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FOOTBALL RECRUITING
Okay, we all know why you're here. Let's get to it.
The truth is, nothing has much changed with the top player in the state. Nwaneri is scheduled to take an official visit to Oregon beginning today. We assume he will return from that visit at some point on Sunday. He was supposed to be in Norman for a recruiting event earlier this week and did not attend. It has been reported that the reason had to do with parental discipline. Whether that is accurate or not, we can't say. We can only say he was expected to be in Norman and was not. The NCAA dead period resumes on Monday night at midnight. Which means that Nwaneri will have exactly one day on which he could theoretically take a visit somewhere prior to the dead period and to his announcement.
That announcement is happening some time in the first week of August. We've heard various dates. As of now, we believe August 7th to be the date, which is a week from Tuesday. We've also had reliable people tell us August 1 and August 6 this week, but the most common date seems to be August 7.
We still believe this to be an Oklahoma/Missouri conversation. Neither of those schools would be a huge surprise to us. Anything else would be. We are fully aware that Clint Cosgrove put in a FutureCast for Nwaneri to Mizzou last night. He is welcome to state his reasoning on the board for you all if he would like, but we can say that Clint does not know that Nwaneri is committing to Missouri. However, he also isn't just taking a wild shot in the dark. He is connected and feels Mizzou is trending positively. It is important to remember that FutureCasts are for entertainment and engagement. Because we know how people react to them, we rarely enter one before we know with near certainty where a kid is going unless it's a kid that has no real connection to Mizzou. We can't say whether that's the case for everyone.
From everything we've heard, NIL is similar in both cases for Nwaneri. Missouri does have an edge in that if he signs with Mizzou he can start receiving NIL funds on December 20 (or whatever day he officially signs thereafter). If he signs with Oklahoma, he has to wait until he enrolls in school, which could be January or could be June. Last we knew, we don't think he is an early enrollee, but not positive on that. Oklahoma people have been confident for a long time on this one. Cayden Green and PJ Adebowore went there last year, a 2025 kid from Lee's Summit North just committed there this week and OU has been the constant in this recruitment. The Oklahoma people we know still think it's Oklahoma right now, but seem a little less confident than they did a few weeks ago. There is little doubt Missouri has made up ground in this recruitment. The only question is whether it has made up enough ground.
It is our opinion that whether or not he gets to campus before the dead period ends could be important. It is not a definite tell. He could come back from Oregon, sit down with his family, make a decision Sunday night and shut everything down. But if he decides to return from that trip and hop in a car and drive two hours each way to make another trip to Columbia, he's at least considering it. There wouldn't be much point to do that if he knows he's not going to Mizzou.
Bottom line, if we had to make a prediction today, that prediction would still be Oklahoma. But the confidence level we have in that prediction is lower than it was a month ago and there are things that could change it between now and Nwaneri's announcement in the next ten days.
On to the rest:
*We posted the latest with Wingo on Wednesday. His visit earlier this week received positive reviews from people on both sides of it. He was going to Tennessee some time this week and will be at Texas A&M over the weekend. We do not believe those schools to be major factors. It is Mizzou and Texas unless something changes. Our feeling on this one is similar to Nwaneri in that Missouri has made up a lot of ground. However, on this one, we believe the Tigers have made up enough ground that it could be considered a favorite at this point. We're more than four months from an announcement. A lot can change between now and then. Being the favorite on July 28th doesn't much matter. But it's still better than not being the favorite.
*We also provided a little bit about McClellan in that Wednesday post. Of the three, he is the longest shot for the Tigers. It's not impossible, but it seems unlikely. But if you're into reading way too much into social media posts, here you go
He's not going to eliminate Missouri. He's going to keep the fans interested. We think he'l'l take a visit. But it would be a pretty big upset if he ended up at Mizzou in our opinion.
*Missouri will have a recruiting event this weekend. It is focused on evaluating players that may not have offers yet. There are a few 2024 kids we are expecting to be in town who could walk away with offers.
Tony Phillips is a three-star running back from Kankakee, IL who has a lot of G5 offers and lists Arkansas and Tennessee among his dozen offers. Missouri is going to take at least one high school back and quite possibly two in this class.
Another possibility at running back is Derrick McFall. He is from Tyler, TX and has 27 offers. We expect a visit soon from McFall, potentially this weekend.
Jaylen Brown is an under the radar defensive end from Alabama who we believe will be in town this weekend.
Another running back to keep an eye on is Frankie Arthur. He has a long offer list, but from what we hear some of those options have dried up. We'd look for Mizzou to get him on campus in the coming weeks, though maybe not before the dead period.
*Defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. has long been a guy we've had on the possible to likely list for Mizzou. He picked up an offer from Alabama, his dad's alma mater this week. That takes him off that list for Mizzou. Assuming the Bama offer is committable, it's tough to see him anywhere but Tuscaloosa.
*Our current projection for this class is right around 20 high school players, which means approximately nine more. Obviously Wingo, Nwaneri and McClellan will have a spot right up until the last moment. In addition to some of the players listed already, a September decision is expected from Elias Williams, who visited in June. Missouri is also in good shape with Kavion Broussard. The positions of emphasis the rest of the way are likely running back, offensive line, defensive line and probably a safety or two.
