The Chamber spent the morning at the DMV, which is why it is a little behind this morning. But the payoff is that The Chamber's offspring has a driver's license so it will spend far less time driving to swim practices, school and various events, thus freeing up its time to bow down and serve your every recruiting need. On to it:
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
- Colquitt County (Ga.) offensive line target Kamaar Bell tweeted this week that he will release his Top 5 soon. Mizzou is a recent offer for Bell, but we think they have a decent shot at making the cut. He told us that he "definitely" plans to take an official visit to CoMo when we caught up with him after he received his offer. However, it's recruiting and things change daily.
Bell has already taken an official to West Virginia and has one planned to Auburn in November. He's also made it known in interviews that Alabama, Auburn, and Florida are his favorites.
We've switched our forecast for Boone to Missouri. We would anticipate him being a Tiger on September 15th, joining Kirkwood DE/LB Arvell Ferguson and giving Mizzou more in-state commits in this class than it had in the last two combined.
Other than that, football side is pretty quiet until we get word of official visits that have been scheduled. High school and college programs are practicing and that's where the focus is right now.
BASKETBALL RECRUITING
This is where the intrigue lies right now. There are two major guys we're going to focus on.
Liddell confirmed to @_keeganpope last night his official visit schedule which looks like this:
Ohio State - 8/31
Mizzou - 9/8
KSU - 9/28
Wisconsin - 10/6
Illinois - 10/12
It won't surprise us if he takes all five visits. He's been methodical about the recruiting process. But everyone we talk to tells us this is between Mizzou and Ohio State. Could something change and blow him away and change his mind? Yes. But going into the visits, our sources indicate to us that the Buckeyes or the Tigers is most likely to land him. D.J. Carton has been pushing OSU hard, but Mark Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon are big recruiters on the Mizzou side. From everything we've been told, Liddell's family really likes Cuonzo Martin and has been impressed with the job the Tigers have done recruiting him. Ohio State gets the first crack at making an impression. The best news that could come out of that for Missouri is no news at all.
McKinney may actually be the more interesting situation here. We've gone back and forth for months on where the Tigers stand with him. But our latest information is that he may not be a take for Mizzou right now. We think Missouri is going to kind of wait and see how other things play out before they'd pull the trigger on McKinney. That's why, if he takes an official visit, we think it will be a little bit later in the process. One thing that could impact it here is what McKinney means for Liddell. If taking McKinney is the difference between getting Liddell and not getting him, Missouri takes him without question. But if not, we think they'll wait and see how the process plays out. This is not based on pure speculation. We've had people in the St. Louis area tell us that they're hearing McKinney is in a holding pattern for Missouri right now.
So who else could fill the class? Here are guys that we think are priorities that Missouri would take immediately (that they actually have a chance at)
Rocket Watts
Harlond Beverly
Tray Jackson
Malik Hall
Antavion Collum
Other guys they're in the mix with, but we're not sure they'd be immediate takes:
Isiaih Mosley
Jalen Hill
Christian Braun
Guys they've offered, but we really don't know where they stand:
Jaykwon Walton
Marcus Watson
FOOTBALL NEWS
Just a few tidbits from the team:
Jordan Elliott was all the rage in the spring, but we expect Walter Palmore to be the starter next to Terry Beckner Jr. On the ends, it will be Tre Williams and Chris Turner, but look for Jatorian Hansford, Daniel Parker Jr. and Trajan Jeffcoat all to at least see action in up to four games to see where they stand.
At linebacker, the starters are set with Terez Hall, Cale Garrett and Brandon Lee. Nick Bolton is going to play. The injury to Chad Bailey puts him a little bit behind, so he probably won't at this point. Cameron Wilkins could, but that might depend a lot on how Aubrey Miller and Jamal Brooks look. Barry Odom said Miller has had a good camp, but he's concerned about the depth simply because most of the guys behind the starters haven't actually done it on the field.
In the secondary, we think Khalil Oliver starts at safety. Our money would be on Cam Hilton starting the opener, but Tyree Gillespie winning that job at some point. Adam Sparks and DeMarkus Acy will start at corner with Christian Holmes likely the third guy. Terry Petry could see action and we think Jarvis Ware and Tyrone Collins might get time in the first four games with the one who does better shedding the redshirt and getting time and the other one going on the shelf for the final eight games.
On offense, there just aren't many questions. We'd put our money on Micah Wilson as the backup QB, but with that being an ongoing competition most of the year. If Drew Lock gets hurt, absolutely all projections for the season go completely out the window.
Tyler Badie seems very likely to be the third running back with Dawson Downing and Isaiah Miller in the discussion as No. 4.
Look for Albert Okwuegbunam and Kendall Blanton to get virtually every rep at tight end. With Logan Christopherson dealing with a concussion, Brendan Scales has a chance to grab that third spot in the next few days, but the reps are mostly going to to the top two.
At wide receiver, Nate Brown will probably be the starter alongside Emanuel Hall and Johnathon Johnson, but we'd bet he splits reps pretty evenly with Alex Ofodile. Jalen Knox is going to play as is Dominic Gicinto. Kam Scott and Khmari Thompson could, but there may not be a need, especially if Richaud Floyd is back on time. Those two could get looks in the first four games.
Speaking of Floyd, with him out, we think Knox is going to get a long look as the punt returner. Ultimately, the guy who catches the ball most often is going to get the job. Not sure on kickoff return at this point, whether they'll stick with Rountree or minimize the number of hits he takes and go with someone else.
The offensive line seems set. Yeah, they're going to push competition, but it would be a surprise if it isn't Yasir Durant, Kevin Pendleton, Trystan Colon-Castillo, Tre'Vour Simms and Paul Adams. In particular, we've heard rave reviews of Simms and how much Brad Davis likes him.
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
- Colquitt County (Ga.) offensive line target Kamaar Bell tweeted this week that he will release his Top 5 soon. Mizzou is a recent offer for Bell, but we think they have a decent shot at making the cut. He told us that he "definitely" plans to take an official visit to CoMo when we caught up with him after he received his offer. However, it's recruiting and things change daily.
Bell has already taken an official to West Virginia and has one planned to Auburn in November. He's also made it known in interviews that Alabama, Auburn, and Florida are his favorites.
We've switched our forecast for Boone to Missouri. We would anticipate him being a Tiger on September 15th, joining Kirkwood DE/LB Arvell Ferguson and giving Mizzou more in-state commits in this class than it had in the last two combined.
Other than that, football side is pretty quiet until we get word of official visits that have been scheduled. High school and college programs are practicing and that's where the focus is right now.
BASKETBALL RECRUITING
This is where the intrigue lies right now. There are two major guys we're going to focus on.
Liddell confirmed to @_keeganpope last night his official visit schedule which looks like this:
Ohio State - 8/31
Mizzou - 9/8
KSU - 9/28
Wisconsin - 10/6
Illinois - 10/12
It won't surprise us if he takes all five visits. He's been methodical about the recruiting process. But everyone we talk to tells us this is between Mizzou and Ohio State. Could something change and blow him away and change his mind? Yes. But going into the visits, our sources indicate to us that the Buckeyes or the Tigers is most likely to land him. D.J. Carton has been pushing OSU hard, but Mark Smith and Jeremiah Tilmon are big recruiters on the Mizzou side. From everything we've been told, Liddell's family really likes Cuonzo Martin and has been impressed with the job the Tigers have done recruiting him. Ohio State gets the first crack at making an impression. The best news that could come out of that for Missouri is no news at all.
McKinney may actually be the more interesting situation here. We've gone back and forth for months on where the Tigers stand with him. But our latest information is that he may not be a take for Mizzou right now. We think Missouri is going to kind of wait and see how other things play out before they'd pull the trigger on McKinney. That's why, if he takes an official visit, we think it will be a little bit later in the process. One thing that could impact it here is what McKinney means for Liddell. If taking McKinney is the difference between getting Liddell and not getting him, Missouri takes him without question. But if not, we think they'll wait and see how the process plays out. This is not based on pure speculation. We've had people in the St. Louis area tell us that they're hearing McKinney is in a holding pattern for Missouri right now.
So who else could fill the class? Here are guys that we think are priorities that Missouri would take immediately (that they actually have a chance at)
Rocket Watts
Harlond Beverly
Tray Jackson
Malik Hall
Antavion Collum
Other guys they're in the mix with, but we're not sure they'd be immediate takes:
Isiaih Mosley
Jalen Hill
Christian Braun
Guys they've offered, but we really don't know where they stand:
Jaykwon Walton
Marcus Watson
FOOTBALL NEWS
Just a few tidbits from the team:
Jordan Elliott was all the rage in the spring, but we expect Walter Palmore to be the starter next to Terry Beckner Jr. On the ends, it will be Tre Williams and Chris Turner, but look for Jatorian Hansford, Daniel Parker Jr. and Trajan Jeffcoat all to at least see action in up to four games to see where they stand.
At linebacker, the starters are set with Terez Hall, Cale Garrett and Brandon Lee. Nick Bolton is going to play. The injury to Chad Bailey puts him a little bit behind, so he probably won't at this point. Cameron Wilkins could, but that might depend a lot on how Aubrey Miller and Jamal Brooks look. Barry Odom said Miller has had a good camp, but he's concerned about the depth simply because most of the guys behind the starters haven't actually done it on the field.
In the secondary, we think Khalil Oliver starts at safety. Our money would be on Cam Hilton starting the opener, but Tyree Gillespie winning that job at some point. Adam Sparks and DeMarkus Acy will start at corner with Christian Holmes likely the third guy. Terry Petry could see action and we think Jarvis Ware and Tyrone Collins might get time in the first four games with the one who does better shedding the redshirt and getting time and the other one going on the shelf for the final eight games.
On offense, there just aren't many questions. We'd put our money on Micah Wilson as the backup QB, but with that being an ongoing competition most of the year. If Drew Lock gets hurt, absolutely all projections for the season go completely out the window.
Tyler Badie seems very likely to be the third running back with Dawson Downing and Isaiah Miller in the discussion as No. 4.
Look for Albert Okwuegbunam and Kendall Blanton to get virtually every rep at tight end. With Logan Christopherson dealing with a concussion, Brendan Scales has a chance to grab that third spot in the next few days, but the reps are mostly going to to the top two.
At wide receiver, Nate Brown will probably be the starter alongside Emanuel Hall and Johnathon Johnson, but we'd bet he splits reps pretty evenly with Alex Ofodile. Jalen Knox is going to play as is Dominic Gicinto. Kam Scott and Khmari Thompson could, but there may not be a need, especially if Richaud Floyd is back on time. Those two could get looks in the first four games.
Speaking of Floyd, with him out, we think Knox is going to get a long look as the punt returner. Ultimately, the guy who catches the ball most often is going to get the job. Not sure on kickoff return at this point, whether they'll stick with Rountree or minimize the number of hits he takes and go with someone else.
The offensive line seems set. Yeah, they're going to push competition, but it would be a surprise if it isn't Yasir Durant, Kevin Pendleton, Trystan Colon-Castillo, Tre'Vour Simms and Paul Adams. In particular, we've heard rave reviews of Simms and how much Brad Davis likes him.
