BASKETBALL RECRUITING
Couple of notes on kids Missouri is recruiting pretty hard this summer:
Miller seems to have emerged as a primary target after Caleb Love/Cam'Ron Fletcher. Cuonzo Martin saw him multiple times this summer. We'll try to catch up with him soon.
Kalkbrenner has visited Purdue, Cincinnati, Northwestern and Ohio State recently. He'll be at Stanford this weekend. Our read is that there was a time Missouri might have been able to lock Kalkbrenner up early if he was a priority (or at least establish itself with Illinois at the top) but he has blown up and has a lot of options. It will be a battle.
This is a time where we should start seeing more about official visits and get an idea of where Missouri stands with kids (as much as we ever do with Martin's recruiting). Hopefully there will be some clarity in the next month.
FOOTBALL RECRUITING:
- Missouri gained a big commitment to kick off the week in Stafford (Tex.) defensive end Robert Wooten, a target that had been a silent commit for a while after decommitting from Arizona in mid-July. With Wooten in the fold, the Tigers are still looking to add 2-3 more defensive lineman with James Sylvester, Noah Arinze, and Jalen Logan-Redding being top priorities for now.
- Alante Brown, a former Mizzou wide receiver target in the 2019 class who originally signed with Texas Tech back in February, decided to do a post-grad year at St. Thomas More (Conn.) and is now a part of the 2020 recruiting class. The Tigers were quick to re-offer Brown, who they still like as a wide receiver.
A refresher: Brown wowed the coaches at a satellite camp in Chicago last year when he clocked a 4.4 in the 40 and showed impressive route running skills. He originally committed to Miami (Oh.), then was committed to Michigan State for seven months before switching to Texas Tech before February signing day.
- Earlier this week, Rivals.com midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt caught up with safety target Antonio Johnson, who recently backed off his Tennessee commitment and reopened his recruiting process. Johnson doesn't have any official visits set right now, but listed A&M, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama as likely OV destinations. That would leave the four-star prospect one more official visit to take. Missouri could be in the mix to get it, but for now at least, it's looking more like an uphill climb.
- The Tigers also extended an offer this week to 2021 wide receiver Adonai Mitchell out of Cane Ridge (Tenn.). This wouldn't normally make headlines, but Mitchell just moved to the Nashville area from Houston and is good friends with the newest Missouri commitment, Robert Wooten. Mitchell told us that it was actually Wooten who told the coaches to check out his film, which they did, and promptly offered. Missouri is the fourth SEC offer for the three-star prospect, who we'll have an update on over the weekend.
- In other 2021 news, current Minnesota commit Sam Jackson is also looking to get out and visit other schools this fall. Missouri just offered the three-star prospect and he's planning to visit on October 12th when the Tigers host Ole Miss. Virginia Tech and Purdue are other schools Jackson hopes to get out and visit this fall.
FOOTBALL TEAM/CAMP NOTES
We are now more than a week into fall camp and the Missouri depth chart (or at least our impression of it having watched a few practices) is starting to crystalize. For those of you who have been paying attention since last season ended, you should know the majority of the starting spots. However, we can share a few notable developments.
-- If the season started tomorrow, Taylor Powell would almost certainly be Kelly Bryant's backup. However, Connor Bazelak really seems to have turned some heads during camp. He still has a long way to go learning the offense, but as Gabe said in this week's 10 Thoughts, if the team needed a long-term backup this season, it wouldn't be surprising if Bazelak got a shot.
-- The left guard starting spot pretty clearly appears to belong to Larry Borom. Barry Odom keeps praising Case Cook after practices, but Borom has taken almost all the first-team reps and Cook has spent more time at center. We think Cook will likely spend this year backing up Trystan Colon-Castillo at center and working to become his replacement there eventually.
-- As Mitchell wrote yesterday, Akial Byers has transitioned to defensive tackle full-time. Look for him to start there alongside Jordan Elliott. Kobie Whiteside and Markell Utsey appear to be in position to rotate in for regular reps as well. Jatorian Hansford and Chris Turner have taken the majority of first-team reps at defensive end, but it's possible Trajan Jeffcoat will take one of those spots when he is healthy. Tre Williams, back from suspension, has also been rotating into the group. Sci Martin will likely get a chance to show what he can do on some passing downs early in the season, but it looks like he still has a bit of work to do to advance up the depth chart.
-- We still believe Nick Bolton has the inside track on the starting weakside linebacker spot, but it may not be a done deal. Aubrey Miller took first team reps for the majority of Wednesday's practice. Ryan Walters said the team was trying to "simulate some adversity" by playing a few backups with the starters, and Bolton was indeed back with the ones Thursday, but don't be shocked if Miller gets some playing time early in the season to show what he can do and push Bolton.
-- We continue to believe that Jarvis Ware will see the field at cornerback this season, and he may even rotate with Christian Holmes as a starter. Ware, Adam Sparks and Richaud Floyd have all been working with the first team in dime packages. In addition, while Joshuah Bledsoe, Tyree Gillespie and Ronnell Perkins will almost certainly start at safety, look for Khalil Oliver to split reps with Perkins.
-- Walk-on Aaron Rodriguez continues to make a push for the starting punter spot. It wouldn't be stunning if, by the end of the week, Tucker McCann dials back his punting work in practice and focuses on placekicking and kickoffs, leaving Rodriguez to punt. It's our impression that the staff wants somebody to beat McCann out for the punting job. Not because they don't think he can do it, but it would ease the workload. The spot won't be given to Rodriguez, but if he looks to be McCann's equal in camp he'll probably get the nod.
--Our money is on Richaud Floyd to start at punt returner. Johnathon Johnson, Jalen Knox and Dominic Gicinto have also taken reps at the position. Kickoff returner is a bit less clear. Tyler Badie is probably the favorite at the moment, but Kam Scott and Jonathan Nance could also take over that spot if the team wants to limit the number of hits on Badie. The Tigers have split reps there, especially early in the season, over the last few years.
Couple of notes on kids Missouri is recruiting pretty hard this summer:
Miller seems to have emerged as a primary target after Caleb Love/Cam'Ron Fletcher. Cuonzo Martin saw him multiple times this summer. We'll try to catch up with him soon.
Kalkbrenner has visited Purdue, Cincinnati, Northwestern and Ohio State recently. He'll be at Stanford this weekend. Our read is that there was a time Missouri might have been able to lock Kalkbrenner up early if he was a priority (or at least establish itself with Illinois at the top) but he has blown up and has a lot of options. It will be a battle.
This is a time where we should start seeing more about official visits and get an idea of where Missouri stands with kids (as much as we ever do with Martin's recruiting). Hopefully there will be some clarity in the next month.
FOOTBALL RECRUITING:
- Missouri gained a big commitment to kick off the week in Stafford (Tex.) defensive end Robert Wooten, a target that had been a silent commit for a while after decommitting from Arizona in mid-July. With Wooten in the fold, the Tigers are still looking to add 2-3 more defensive lineman with James Sylvester, Noah Arinze, and Jalen Logan-Redding being top priorities for now.
- Alante Brown, a former Mizzou wide receiver target in the 2019 class who originally signed with Texas Tech back in February, decided to do a post-grad year at St. Thomas More (Conn.) and is now a part of the 2020 recruiting class. The Tigers were quick to re-offer Brown, who they still like as a wide receiver.
A refresher: Brown wowed the coaches at a satellite camp in Chicago last year when he clocked a 4.4 in the 40 and showed impressive route running skills. He originally committed to Miami (Oh.), then was committed to Michigan State for seven months before switching to Texas Tech before February signing day.
- Earlier this week, Rivals.com midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt caught up with safety target Antonio Johnson, who recently backed off his Tennessee commitment and reopened his recruiting process. Johnson doesn't have any official visits set right now, but listed A&M, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama as likely OV destinations. That would leave the four-star prospect one more official visit to take. Missouri could be in the mix to get it, but for now at least, it's looking more like an uphill climb.
- The Tigers also extended an offer this week to 2021 wide receiver Adonai Mitchell out of Cane Ridge (Tenn.). This wouldn't normally make headlines, but Mitchell just moved to the Nashville area from Houston and is good friends with the newest Missouri commitment, Robert Wooten. Mitchell told us that it was actually Wooten who told the coaches to check out his film, which they did, and promptly offered. Missouri is the fourth SEC offer for the three-star prospect, who we'll have an update on over the weekend.
- In other 2021 news, current Minnesota commit Sam Jackson is also looking to get out and visit other schools this fall. Missouri just offered the three-star prospect and he's planning to visit on October 12th when the Tigers host Ole Miss. Virginia Tech and Purdue are other schools Jackson hopes to get out and visit this fall.
FOOTBALL TEAM/CAMP NOTES
We are now more than a week into fall camp and the Missouri depth chart (or at least our impression of it having watched a few practices) is starting to crystalize. For those of you who have been paying attention since last season ended, you should know the majority of the starting spots. However, we can share a few notable developments.
-- If the season started tomorrow, Taylor Powell would almost certainly be Kelly Bryant's backup. However, Connor Bazelak really seems to have turned some heads during camp. He still has a long way to go learning the offense, but as Gabe said in this week's 10 Thoughts, if the team needed a long-term backup this season, it wouldn't be surprising if Bazelak got a shot.
-- The left guard starting spot pretty clearly appears to belong to Larry Borom. Barry Odom keeps praising Case Cook after practices, but Borom has taken almost all the first-team reps and Cook has spent more time at center. We think Cook will likely spend this year backing up Trystan Colon-Castillo at center and working to become his replacement there eventually.
-- As Mitchell wrote yesterday, Akial Byers has transitioned to defensive tackle full-time. Look for him to start there alongside Jordan Elliott. Kobie Whiteside and Markell Utsey appear to be in position to rotate in for regular reps as well. Jatorian Hansford and Chris Turner have taken the majority of first-team reps at defensive end, but it's possible Trajan Jeffcoat will take one of those spots when he is healthy. Tre Williams, back from suspension, has also been rotating into the group. Sci Martin will likely get a chance to show what he can do on some passing downs early in the season, but it looks like he still has a bit of work to do to advance up the depth chart.
-- We still believe Nick Bolton has the inside track on the starting weakside linebacker spot, but it may not be a done deal. Aubrey Miller took first team reps for the majority of Wednesday's practice. Ryan Walters said the team was trying to "simulate some adversity" by playing a few backups with the starters, and Bolton was indeed back with the ones Thursday, but don't be shocked if Miller gets some playing time early in the season to show what he can do and push Bolton.
-- We continue to believe that Jarvis Ware will see the field at cornerback this season, and he may even rotate with Christian Holmes as a starter. Ware, Adam Sparks and Richaud Floyd have all been working with the first team in dime packages. In addition, while Joshuah Bledsoe, Tyree Gillespie and Ronnell Perkins will almost certainly start at safety, look for Khalil Oliver to split reps with Perkins.
-- Walk-on Aaron Rodriguez continues to make a push for the starting punter spot. It wouldn't be stunning if, by the end of the week, Tucker McCann dials back his punting work in practice and focuses on placekicking and kickoffs, leaving Rodriguez to punt. It's our impression that the staff wants somebody to beat McCann out for the punting job. Not because they don't think he can do it, but it would ease the workload. The spot won't be given to Rodriguez, but if he looks to be McCann's equal in camp he'll probably get the nod.
--Our money is on Richaud Floyd to start at punt returner. Johnathon Johnson, Jalen Knox and Dominic Gicinto have also taken reps at the position. Kickoff returner is a bit less clear. Tyler Badie is probably the favorite at the moment, but Kam Scott and Jonathan Nance could also take over that spot if the team wants to limit the number of hits on Badie. The Tigers have split reps there, especially early in the season, over the last few years.
