So it's obviously pretty much all football recruiting (because anything that happens in hoops recruiting is inconsequential and subject to change in two months).
*First of all, no official visitors this weekend (or unofficial). That's probably a good thing for Missouri. If we get even a portion of the weather we're supposed to get, you would run into a situation where kids might be stranded in Columbia, St. Louis or somewhere in between. That's not good for anybody. And as I said on the podcast, you don't want a kid's first impression of your town to be "I can't feel my face and I just slipped and fell on my ass."
*We have ten confirmed official visitors over the next two weeks. We believe that number will approximately double. We will spend the next two weeks trying to confirm everyone we can. Some of Missouri's targets are on other visits this weekend:
Jaylen Twyman is at South Carolina. This is Missouri's top high school target at defensive tackle and has been for weeks. The Tigers will host him next weekend. I've been told Florida and Tennessee are coming in on him too, but are unlikely to land visits.
Jordan Rhodes and Tony Gray, both of whom have also talked about Mizzou visits are also at SC this weekend.
As far as I know, Caleb Sampson is still planning to visit Kansas State next weekend. He got an in home visit from Brick Haley last night. Missouri would definitely like him, but if he's going to wait until Signing Day, there's no guarantee there is a spot.
The Tigers offered Baton Rouge defensive tackle Shannon Forman this week (Haley was supposed to be in to see him yesterday as well). He is starting to get a lot of attention of late, including an Arizona State offer last night. Forman plays at Southern Lab HS which is absolutely loaded on a regular basis. Haley has a relationship with the staff there due to his long career of recruiting Louisiana. This is an offer that come to fruition because of Haley's addition to the staff. I believe this is an offer that kind of sends a message Missouri is not just going to sit around and wait to see what happens with the other guys at defensive tackle. It's not a "backup plan" per se, but it's a "you better have someone else in the fold and not just offer two guys for two spots and hope for the best." I'd be interested to see what happens if Forman wants to commit before the other two are ready to decide. My guess is Missouri would take him.
I believe Mizzou will take two high school DTs and two jucos (Walter Palmore and Malik Young are the targets and Missouri feels good about each). That would leave a maximum of four spots left for other positions in the class. They might not use all four, but they can't use more.
*As we posted earlier this week, Jafar Armstrong was offered by Notre Dame. He's getting a lot of late attention. He has no intention to take any other visits.
*Andy Hill was in Dallas yesterday. Can't tell you for sure who he was in to see at this time.
*Barry Odom was in and around St. Louis. One of the stops was scheduled to be East St. Louis. Again, we stress this isn't a reaction to Darren Sunkett's comments or a "kiss and make up" meeting. This is a trip that has always been planned to ESL. Rey Estes is scheduled for a January 27 official visit. It's still the same situation with his recruitment. He isn't really doing interviews and is still committed to Mizzou. He may stay that way, may not. For the group that still thinks every time we see East St. Louis mentioned it's some clandestine plan by Jeff Thomas to keep Missouri in the mix, we're hearing it's going to be Illinois or Miami for him. Who leads depends on who you talk to, but honestly I don't much care either way. If anything changes with Thomas and Mizzou we'll let you know, but until then, I'd count on him being off the board.
*Last note is just to make sure you read Sean Williams' story on James Foster this morning. Foster was offered by Louisville earlier this week, but really seems like a kid who has Missouri way out front. I'm not sure he'll make a commitment this early in the game, but if he likes his visit in two weeks, I wouldn't rule it out.
*Quick 2018 notes. It seems this in-state crop is going to take its time and weight its (many) options. We don't expect early commitments. But Dallas Craddieth expected Missouri coaches to be at his school yesterday and Ronnie Perkins told us he spent an hour on the phone with Brick Haley this week.
**Last thing is a basketball note (and this will be pretty much all anybody talks about and I want to stress right now it's just a RUMOR--if there is a way to stress this more than italicizing it, bolding it and capitalizing it, I would). Anyway, a guy I trust who knows a lot of people in both college and high school hoops told me earlier this week that the hot rumor among college coaches the last few weeks is Lorenzo Romar to Missouri. The impression I get is that this might be something coming from Romar's side, kind of a Frank Haith, beat the posse out of town approach. That doesn't mean it's true, false or anywhere in between. Right now it's nothing more than idle talk. But I pass it on because of where I heard it. I don't think there's much doubt that Romar's name will come up here when that time comes. Whether he becomes a serious candidate or not remains to be seen.
The thing we all need to remember as we prepare for a coaching search at Missouri is that any speculation about who Missouri would look at is almost complete speculation. No one here (me included) knows much about Jim Sterk, who his contacts are or what he looks for in a coach. He hasn't hired a basketball coach for a long time (he hired Ken Bone at Washington State in 2009). So who's he gonna look at? I'm asked every day and I don't have a damn clue to be honest.
That's it for now. Bracing to be iced in here, so we'll be on the boards throughout the weekend and will pass along anything we happen to pick up.
*First of all, no official visitors this weekend (or unofficial). That's probably a good thing for Missouri. If we get even a portion of the weather we're supposed to get, you would run into a situation where kids might be stranded in Columbia, St. Louis or somewhere in between. That's not good for anybody. And as I said on the podcast, you don't want a kid's first impression of your town to be "I can't feel my face and I just slipped and fell on my ass."
*We have ten confirmed official visitors over the next two weeks. We believe that number will approximately double. We will spend the next two weeks trying to confirm everyone we can. Some of Missouri's targets are on other visits this weekend:
Jaylen Twyman is at South Carolina. This is Missouri's top high school target at defensive tackle and has been for weeks. The Tigers will host him next weekend. I've been told Florida and Tennessee are coming in on him too, but are unlikely to land visits.
Jordan Rhodes and Tony Gray, both of whom have also talked about Mizzou visits are also at SC this weekend.
As far as I know, Caleb Sampson is still planning to visit Kansas State next weekend. He got an in home visit from Brick Haley last night. Missouri would definitely like him, but if he's going to wait until Signing Day, there's no guarantee there is a spot.
The Tigers offered Baton Rouge defensive tackle Shannon Forman this week (Haley was supposed to be in to see him yesterday as well). He is starting to get a lot of attention of late, including an Arizona State offer last night. Forman plays at Southern Lab HS which is absolutely loaded on a regular basis. Haley has a relationship with the staff there due to his long career of recruiting Louisiana. This is an offer that come to fruition because of Haley's addition to the staff. I believe this is an offer that kind of sends a message Missouri is not just going to sit around and wait to see what happens with the other guys at defensive tackle. It's not a "backup plan" per se, but it's a "you better have someone else in the fold and not just offer two guys for two spots and hope for the best." I'd be interested to see what happens if Forman wants to commit before the other two are ready to decide. My guess is Missouri would take him.
I believe Mizzou will take two high school DTs and two jucos (Walter Palmore and Malik Young are the targets and Missouri feels good about each). That would leave a maximum of four spots left for other positions in the class. They might not use all four, but they can't use more.
*As we posted earlier this week, Jafar Armstrong was offered by Notre Dame. He's getting a lot of late attention. He has no intention to take any other visits.
*Andy Hill was in Dallas yesterday. Can't tell you for sure who he was in to see at this time.
*Barry Odom was in and around St. Louis. One of the stops was scheduled to be East St. Louis. Again, we stress this isn't a reaction to Darren Sunkett's comments or a "kiss and make up" meeting. This is a trip that has always been planned to ESL. Rey Estes is scheduled for a January 27 official visit. It's still the same situation with his recruitment. He isn't really doing interviews and is still committed to Mizzou. He may stay that way, may not. For the group that still thinks every time we see East St. Louis mentioned it's some clandestine plan by Jeff Thomas to keep Missouri in the mix, we're hearing it's going to be Illinois or Miami for him. Who leads depends on who you talk to, but honestly I don't much care either way. If anything changes with Thomas and Mizzou we'll let you know, but until then, I'd count on him being off the board.
*Last note is just to make sure you read Sean Williams' story on James Foster this morning. Foster was offered by Louisville earlier this week, but really seems like a kid who has Missouri way out front. I'm not sure he'll make a commitment this early in the game, but if he likes his visit in two weeks, I wouldn't rule it out.
*Quick 2018 notes. It seems this in-state crop is going to take its time and weight its (many) options. We don't expect early commitments. But Dallas Craddieth expected Missouri coaches to be at his school yesterday and Ronnie Perkins told us he spent an hour on the phone with Brick Haley this week.
**Last thing is a basketball note (and this will be pretty much all anybody talks about and I want to stress right now it's just a RUMOR--if there is a way to stress this more than italicizing it, bolding it and capitalizing it, I would). Anyway, a guy I trust who knows a lot of people in both college and high school hoops told me earlier this week that the hot rumor among college coaches the last few weeks is Lorenzo Romar to Missouri. The impression I get is that this might be something coming from Romar's side, kind of a Frank Haith, beat the posse out of town approach. That doesn't mean it's true, false or anywhere in between. Right now it's nothing more than idle talk. But I pass it on because of where I heard it. I don't think there's much doubt that Romar's name will come up here when that time comes. Whether he becomes a serious candidate or not remains to be seen.
The thing we all need to remember as we prepare for a coaching search at Missouri is that any speculation about who Missouri would look at is almost complete speculation. No one here (me included) knows much about Jim Sterk, who his contacts are or what he looks for in a coach. He hasn't hired a basketball coach for a long time (he hired Ken Bone at Washington State in 2009). So who's he gonna look at? I'm asked every day and I don't have a damn clue to be honest.
That's it for now. Bracing to be iced in here, so we'll be on the boards throughout the weekend and will pass along anything we happen to pick up.
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