We are getting very close to the end of the Chamber's semi-summer vacation when we'll be posting on a weekly basis. But for now, we're still on the every other week schedule, which means it's been a couple weeks since you've heard from us. So there's plenty of stuff to catch up on. Let's go. (Note that prospects' names are links to their recruiting profiles)
-- A source told the Chamber this week that Mizzou doesn’t have any unofficial visitors scheduled for the month of July (quite a few of the coaches are out of town at various times during the month as this is really the only time of year they get more than a couple of days vacation). However, there are a few players that have said they plan to visit this month. Jordan Wilson and Jovan Swann both said they're planning to visit the last week of this month so there could still be a couple of prospects on campus.
-- So with a bit of a lull in 2016 recruiting we checked in with a couple of the top 2017 prospects with Mizzou offers.
First up is Kansas City (Mo.) Hogan Prep athlete DaRon Davis. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound recruit was perhaps the top player at Missouri's first team camp in June, excelling as a wideout and earning an offer from the Tigers because of his performance. Considering he plays running back for Hogan Prep (Anthony Sherrils' alma mater), his performance at receiver during that camp was nothing short of astounding.
Since Missouri offered, Davis has seen a big uptick in his recruiting. He picked up an offer from Kansas and camped with Arkansas.
"The coaches there said they would call me to offer, but someone had a wedding and they went on vacation," Davis said. "But they said they would call soon."
He's quickly becoming more than a regional name, though. He'll camp with Kansas State this July (an offer is expected), and he was invited to Alabama's camp this month, too. He plans to attend.
"Kansas State and Alabama, those were really the first schools to get in touch with me that I'd never considered before," Davis said.
He reiterated what he told us in June, after Missouri offered -- he's planning to make a decision after his junior year. After the K-State and Alabama camps, Davis said he'll take an unofficial visit to Missouri to get a full tour of the facilities. Expect that to happen once Missouri starts its preseason camp in August.
Davis recently earned a rating of 5.7 3-star by Rivals.com, but we could see that jumping as his junior season begins.
-- Another 2017 name to watch is Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier quarterback Sean Clifford (6-2, 197). Clifford is a 5.8 4-star, and is the nation's 157th-ranked prospect in the first Rivals250 for 2017.
Clifford received a Missouri offer a few months ago, and since then, he's said he's stayed in contact with quarterback coach Andy Hill frequently.
"Coach Hill came to watch me throw in the spring and then a week or two later, after they evaluated me, they offered me," Clifford said.
"It's a little hard, because coaches can't call me at this point," he continued. "I try to stay in contact with him as often as possible, once or twice a week I'd say. I try to keep my line open all the time and stay in contact with them."
Clifford already has a good number of offers, which includes Boston College, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Northwestern, Penn State and Pitt. He's visiting Penn State on July 18th for the Nittany Lions' annual cookout. He also recently camped with Notre Dame.
"I've kind of lost contact with them a little bit because they've been on vacation, but I think they could offer later in the summer or during the season," Clifford said of the Irish.
Michigan State also could be close to offering.
At this point, Clifford has no favorites. His only connection to a school is Notre Dame -- his cousin attended school there, and his family has been Fighting Irish fans.
-- Continuing the 2017 talk there has been an interesting development in regards to the level of recruits that Mizzou is focusing on in this class. The Tiger coaches would no doubt say that they haven't changed anything, and maybe they haven't, but there is a noticeable difference in prospects that seem to be paying attention to their pitch.
Number 1 ranked Marvin Wilson expressed legitimate interest in Mizzou while at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge. Number 4 ranked Hunter Johnson hadn't received a Mizzou offer when we spoke with him, but again he expressed legitimate interest even pointing out his friendship with Mizzou hoops signee K.J. Walton.
Number 23 ranked A.J. Epenesa has a strong family connection with Iowa, but visited Mizzou over the summer and reportedly had a great experience. He is a big time priority for the Tiger coaches. Number 27 ranked Wyatt Davis is a Mizzou legacy and plans to visit Mizzou this upcoming season.
Number 63 ranked Jeff Thomas is one of the most electrifying high school players out of the St. Louis metro area in a number of years. Alabama has made a great impression, which shouldn't be a surprise, but Mizzou is still strongly involved. In the end location and the opportunity to play with several former high school teammates could be the edge that pushes him to Columbia.
Number 79 ranked Cordarrian Richardson is quiet when it comes to talking recruiting, but with Mizzou making a push in the Memphis area and a connection to Walter Brady the Tigers have a puncher's chance.
That is six prospects in the top 80 that Mizzou seems to be in legitimate contention for. They are not the leader in most cases, but just being in a realistic position for that many highly rated out of state prospects is a bit of a change.
-- Back in the 2016 class name to watch at defensive end is Pookie Maka. The Utah native is favoriting a lot of local schools, but is in no hurry to make a decision. He'd like to take some official visits. Rivals list Maka as a linebacker, but the Tigers think he is best suited on the line.
-- On to some football team news. Specifically, the saga of junior college transfer Chase Abbington. This is a bit of a touchy subject, and because Abbington hasn't commented on the issues with his eligibility, we have to tread carefully here.
The basic news is that Abbington has to retake one more class during this July semester. A source said the class finishes on July 29th, and with a passing grade, he'll head to Columbia on July 31. So, a little bit different than a poster reported on our board a few weeks ago (that he wouldn't be enrolling until the end of August).
Again, should he pass this class, he'll be in Columbia prior to preseason camp, which would increase the likelihood that he sees more time in 2015.
We'll continue to monitor the situation and report as that end of July period nears.
-- Along those lines Tyler Howell told the Chamber that he expects to be in Columbia in early August in time for camp.
-- An old name is back in the picture for Mizzou. Notre Dame defensive end Jhonathon Williams is transferring and the former Mizzou commit is someone that the Tigers could be interested in. He has a visit planned to Michigan at this point.
Williams told me Mizzou is we're he wants to go but he's not sure how much interest there is the other way. He said it had been a while since he talked to the coaches. We’ll keep an eye on that situation and see what develops. We know the immediate reaction will be “if he wants to come here you have to take him” but there are always factors we don’t know about. First of all, Mizzou has been better than Notre Dame the last couple of seasons and Williams wasn’t making a huge impact there. Second, with the limited scholarships available right now, as we said with Ondre Pipkins, the Tigers quite possibly aren’t exactly in a position to tie up a scholarship on a player that can’t help them this year.
-- A source told the Chamber this week that Mizzou doesn’t have any unofficial visitors scheduled for the month of July (quite a few of the coaches are out of town at various times during the month as this is really the only time of year they get more than a couple of days vacation). However, there are a few players that have said they plan to visit this month. Jordan Wilson and Jovan Swann both said they're planning to visit the last week of this month so there could still be a couple of prospects on campus.
-- So with a bit of a lull in 2016 recruiting we checked in with a couple of the top 2017 prospects with Mizzou offers.
First up is Kansas City (Mo.) Hogan Prep athlete DaRon Davis. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound recruit was perhaps the top player at Missouri's first team camp in June, excelling as a wideout and earning an offer from the Tigers because of his performance. Considering he plays running back for Hogan Prep (Anthony Sherrils' alma mater), his performance at receiver during that camp was nothing short of astounding.
Since Missouri offered, Davis has seen a big uptick in his recruiting. He picked up an offer from Kansas and camped with Arkansas.
"The coaches there said they would call me to offer, but someone had a wedding and they went on vacation," Davis said. "But they said they would call soon."
He's quickly becoming more than a regional name, though. He'll camp with Kansas State this July (an offer is expected), and he was invited to Alabama's camp this month, too. He plans to attend.
"Kansas State and Alabama, those were really the first schools to get in touch with me that I'd never considered before," Davis said.
He reiterated what he told us in June, after Missouri offered -- he's planning to make a decision after his junior year. After the K-State and Alabama camps, Davis said he'll take an unofficial visit to Missouri to get a full tour of the facilities. Expect that to happen once Missouri starts its preseason camp in August.
Davis recently earned a rating of 5.7 3-star by Rivals.com, but we could see that jumping as his junior season begins.
-- Another 2017 name to watch is Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier quarterback Sean Clifford (6-2, 197). Clifford is a 5.8 4-star, and is the nation's 157th-ranked prospect in the first Rivals250 for 2017.
Clifford received a Missouri offer a few months ago, and since then, he's said he's stayed in contact with quarterback coach Andy Hill frequently.
"Coach Hill came to watch me throw in the spring and then a week or two later, after they evaluated me, they offered me," Clifford said.
"It's a little hard, because coaches can't call me at this point," he continued. "I try to stay in contact with him as often as possible, once or twice a week I'd say. I try to keep my line open all the time and stay in contact with them."
Clifford already has a good number of offers, which includes Boston College, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Northwestern, Penn State and Pitt. He's visiting Penn State on July 18th for the Nittany Lions' annual cookout. He also recently camped with Notre Dame.
"I've kind of lost contact with them a little bit because they've been on vacation, but I think they could offer later in the summer or during the season," Clifford said of the Irish.
Michigan State also could be close to offering.
At this point, Clifford has no favorites. His only connection to a school is Notre Dame -- his cousin attended school there, and his family has been Fighting Irish fans.
-- Continuing the 2017 talk there has been an interesting development in regards to the level of recruits that Mizzou is focusing on in this class. The Tiger coaches would no doubt say that they haven't changed anything, and maybe they haven't, but there is a noticeable difference in prospects that seem to be paying attention to their pitch.
Number 1 ranked Marvin Wilson expressed legitimate interest in Mizzou while at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge. Number 4 ranked Hunter Johnson hadn't received a Mizzou offer when we spoke with him, but again he expressed legitimate interest even pointing out his friendship with Mizzou hoops signee K.J. Walton.
Number 23 ranked A.J. Epenesa has a strong family connection with Iowa, but visited Mizzou over the summer and reportedly had a great experience. He is a big time priority for the Tiger coaches. Number 27 ranked Wyatt Davis is a Mizzou legacy and plans to visit Mizzou this upcoming season.
Number 63 ranked Jeff Thomas is one of the most electrifying high school players out of the St. Louis metro area in a number of years. Alabama has made a great impression, which shouldn't be a surprise, but Mizzou is still strongly involved. In the end location and the opportunity to play with several former high school teammates could be the edge that pushes him to Columbia.
Number 79 ranked Cordarrian Richardson is quiet when it comes to talking recruiting, but with Mizzou making a push in the Memphis area and a connection to Walter Brady the Tigers have a puncher's chance.
That is six prospects in the top 80 that Mizzou seems to be in legitimate contention for. They are not the leader in most cases, but just being in a realistic position for that many highly rated out of state prospects is a bit of a change.
-- Back in the 2016 class name to watch at defensive end is Pookie Maka. The Utah native is favoriting a lot of local schools, but is in no hurry to make a decision. He'd like to take some official visits. Rivals list Maka as a linebacker, but the Tigers think he is best suited on the line.
-- On to some football team news. Specifically, the saga of junior college transfer Chase Abbington. This is a bit of a touchy subject, and because Abbington hasn't commented on the issues with his eligibility, we have to tread carefully here.
The basic news is that Abbington has to retake one more class during this July semester. A source said the class finishes on July 29th, and with a passing grade, he'll head to Columbia on July 31. So, a little bit different than a poster reported on our board a few weeks ago (that he wouldn't be enrolling until the end of August).
Again, should he pass this class, he'll be in Columbia prior to preseason camp, which would increase the likelihood that he sees more time in 2015.
We'll continue to monitor the situation and report as that end of July period nears.
-- Along those lines Tyler Howell told the Chamber that he expects to be in Columbia in early August in time for camp.
-- An old name is back in the picture for Mizzou. Notre Dame defensive end Jhonathon Williams is transferring and the former Mizzou commit is someone that the Tigers could be interested in. He has a visit planned to Michigan at this point.
Williams told me Mizzou is we're he wants to go but he's not sure how much interest there is the other way. He said it had been a while since he talked to the coaches. We’ll keep an eye on that situation and see what develops. We know the immediate reaction will be “if he wants to come here you have to take him” but there are always factors we don’t know about. First of all, Mizzou has been better than Notre Dame the last couple of seasons and Williams wasn’t making a huge impact there. Second, with the limited scholarships available right now, as we said with Ondre Pipkins, the Tigers quite possibly aren’t exactly in a position to tie up a scholarship on a player that can’t help them this year.
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