All football recruiting all the time here this week. May take two posts, we'll see. Let's get to it.
*First off, we're going to start with some general housekeeping items on recruiting over the next six weeks. This is the last visit weekend before a dead period starts on Sunday at midnight. What is a dead period? Here's the definition from the NCAA:
During a dead period a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools. Coaches may write and telephone student-athletes or their parents during a dead period.
So, kids can commit. Coaches can communicate with them. They can't see them in person. Recruiting still happens, commitments can still happen, they just can't be face to face or recruit off campus. The dead period ends on January 12. There are three potential visit weekends before National Signing Day. It appears most or all of Missouri's visits are going to occur on the January 20 and 27 weekends.
Next, beginning on December 14, which is next Wednesday, we have the mid-year signing period. That means early enrollees/mid-year junior college grads can sign with the school they plan to go to. I expect Rashad Brandon and Nate Anderson sign on this date. Octavious Morgan likely needs to as well. There could be some others.
To clear up the signing rules, the mid-year guys would not count toward the 25 Missouri can sign on February 1, 2017, which is National Signing Day. So let's say they sign three guys next week. They can sign 25 more on February 1, giving them a class of 28. I fully expect Missouri to go over 25.
The unofficial scholarship count has been updated after yesterday's news that Marvin Zanders will transfer (related, Marvin is supposed to call me today for an interview with a little more info on the reasons he is leaving and all). The Tigers currently have 67 scholarship players slated to return. They have 16 commitments. Math tells you there are two spots left in this class. There are more. Numbers won't be an issue. They'll figure it out.
**Okay, before we break down each official visitor for this weekend, let's get to some notes on some of the recent visitors and activity:
Larry Rountree has not yet announced a decision. We expect that to happen soon...perhaps as soon as today. We expect that it will be Missouri.
Isaiah Miller is visiting Tennessee this weekend. We expect a decision shortly after that visit. From what we are told, Tennessee would take him if he wants to commit. But we also have been told that Missouri is in excellent position. Could a visit to Knoxville this weekend change his mind? Sure. Miller did have an in-home visit with Oregon State--to which he is currently committed--last night. We feel good about Missouri's chances, but will need to see what he says after the visit this weekend obviously.
Caleb Perry, who knows? We have never been able to get in touch with him. He had an in-home visit with Washington State this week. Kind of tough to see him coming to Columbia when he has the option to stay in-state, but that's nothing more than a guess.
I cannot say what's going on at East St. Louis. I have not been able to confirm whether Barry Odom was there this week or not. I know two things: First, Jeff Thomas, Rey Estes and others are visiting Illinois this weekend. Second, Missouri isn't going to stop recruiting them. If it's important for all of them to play together in college, they're going to go to Illinois. If Thomas makes a decision independent of the others, Missouri still has a shot, though from everything we're hearing they're probably not in the lead at this point in time. Missouri would like to add Thomas to this class and is obviously good with taking Estes. But they're not going to start offering other guys from ESL they don't think can play here to get him. The interesting thing will be the timetable. We have discussed often that ESL guys tend to have signing day announcements because it shines light on the school and is good publicity. If that's the case, it gives Missouri another six weeks to convince Estes and Thomas to take an official visit and sign with the Tigers. It will be intriguing to see if any of the ESL guys commit publicly to Illinois after this weekend. I think what happens by about next Wednesday will give us an indication whether Missouri still has a shot to land Thomas and Estes.
Eno Benjamin released a top six yesterday. Missouri is in it. But so is Texas. The Longhorns offered yesterday. It will be pretty surprising if that's not where he ends up.
Greg Brown had an in-home visit with Florida prospect Darrian Felix last night. Until then, he wasn't really on our radar. We will do some digging, but right now, we don't really have any feel for where Missouri might stand.
Jordan Ulmer, who visited here last weekend, is visiting Minnesota this weekend. As with Miller, we feel pretty good about Missouri's chances, but if he's still taking visits it's certainly not a done deal. We'll keep an eye on what happens, though I doubt we see anything publicly. Ulmer hasn't done any interviews ever that I've seen.
Jaylen Twyman, who will visit Missouri in January, is visiting Pitt this weekend. I'll be interested to see if a commitment comes out of that. If it doesn't, Missouri will have a shot to get him on campus. But I wouldn't be shocked to see him be a Panther before that visit can happen.
There was a story earlier this week that Missouri was in the mix for Florida decommitment Javier Edwards. A potential visit had been mentioned. I've had sources tell me that Arkansas was doing an in-home with him this week to try to get him to shut down other visits. I do not have any information that Edwards is visiting this weekend, but we'll keep an eye out.
I think Mizzou is still interested in adding a quarterback in this class (especially with the news--not unexpected but now certain--that Zanders is leaving and the fact that Estes is wavering and at this point not likely, IMO, to be part of this class). I do not really have names. The guy we had on our radar, Keytaon Thompson, has tweeted that he is committed to heading to Mississippi State. We know Mizzou had still been in some contact with Alabama commitment Mac Jones earlier this fall, but we've never really heard anything more than that. So after this weekend, we'll really try to do some digging into who Mizzou might be targeting at QB.
This class is going to be heavily focused the rest of the way on offensive and defensive line (with a solid dose of juco guys--probably two jucos at each spot plus a high school DT) and running back (two for sure, and three if one of them has an ability to play another position).
I think that covers all the prospects we're closely monitoring who will not be on campus this weekend. In the next post, we'll break down the guys who are.
*First off, we're going to start with some general housekeeping items on recruiting over the next six weeks. This is the last visit weekend before a dead period starts on Sunday at midnight. What is a dead period? Here's the definition from the NCAA:
During a dead period a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools. Coaches may write and telephone student-athletes or their parents during a dead period.
So, kids can commit. Coaches can communicate with them. They can't see them in person. Recruiting still happens, commitments can still happen, they just can't be face to face or recruit off campus. The dead period ends on January 12. There are three potential visit weekends before National Signing Day. It appears most or all of Missouri's visits are going to occur on the January 20 and 27 weekends.
Next, beginning on December 14, which is next Wednesday, we have the mid-year signing period. That means early enrollees/mid-year junior college grads can sign with the school they plan to go to. I expect Rashad Brandon and Nate Anderson sign on this date. Octavious Morgan likely needs to as well. There could be some others.
To clear up the signing rules, the mid-year guys would not count toward the 25 Missouri can sign on February 1, 2017, which is National Signing Day. So let's say they sign three guys next week. They can sign 25 more on February 1, giving them a class of 28. I fully expect Missouri to go over 25.
The unofficial scholarship count has been updated after yesterday's news that Marvin Zanders will transfer (related, Marvin is supposed to call me today for an interview with a little more info on the reasons he is leaving and all). The Tigers currently have 67 scholarship players slated to return. They have 16 commitments. Math tells you there are two spots left in this class. There are more. Numbers won't be an issue. They'll figure it out.
**Okay, before we break down each official visitor for this weekend, let's get to some notes on some of the recent visitors and activity:
Larry Rountree has not yet announced a decision. We expect that to happen soon...perhaps as soon as today. We expect that it will be Missouri.
Isaiah Miller is visiting Tennessee this weekend. We expect a decision shortly after that visit. From what we are told, Tennessee would take him if he wants to commit. But we also have been told that Missouri is in excellent position. Could a visit to Knoxville this weekend change his mind? Sure. Miller did have an in-home visit with Oregon State--to which he is currently committed--last night. We feel good about Missouri's chances, but will need to see what he says after the visit this weekend obviously.
Caleb Perry, who knows? We have never been able to get in touch with him. He had an in-home visit with Washington State this week. Kind of tough to see him coming to Columbia when he has the option to stay in-state, but that's nothing more than a guess.
I cannot say what's going on at East St. Louis. I have not been able to confirm whether Barry Odom was there this week or not. I know two things: First, Jeff Thomas, Rey Estes and others are visiting Illinois this weekend. Second, Missouri isn't going to stop recruiting them. If it's important for all of them to play together in college, they're going to go to Illinois. If Thomas makes a decision independent of the others, Missouri still has a shot, though from everything we're hearing they're probably not in the lead at this point in time. Missouri would like to add Thomas to this class and is obviously good with taking Estes. But they're not going to start offering other guys from ESL they don't think can play here to get him. The interesting thing will be the timetable. We have discussed often that ESL guys tend to have signing day announcements because it shines light on the school and is good publicity. If that's the case, it gives Missouri another six weeks to convince Estes and Thomas to take an official visit and sign with the Tigers. It will be intriguing to see if any of the ESL guys commit publicly to Illinois after this weekend. I think what happens by about next Wednesday will give us an indication whether Missouri still has a shot to land Thomas and Estes.
Eno Benjamin released a top six yesterday. Missouri is in it. But so is Texas. The Longhorns offered yesterday. It will be pretty surprising if that's not where he ends up.
Greg Brown had an in-home visit with Florida prospect Darrian Felix last night. Until then, he wasn't really on our radar. We will do some digging, but right now, we don't really have any feel for where Missouri might stand.
Jordan Ulmer, who visited here last weekend, is visiting Minnesota this weekend. As with Miller, we feel pretty good about Missouri's chances, but if he's still taking visits it's certainly not a done deal. We'll keep an eye on what happens, though I doubt we see anything publicly. Ulmer hasn't done any interviews ever that I've seen.
Jaylen Twyman, who will visit Missouri in January, is visiting Pitt this weekend. I'll be interested to see if a commitment comes out of that. If it doesn't, Missouri will have a shot to get him on campus. But I wouldn't be shocked to see him be a Panther before that visit can happen.
There was a story earlier this week that Missouri was in the mix for Florida decommitment Javier Edwards. A potential visit had been mentioned. I've had sources tell me that Arkansas was doing an in-home with him this week to try to get him to shut down other visits. I do not have any information that Edwards is visiting this weekend, but we'll keep an eye out.
I think Mizzou is still interested in adding a quarterback in this class (especially with the news--not unexpected but now certain--that Zanders is leaving and the fact that Estes is wavering and at this point not likely, IMO, to be part of this class). I do not really have names. The guy we had on our radar, Keytaon Thompson, has tweeted that he is committed to heading to Mississippi State. We know Mizzou had still been in some contact with Alabama commitment Mac Jones earlier this fall, but we've never really heard anything more than that. So after this weekend, we'll really try to do some digging into who Mizzou might be targeting at QB.
This class is going to be heavily focused the rest of the way on offensive and defensive line (with a solid dose of juco guys--probably two jucos at each spot plus a high school DT) and running back (two for sure, and three if one of them has an ability to play another position).
I think that covers all the prospects we're closely monitoring who will not be on campus this weekend. In the next post, we'll break down the guys who are.
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