We’ll get right to it in the Chamber. Pete’s the star of the show with football recruiting news. I’ll supplement it with some notes after his info:
Missouri's big weekend for visits is upon us, as the Tigers are set to host nine recruits over the next three days. That includes six current commitments and three uncommitted players.
The current commitments that will visit are: DB Kentrell Brothershttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Kentrell-Brothers-101580 was scheduled to visit, but he's taking the ACT on Saturday. He told me that he shouldn't have any problems with qualifying,
Anthony Piersonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Anthony-Pierson-73471 are two of the uncommitted guys that will be in attendance. Ray said he's still committed to Missouri, but at this point, I'm not sure the coaching staff views him as a commitment. It's a little odd that, after Andy Hill's in-home visit Wednesday night, he's avoided my calls, but sources say he's still visiting this weekend. I think we should have a final decision from Ray by the end of next week.
Pierson is reportedly taking the ACT on Saturday morning and then heading to Columbia. If he's here at the basketball game, I'll post on the message board, but it sounds like the staff expects him to be here. If he does visit, I wouldn't expect an immediate decision from him. I imagine he'll take a few more officials, to Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and maybe Kansas, before anything is finalized.
If Pierson chooses to go elsewhere, I can guarantee it won't be because Missouri wanted him as a cornerback and he wanted to play running back. Missouri allows every recruit to choose their position. If Pierson wants to play running back, he can do that for the Tigers.
The other recruit we’re hearing will take a trip is Rockdale (TX) offensive tackle Le'Raven Clarkhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Le'Raven-Clark-107063. Clark is currently a Texas Tech commitment, although he's taking other visits. Sources told us he visited TCU last week, and will take a few more officials after he visits Missouri. Unfortunately, Clark's cell phone number doesn't work, and the guys at RedRaiderSports.com told us they haven't been able to reach him since September. Like Pierson, I wouldn't expect a decision right away from Clark.
At this point, it doesn't look like Missouri is bringing in any visitors next weekend, and it appears that this class won't be full until January.
Two guys who are still on Missouri's radar are Errin Joehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Errin-Joe-103697. Latu said he's still planning a visit to Missouri, but is trying to schedule it. It looks like he won't visit until January. He said he'll visit Columbia and visit Oregon and then make a decision sometime before signing day.
It looks like the ship has sailed on Joe. I talked with him on Wednesday, and he said he's only taking three officials. He hasn't set them yet, and isn't 100 percent sure who will get them, but he said he's probably not visiting Missouri. He admitted that could change, but I think FSU, Georgia Tech and South Carolina are the favorites for him.
2012 recruiting should pick up after the New Year, but I wanted to pass along this tidbit on Allen (TX) running back Jonathan Williamshttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Jonathan-Williams-120250. I wrote an article on him last week, and he texted me this weekend to say thanks for the article (real, real polite kid). I asked him if Missouri was a legitimate contender, especially if Texas and OU offer.
"Oh, most definitely," Williams said. "Missouri's the first school I mention whenever I'm interviewed. I'm really interested in them."
It'll be a battle for him, but I think the fact that he was a bit of a late bloomer could help Missouri. They're showing the most interest early on, and that obviously means a lot to him.
****Okay, this is Gabe again. Pete’s got most of it covered, but I did want to throw a few things out there for you.
First off, Pete has a great relationship with Shane Ray, but as he said, Shane has kind of stopped returning calls and texts. I talked to his coach, Tim Grunhard, earlier this week. Grunhard said he hadn’t really talked to Shane much because he (Grunhard) just had knee replacement surgery and has been laid up (hazards of playing in the NFL). Grunhard told me that Ray still really likes Missouri, Hill and Gary Pinkel and that he still considers himself committed to the Tigers. But Notre Dame and Oklahoma were the two schools Shane said all along he would visit if they offered. The Irish did and he took the trip. Grunhard told me Shane will know for sure what he’s doing next week in all likelihood. I don’t know what to think here for sure. There was some thought that Missouri would drop Ray if he took the trip to South Bend. That hasn’t happened. The Tigers still want him. But if he ends up going to Notre Dame, the Tigers will find someone else.
I attempted to reach Darren Sunkett to talk to him about Pierson, but haven’t gotten a call back. Pierson hasn’t answered our calls for months. We honestly have no idea what the situation is. If something happens this weekend, we’ll pass it on, but we just don’t know much as Pete indicated.
There’s not really any new information on Sheldon Richardsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Sheldon-Richardson-107295 at this point, but I’m asked about him every day, so I’ll address it. Richardson is eligible to sign next Wednesday, December 15th, if he graduates from juco as he originally planned. At this point, it seems kind of questionable if that will happen. We may not know anything about Sheldon officially until he posts something on his Facebook page (or until February at this point). As we’ve told you all along, the family wants him at Missouri and we don’t consider the Tigers out of the picture. If something happens, we’ll tell you about it.
**Right now, Missouri has 14 commitments if you include Ray. If they convince him to stay on board, it’s my opinion they’d like to add Richardson, Pierson and Clark. If the Tigers manage to do that in the next few days, the class could be wrapped up. If not, we’ll go into January.
Missouri's big weekend for visits is upon us, as the Tigers are set to host nine recruits over the next three days. That includes six current commitments and three uncommitted players.
The current commitments that will visit are: DB Kentrell Brothershttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Kentrell-Brothers-101580 was scheduled to visit, but he's taking the ACT on Saturday. He told me that he shouldn't have any problems with qualifying,
Anthony Piersonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Anthony-Pierson-73471 are two of the uncommitted guys that will be in attendance. Ray said he's still committed to Missouri, but at this point, I'm not sure the coaching staff views him as a commitment. It's a little odd that, after Andy Hill's in-home visit Wednesday night, he's avoided my calls, but sources say he's still visiting this weekend. I think we should have a final decision from Ray by the end of next week.
Pierson is reportedly taking the ACT on Saturday morning and then heading to Columbia. If he's here at the basketball game, I'll post on the message board, but it sounds like the staff expects him to be here. If he does visit, I wouldn't expect an immediate decision from him. I imagine he'll take a few more officials, to Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and maybe Kansas, before anything is finalized.
If Pierson chooses to go elsewhere, I can guarantee it won't be because Missouri wanted him as a cornerback and he wanted to play running back. Missouri allows every recruit to choose their position. If Pierson wants to play running back, he can do that for the Tigers.
The other recruit we’re hearing will take a trip is Rockdale (TX) offensive tackle Le'Raven Clarkhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Le'Raven-Clark-107063. Clark is currently a Texas Tech commitment, although he's taking other visits. Sources told us he visited TCU last week, and will take a few more officials after he visits Missouri. Unfortunately, Clark's cell phone number doesn't work, and the guys at RedRaiderSports.com told us they haven't been able to reach him since September. Like Pierson, I wouldn't expect a decision right away from Clark.
At this point, it doesn't look like Missouri is bringing in any visitors next weekend, and it appears that this class won't be full until January.
Two guys who are still on Missouri's radar are Errin Joehttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Errin-Joe-103697. Latu said he's still planning a visit to Missouri, but is trying to schedule it. It looks like he won't visit until January. He said he'll visit Columbia and visit Oregon and then make a decision sometime before signing day.
It looks like the ship has sailed on Joe. I talked with him on Wednesday, and he said he's only taking three officials. He hasn't set them yet, and isn't 100 percent sure who will get them, but he said he's probably not visiting Missouri. He admitted that could change, but I think FSU, Georgia Tech and South Carolina are the favorites for him.
2012 recruiting should pick up after the New Year, but I wanted to pass along this tidbit on Allen (TX) running back Jonathan Williamshttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Jonathan-Williams-120250. I wrote an article on him last week, and he texted me this weekend to say thanks for the article (real, real polite kid). I asked him if Missouri was a legitimate contender, especially if Texas and OU offer.
"Oh, most definitely," Williams said. "Missouri's the first school I mention whenever I'm interviewed. I'm really interested in them."
It'll be a battle for him, but I think the fact that he was a bit of a late bloomer could help Missouri. They're showing the most interest early on, and that obviously means a lot to him.
****Okay, this is Gabe again. Pete’s got most of it covered, but I did want to throw a few things out there for you.
First off, Pete has a great relationship with Shane Ray, but as he said, Shane has kind of stopped returning calls and texts. I talked to his coach, Tim Grunhard, earlier this week. Grunhard said he hadn’t really talked to Shane much because he (Grunhard) just had knee replacement surgery and has been laid up (hazards of playing in the NFL). Grunhard told me that Ray still really likes Missouri, Hill and Gary Pinkel and that he still considers himself committed to the Tigers. But Notre Dame and Oklahoma were the two schools Shane said all along he would visit if they offered. The Irish did and he took the trip. Grunhard told me Shane will know for sure what he’s doing next week in all likelihood. I don’t know what to think here for sure. There was some thought that Missouri would drop Ray if he took the trip to South Bend. That hasn’t happened. The Tigers still want him. But if he ends up going to Notre Dame, the Tigers will find someone else.
I attempted to reach Darren Sunkett to talk to him about Pierson, but haven’t gotten a call back. Pierson hasn’t answered our calls for months. We honestly have no idea what the situation is. If something happens this weekend, we’ll pass it on, but we just don’t know much as Pete indicated.
There’s not really any new information on Sheldon Richardsonhttp://rivals.yahoo.com/missouri/football/recruiting/player-Sheldon-Richardson-107295 at this point, but I’m asked about him every day, so I’ll address it. Richardson is eligible to sign next Wednesday, December 15th, if he graduates from juco as he originally planned. At this point, it seems kind of questionable if that will happen. We may not know anything about Sheldon officially until he posts something on his Facebook page (or until February at this point). As we’ve told you all along, the family wants him at Missouri and we don’t consider the Tigers out of the picture. If something happens, we’ll tell you about it.
**Right now, Missouri has 14 commitments if you include Ray. If they convince him to stay on board, it’s my opinion they’d like to add Richardson, Pierson and Clark. If the Tigers manage to do that in the next few days, the class could be wrapped up. If not, we’ll go into January.
