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BASKETBALL RECRUITING
For the second weekend in a row, Mizzou will host a top-priority 2022 recruit from the Kansas City area. Four-star wing Aidan Shaw is expected to take an official visit to campus. It will be the third visit for Shaw, who just finished up a trip to Kansas (five-star Mark Mitchell was in Lawrence as well) and visited Oklahoma State last weekend. We have long identified Shaw as the most likely of Missouri's four-star and higher targets to wind up in Columbia, but there will certainly be plenty of competition, with Iowa and Maryland also in the mix. We certainly wouldn't expect a commitment or anything to come out of this weekend. We will check up with Shaw afterward.
The Tigers also hosted three unofficial visitors in the past week in Jalen Hooks, Jalen Hampton (University City) and Kellen Thames. We are currently working to get in touch with all three. The first two names on the list are class of 2023 prospects. Thames, as you probably know, is a class of 2022 guard and the son of former Missouri forward Kelly Thames, who also serves as his coach at Pattonville. So far, Thames the younger has just one Power Five offer, from Georgetown. We are scheduled to speak to him on the phone this afternoon.
This week was also significant because it represented the first chance for college coaches to call class of 2023 prospect. Here is the list of players we know have heard from Mizzou (keep in mind there are almost certainly some we don't know about):
Hooks
Hampton
Bryson Warren
Braylen Blue (whose coach we talked to earlier this week)
Braelon Green
Layden Blocker
Chase Clemmons
Jaylen Lee
Jeremy Fears Jr.
Lastly, a note on Fears Jr. We spoke to his father, Jeremy Fears Sr., last night and will have a story on his recruitment publishing soon. Fears Jr. plays for La Lumiere prep, is ranked No. 54 nationally and has interest from just about everyone in the country. On the surface, he might not be the type of prospect you would think Mizzou has a great shot at. But Fears Sr. revealed that Martin recruited him to Purdue during his days as an assistant coach there and the two have had a strong relationship ever since. That relationship was the reason Fears Jr. visited Missouri on June 2, right after the recruiting dead period ended, and as a result we feel like the Tigers have a decent shot to be in Fears Jr.'s recruitment until the end.
*The Tigers still have a spot left in the 2021 class if they want to use it and Cuonzo Martin reiterated yesterday he does.
"We got a spot left. We’re not done. I can say we’re not done. We’re still working on it, but we’re not done yet."
(Side note: When I asked Martin this question, I mentioned he had said it at a booster club meeting and he smiled and said "How did that news get out there?")
Anyway, the most credible rumor right now is that the Tigers are interested (and maybe even much further down the road than that) with Bradley transfer Elijah Childs. Childs is a Lee's Summit West grad who averaged 12.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in 112 games at Bradley while shooting 48% from the floor. He checks the boxes of what Missouri needs to add without doubt. But you can't talk about Childs without talking about an ongoing sodomy investigation. We don't know any more details than this story on the issue. For Missouri to take him, this has to go away. There's just no way you're bringing him in unless you know it's been resolved and you're convinced of his innocence. It's relevant here that we asked Martin yesterday what he looks at to identify mid-major players whose ability can translate to the SEC:
"The obvious part for me is he a good guy? Do you like being around him? Does he have a work ethic? You saw Kassius, Dru Smith, work ethic," Martin said. "We spent a lot of time, grassroots coaches, parents, high school coaches, anybody we could find that knows a guy because you’re bringing them into a situation and you want to make it work."
So, again, beyond the obvious of you don't bring in a guy who could end up in legal trouble and not even play, it's a point of emphasis for Martin. If Missouri is going to bring Childs in (we've got a message out to him, but don't really expect to hear back), it's not going to be until they know the investigation is done and resolved in Childs' favor. Stay tuned.
