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FOOTBALL RECRUITING
We know why you're primarily here. We're not going to bury the lede. There are three headliners in Mizzou recruiting right now. Two of them are set to make decisions in the next ten days.
Five-star DE target Williams Nwaneri will be announcing his commitment on August 14th. The feeling remains this being an Oklahoma/Missouri battle with the Tigers now potentially even holding a slight lead. Just go look at what your new bestie, Clint Cosgrove, had to say HERE.
Oklahoma people have been extremely confident throughout Nwaneri's recruitment. Most are still confident, but less than they were a few weeks ago. Missouri has made up serious ground and maybe even enough to win this race. There are people around Missouri who are confident as well.
If the Tigers lose this one, it's not going to be for financial reasons. The Tigers have put their best foot forward on the NIL front dating back to a one-on-one visit to the state capital on the first night of Nwaneri's official visit back in June. The new state law allowing in-state players to receive NIL funds the day they sign with an in-state program (don't worry, we don't see Missouri Western as a threat here) is absolutely a factor. The simple truth is the only place Nwaneri can get life changing money before he graduates from high school is Mizzou. There's also been talk from people we know that his family is leaning toward Mizzou.
Nwaneri said in an article by Chad Simmons of on3 that he made the decision two or three weeks ago and he has "a pretty good idea on where I'm going." People that believe he is going to Oklahoma are using that statement as evidence that the decision was made before Missouri's charge, but that's not accurate. That charge started in earnest in June. We have a couple of people who have been telling us for three weeks Nwaneri is headed to Mizzou. Nothing is official until it is official and both programs are going to be making their pitches not only for the next ten days, but the one that doesn't get him on August 14 absolutely isn't going to give up until he signs in December.
The bottom line is this: Last week in this space we wrote that if we had to make a prediction that day, we'd predict Oklahoma. We're changing that tune. If we are making the pick today, we would pick Missouri. That's absolutely not a guarantee. We don't know and we don't believe the coaching staffs involved know, at least not for sure. But based on all the information we've gathered and where it's come from, we're thinking the announcement will go Missouri's way and then the Tigers will fight like hell for four months to keep him on board.
We are planning to be at Nwaneri's announcement on Monday the 14th and, if he picks Missouri, to cover his season opener on August 25th.
As far as what kind of player Mizzou would be getting, he's a consensus top three national recruit by the three primary recruiting services. One talent evaluator told us earlier this week he believes Nwaneri is "a generational player" and the best high school defensive end he's seen since Mario Williams, who was a four-star when he signed with NC State in the Class of 2003 and went No. 1 overall to the Houston Texans in the 2006 NFL Draft.
With five-star WR Ryan Wingo, things remain status quo after visits to Missouri, Texas A&M and Tennessee during the brief July live period. His commitment is set for December 20th. He'll visit other schools throughout the fall. He'll likely return to Missouri for a game during the season, maybe more than one. Missouri has a ton of momentum right now and is hoping to keep it rolling into December.
Our confidence level that Wingo ends up at Mizzou is actually higher than with Nwaneri. While the momentum with Nwaneri seems a little bit more recent, the Tigers have always been right near the top for the SLUH receiver. The family really likes Eli Drinkwitz and Jacob Peeler and they're incredibly familiar with Mizzou since his older brother Raymond played here. Ryan has made at least half a dozen visits to Columbia in the last year or so, but he has been on campus plenty of times before that as well. Prior to the last visit, Ryan's father told us it's always good to get to Columbia and have a chance to talk to the staff. Wingo has seen the NIL opportunities and the pub that Luther Burden has gotten in his first year-and-a-half in Columbia and it's made an impression. And, again, Missouri can start getting Wingo NIL money weeks or even months earlier than any other program.
Wingo is the last of the big three to make an announcement (he currently doesn't plan to announce until December 20th. It's always possible that date moves up, but that's where Wingo is right now). But we don't think the decision will take that long. In fact, we think there's a chance it's already been made, at least privately if not formally.
Rivals250 WR Jeremiah McClellan set his commitment date for August 13th and will choose between Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oregon, and Missouri. The St. Louis talent took a visit to Missouri last weekend, cancelling his original plans to visit Oregon again.
Oregon and Ohio State are very much in the race here and right now our perception is he won't be picking Missouri. But the Tigers' chances aren't dead here. While he's the longest shot of the big three, Missouri is under consideration and will continue to push even if he announces he's headed elsewhere next Sunday. The Tigers offered his younger brother, Nicholas, at camp last weekend. There's been some chatter that the Ohio State offer has an expiration date and that's why McClellan is announcing next week. So even if he picks the Buckeyes (and that would be our prediction as of this morning) Missouri is going to continue to push. Multiple sources have told us Missouri has made a big push and feels as if it has a lot of momentum with McClellan. Whether it's enough to push them over the top in the next nine days is questionable. We'd term is as doubtful but definitely not out of the question.
A few other notes on the football side:
- 2024 defensive end Jaylen Brown was on campus last week, took part in camp, and picked up an offer from the Tigers. Missouri becomes his second power five offer, joining Maryland. The 6-foot-6, 230-pounder is getting some late attention and plans to get some senior film under his belt before he makes his college decision. He told us that Houston, South Carolina, and Michigan State are also expressing interest, so the possibility of landing a few more offers is likely. However, Missouri got him on campus and made an early impression. That could go a long way in the end.
- Dre Kirkpatrick, Jr. has set a commitment date of August 18th. He took an official visit to Missouri in June, but recently picked up an offer from Alabama where his father played. So, Crimson Tide all the way.
- Defensive end Elias Williams announced a Top 4 earlier this week that includes Missouri, UCF, Indiana, and Florida State. He took June officials to all those schools with the exception of Florida State, where he took two unofficial trips in June and late July for their camps. He has an offer from the Seminoles, the question is do they want him. If they do, we expect he'll end up there. Also, UCF is making waves on the recruiting trail and that could be an appealing option as well. In other words, it may be hard to pull him away from his home state, but he remains a priority for Mizzou.
- Offensive line target Kavion Broussard is someone that visited Missouri on Memorial Day and had an official scheduled with Missouri in June, but had to cancel due to personal reasons. We think Missouri is in a good spot with the three-star from Louisiana, but we noticed he also tweeted out official offers from Florida State and Miami as well. So, the competition is a little bit tougher than originally thought. It's likely Broussard will take official visits in the fall before making a decision although he told us he has nothing scheduled as of now.
- We also noticed that current Houston OL commit Ray'Quan Bell tweeted out an official offer from Missouri on Tuesday. Bell was one of the first guys new Missouri OL coach Brandon Jones offered as soon as he was officially in place. Bell committed to the Cougs in June, but it's clear that Missouri is still showing interest and wouldn’t mind if a flip occurred down the road.
