionable and this week's as doubtful tells me about all I need to know. Either he's actively getting worse, which seems unlikely, or he was never really questionable last week.

What I initially heard after the Alabama game was a broken hand/wrist and that would mean he's out for at least the regular season.

I still haven't been able to find out what happened to Mookie Cooper, but he seems to be trending worse, too. But without Cook throwing passes, I'm not sure a fourth receiving option really brings much to the offense at this point. We saw what a good Drew Pyne performance looked like and it was 14 completions for about 150 yards. That's just not enough to feed Luther Burden, Theo Wease, dump offs to running backs and a little Brett Norfleet.

Sorry to Josh Manning, who I thought was really trending up, and sorry to Cooper, but three options in the passing game plus dumb offs is about all that's going to be available now.

BASKETBALL​

There was official word before Thursday's game that freshman Trent Burns was healthy and available after missing multiple games with an illness. And he still didn't play in the Tigers' program-record-tying 72-point win. Dennis Gates was asked after the game if there was a plan to redshirt him and freshman T.O. Barrett and he said pretty unequivocally "No." But if it wasn't going to be Thursday night, then I'm not sure when it's going to be.

It was good to see a lot of the other three freshmen, though. There was easily the youngest lineup I've ever seen Mizzou play late in the first half Thursday when Annor Boateng, Marcus Allen and Peyton Marshall were all out there with Anthony Robinson and Trent Pierce. That's three true freshmen and two sophomores. If Gates is able to keep them happy, that's the core for the next two years.

If I remember right, last year, the Tigers ran out a lineup of Nick Honor, Sean East, Jesus Carralero-Martin, Noah Carter and Connor Vanover, which was possibly the oldest lineup in college basketball history with a bunch of graduates taking extra COVID years. The combined age of that lineup was about 116 years old for an averaged of older than 23 years old. Now, the Tigers can confidently put out a lineup that averages less than 19 yards old. What a change one year can make.

WOMEN'S HOOPS​

Oh boy, the start of the season hasn't looked good for the Mizzou women. I had hopes for this team because there's some talent on the roster, but it just doesn't seem to be working at all. Nyah Wilson hasn't been able to contribute much so far and I expected her to be a leader and scorer from the point. The four post options seem to have boiled down to just Angelique Ngalakulondi, who is strong, but undersized for a 5. And Ashton Judd's advancement as a scorer just isn't as far along as I expected.

Last week in the Friday File, I said the Tigers would lose an early game against a team they shouldn't lose to and that already happened with Norfolk State. We'll see what happens tonight at Western Illinois, but I don't think the final season of Robin Pingeton's contract is going to go the way she hoped.

FOOTBALL RECRUITING​

Missouri running back commit Jamarion Morrow will take an official visit to Georgia this weekend, two sources told Rivals.com on Thursday. Morrow -- a four-star all-purpose back -- verbally committed to the Tigers over Georgia and Mississippi in June and made an unofficial visit to see Missouri defeat Oklahoma this past weekend.

The Bulldogs currently have two running backs committed in the Class of 2025, and they aren't against adding a third, while in pursuit of multiple backs this fall.

While holding onto Morrow's commitment, the Tigers have also recruited another Class of 2025 running back. Boise State commit Brendon Haygood -- who received an offer in October -- is approaching his final trip before signing day: an official visit to Missouri.

The three-star running back will be on campus the weekend of the Arkansas game Nov. 30, and over the next two weeks, running backs coach Curtis Luper will further his relationship with Haygood and his parents.

Haygood has been easily reachable since he announced his offer from the Tigers, and although he likes the success the Broncos have seen with Ashton Jeanty, there's appeal of being an SEC running back, which Luper praised to him after watching his game in person Nov. 7. Haygood is listed at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, which is of similar stature to Morrow, who stands 5-foot-10, 190 pounds.

Missouri is also still looking at two pass-catchers in the Class of 2025. Michigan commit Jacob Washington and Nebraska commit Jeremiah Jones took visits to Columbia this past weekend, with Jones getting on campus for an official.

Washington reaffirmed his commitment to Michigan, but Missouri is still in contact with the four-star wide receiver every day. He'll consider his options until signing day Dec. 4, as the Wolverines added another wideout in the 2025 class in Jamar Browder, who backed off his official visit to Missouri this past weekend and committed to Michigan on Nov. 8.

According to national recruiting analyst Greg Smith, it's only a matter of time before Jones flips to Missouri. The Tigers got multiple commits on campus for Jones' official visit, including Matt Zollers, who did his own recruiting of the three-star athlete.

If Jones does flip his commitment, it would mark three straight recruiting cycles with a pair of tight ends: Jones and Dekotah Terrell in 2025, Whit Hafer and Jude James in 2024 and Jordon Harris and Brett Norfleet in 2023.

On the defensive trail, four-star Tobi Haastrup -- a newcomer to football this season -- saw his senior season end Nov. 8 at Houston (Tex.) Mayde Creek, putting recruitment at the forefront of his mind. Haastrup took an official visit to Missouri the weekend of the Auburn game and after his visit, he told Rivals.com that Missouri was among his top choices. He will trim his list in the coming weeks before announcing his commitment Dec. 4 (previously Dec. 2).

The Oklahoma game drew the largest recruiting section this season, selling out the reserved tickets for prospective athletes. One source message MizzouToday on Sunday that it was a "Very successful" weekend for the Tigers.

Hosting multiple top targets across the country, Missouri made it a point of emphasis to get players to the 50-yard line pregame to talk with head coach Eli Drinkwitz. The list included Washington, Jacob Eberhart, Kenyon Alston and Mark Manfred among others.

The Tigers also got players on campus who already had existing relationship with each other in the Class of 2026, including tight ends Isaac Jensen and Jack Utz and Ohio offensive lineman Will Conroy and Sam Greer.

Looking back on the expected visitors for the Oklahoma game, Missouri ended up not getting Lamont Rogers on campus and to sound like a broken record, Texas A&M is still in pursuit of the four-star offensive tackles.

BASKETBALL RECRUITING​

The Tigers singed both of their Class of 2025 commits -- Aaron Rowe and Nicholas Randall -- Wednesday. Missouri now awaits the decision of four-star forward Davion Hannah, who will make his announcement at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Hannah set a Top 4 of Alabama, Cincinnati, Missouri and Ohio State, but he's likely headed to Alabama, following three futureCasts and a bat signal from a Crimson Tide Assistant. Albeit, Cincinnati missed out on a handful of targets this cycle, leaving te program with extra resources.

While not expected to add another commitment, the Tigers' 2025 class is the second smallest under Dennis Gates in regard to high school commits. When he took over as the head coach in 2022, he retained the commitment of Aidan Shaw -- the lone high school signee of that cycle.

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Johnmichael Fountain -- who took an unofficial visit to Missouri on Nov. 9 -- is reserved in what he shares about his recruitment, but national recruiting analyst @Greg Smith got a quote from the three-star on his trip and provided a scouting report on the linebacker.

Here's my game story from the Tigers finally blowing out an opponent.

On the latest episode of The Unwritten Rule, the show previewed the South Carolina game and recapped Missouri men's basketball wins over Eastern Washington and Mississippi Valley State:

Has a year of eligibility left.

Here are quick updates from eight unoffered recruits who took unofficial visits to Missouri on Nov. 9:


Update: If Jawell Rodgers is offered, he's an automatic commit, a source told MizzouToday after the Oklahoma game. That doesn't come as a surprise, though, as many unoffered visitors are in the same boat.

If you're selling let me know!

Here are my answers to questions about Brady Cook and Drew Pyne, talented offensive linemen, backup skill position players and my personal basketball rotations.

Section 117 Row 23 Seats 22-26 on the aisle


573-380-4171 if interested

Let's get the game thread going as we're about 25 minutes from game time.

For some quick pre-game reading, here's what I'll be watching tonight and a little scouting report on Mississippi Valley State.

And how the rotations have played out through three games

Does anyone know why the Lot A tailgate stadium bathrooms are being closed 2 hours before the game when the signs all say 15 minutes before? It’s causing huge lines at the port a potties

Here's the halftime box score from a dominant Mizzou first half against arguably the worst team in DI.

Are people tailgating at the Fairgrounds, or somewhere else? See you there!

Sec 115, R 10 at mid court
N1 parking pass

Message me if interested and I’ll send them over

FREE PASS, MU BB MEN VS MVSU

Kinda weird

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2 tickets for the Arkansas game. Section 117, Row 12, seats 19 and 20. A lot X parking pass is included. (618) 218-4525 if interested.

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Daeden Hopkins -- who returned for another unofficial visit to Missouri on Saturday -- discussed who he spoke with over his past two trips and his plans to enroll in the summer, finishing out his basketball and track and field careers.