BASKETBALL RECRUITING
Detroit-area top-150 forward Tray Jackson has popped up on Missouri's radar recently, making three Michigan targets (Jackson, Harlond Beverly and Rocket Watts) on the Tigers' board. He told me Wednesday night that his visit to Columbia — and especially Missouri's facilities — exceeded the expectations he had coming in. Xavier, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Boston College are all in the mix, and Illinois has been in contact with him recently. I think he's a really nice backup option if they don't land EJ Liddell, but I also think they could end up signing both if they opt to come to Columbia. Jackson has exceptional athletic ability, can step out and hit the 3, and at 6-foot-8, he has the potential to be a really good college defender. I wrote recently about Missouri's top 2019 targets, and I think Jackson is at least honorable mention, if not on the list. Pairing him with Liddell, McKinney/Watts and/or Terrence Hargrove/Harlond Beverly would give Cuonzo and Co. a really nice 2019 group to work with.
In other related news, it was announced Thursday that Beverly play his senior season at Montverde Acadmey in Florida, notably the prep home of Ben Simmons, DeAngelo Russell and Joel Embiid. I don't think this just changes much at all for Missouri in their recruitment of him, though I do think some other programs could start to get involved when they see him playing against national competition.
We had a chance to catch up with Cuonzo Martin and the basketball team this week. For the purposes of this discussion, the interesting part is whether Missouri has (or would use) a scholarship for the 2018 class. The way Cuonzo answered the question about Cullen VanLeer, you just get the sense he's done playing. There's no rush to make an immediate decision, but the way Martin reacted, I think everybody knows he isn't likely to play again. So that means Mizzou would have a scholarship. He's not going to use it just to use it. If guys are available now, there's usually a reason and it often isn't because they're a great player and a great person who nobody knows about. I really do get the sense that he's comfortable enough with his point guards going into the year that he doesn't feel like he needs to reach on anyone. But if someone pops up (reclassification, transfer, grad transfer, LOI release, whatever) Missouri would look into it and do some homework. The other option would be if they have a scholarship they just tell Parker Braun he gets it right away rather than having to wait.
Speaking of Braun, his brother Christian Braun is a relatively touted 2019 prospect. While the brothers obviously would have interest in playing together in college, I'm told Christian isn't going to Mizzou simply because his brother did. Missouri will have to really work to get him and, at this point, my source doesn't think it's likely...and honestly, if we had to guess, Missouri has some guys in front of him anyway. But we'll follow him. Mitchell will be at Peach Jam next month (that's the next time the Mizzou staff is on the road) and may have a chance to catch up with Braun then (I'm honestly not sure off the top of my head if MoKan qualified or not).
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
- The three-star prospect tweeted out pictures of him on an official visit to Mizzou on Thursday. While he is listed as a wide receiver, we think the Tigers like him as a tight end due to his size (and the fact that AJ Ofodile was in Chicago yesterday for a camp and not on campus for the visit). He stated to our Rutgers site, TheKnightReport.com, that his top five included Missouri, Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, and Wake Forest. We are attempting to get a hold of him for an update.
- Zimos will be one of the official visitors on campus this weekend, we caught up with him earlier this week. Missouri is one of the schools that have been able to separate themselves after the three-star prospect decommitted from Cal in May. Arkansas, Purdue, and Texas Tech are the other contenders. He's already taken an official to Arkansas last weekend, with officials scheduled to Purdue and Texas Tech after Mizzou.
"I talk to Coach (Barry) Odom and Coach (Brian) Odom, both of them. They are really cool. I like them a lot. They seem like they are all about winning and they said they can't wait to see me on campus."
Zimos did say he noticed Missouri recruits the state of Texas and that also seemed appealing to him as well.
- The DE/OLB target was one of targets that visited campus unofficially earlier this week. We caught up with him afterwards and he told us he's built a good relationship with Coach Ofodile, who recruits the Nashville area. The three-star prospect also liked his conversation with head coach Barry Odom during his time on campus. He said he is planning to take official visits to TCU, Notre Dame, and Purdue for sure, but isn't sure who will get the last two but Missouri could be a possibility.
- Wilson is one of four new underclassmen in-state targets that was offered in the last week. He took part in Missouri's Elite Camp on Tuesday and defensive line coach Brick Haley was impressed enough to extend an offer. Missouri has known about Wilson since he was freshman and took part in a satellite camp at his high school and has visited multiple times. Wilson also has offers from Northwestern, Arkansas, and Iowa State.
- We caught up with local Rock Bridge target this past week, who picked up an offer from Missouri defensive coordinator Ryan Walters during the last weekend's camp at Lindenwood. He followed that up with a visit to Mizzou on Tuesday. As you can imagine, he grew up a big Tigers fan.
"For one, I love the campus and I've grown up in Columbia and just been reppin' Mizzou since I was young. I've been to tons of games. The fans are really good to you. I love the stadium, it's real nice, especially with the new endzone they are getting there."
Continuing our coverage of Jack Buford's commitment to Missouri on Wednesday, we did reach out to the other St. Louis targets to get a reaction. We didn't shoot 100% on the replies, but got a couple of note:
"It was good to see him stay loyal to where we are from and I'm happy for him."
"It was good for Jack to find his home, especially in his home state. He just started the train to get STL players over to the Zou in 2019."
It's another pretty big weekend in Columbia. Today, there is a camp at William Jewell in Liberty. We don't expect this to be a big day for prospects, but Gabe DeArmond and Mitchell Forde will be there to pass along any worthwhile information.
Tomorrow, there will be upwards of 20 teams in town for 7-on-7 and we'll go by there as well. Some of the teams we know will be there are Kirkwood, Trinity Catholic and Cardinal Ritter. That obviously means guys like Marcus Washington, Shammond Cooper, Maurice Massey, Arvell Ferguson and Jameson Williams will be on campus. While we don't think Ira Henry plays in 7 on 7, he told us he's going to be on campus as well. So we're going to be over there seeing what we can see and who we can talk to.
If we had to handicap things, following the Buford commitment, we think Missouri has an excellent shot with Marcus Washington, Ira Henry and Jalani Williams. And it helps their chances with Shammond Cooper as well. We've been told all along that Jameson Williams will be tough for the Tigers to get. It should be an interesting few weeks on that front. Once one guy makes his choice, others tend to start to decide too. So we'll be keeping an eye on all the St. Louis guys to see if any other decisions come down soon. Another in-state guy we've been told Missouri has an excellent shot to land is Ladue Horton Watkins defensive lineman Moses Okpala.
It's also another official visit weekend for the Tigers. Here are the guys we've confirmed will be here (in addition to Zach Zimos who was listed above):
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/ishmael-burdine-209791
We think it's possible there are a couple more, but those are the seven we have confirmed. We will be in touch with them as soon as we can after the weekend wraps up.
Detroit-area top-150 forward Tray Jackson has popped up on Missouri's radar recently, making three Michigan targets (Jackson, Harlond Beverly and Rocket Watts) on the Tigers' board. He told me Wednesday night that his visit to Columbia — and especially Missouri's facilities — exceeded the expectations he had coming in. Xavier, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Boston College are all in the mix, and Illinois has been in contact with him recently. I think he's a really nice backup option if they don't land EJ Liddell, but I also think they could end up signing both if they opt to come to Columbia. Jackson has exceptional athletic ability, can step out and hit the 3, and at 6-foot-8, he has the potential to be a really good college defender. I wrote recently about Missouri's top 2019 targets, and I think Jackson is at least honorable mention, if not on the list. Pairing him with Liddell, McKinney/Watts and/or Terrence Hargrove/Harlond Beverly would give Cuonzo and Co. a really nice 2019 group to work with.
In other related news, it was announced Thursday that Beverly play his senior season at Montverde Acadmey in Florida, notably the prep home of Ben Simmons, DeAngelo Russell and Joel Embiid. I don't think this just changes much at all for Missouri in their recruitment of him, though I do think some other programs could start to get involved when they see him playing against national competition.
We had a chance to catch up with Cuonzo Martin and the basketball team this week. For the purposes of this discussion, the interesting part is whether Missouri has (or would use) a scholarship for the 2018 class. The way Cuonzo answered the question about Cullen VanLeer, you just get the sense he's done playing. There's no rush to make an immediate decision, but the way Martin reacted, I think everybody knows he isn't likely to play again. So that means Mizzou would have a scholarship. He's not going to use it just to use it. If guys are available now, there's usually a reason and it often isn't because they're a great player and a great person who nobody knows about. I really do get the sense that he's comfortable enough with his point guards going into the year that he doesn't feel like he needs to reach on anyone. But if someone pops up (reclassification, transfer, grad transfer, LOI release, whatever) Missouri would look into it and do some homework. The other option would be if they have a scholarship they just tell Parker Braun he gets it right away rather than having to wait.
Speaking of Braun, his brother Christian Braun is a relatively touted 2019 prospect. While the brothers obviously would have interest in playing together in college, I'm told Christian isn't going to Mizzou simply because his brother did. Missouri will have to really work to get him and, at this point, my source doesn't think it's likely...and honestly, if we had to guess, Missouri has some guys in front of him anyway. But we'll follow him. Mitchell will be at Peach Jam next month (that's the next time the Mizzou staff is on the road) and may have a chance to catch up with Braun then (I'm honestly not sure off the top of my head if MoKan qualified or not).
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
- The three-star prospect tweeted out pictures of him on an official visit to Mizzou on Thursday. While he is listed as a wide receiver, we think the Tigers like him as a tight end due to his size (and the fact that AJ Ofodile was in Chicago yesterday for a camp and not on campus for the visit). He stated to our Rutgers site, TheKnightReport.com, that his top five included Missouri, Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse, and Wake Forest. We are attempting to get a hold of him for an update.
- Zimos will be one of the official visitors on campus this weekend, we caught up with him earlier this week. Missouri is one of the schools that have been able to separate themselves after the three-star prospect decommitted from Cal in May. Arkansas, Purdue, and Texas Tech are the other contenders. He's already taken an official to Arkansas last weekend, with officials scheduled to Purdue and Texas Tech after Mizzou.
"I talk to Coach (Barry) Odom and Coach (Brian) Odom, both of them. They are really cool. I like them a lot. They seem like they are all about winning and they said they can't wait to see me on campus."
Zimos did say he noticed Missouri recruits the state of Texas and that also seemed appealing to him as well.
- The DE/OLB target was one of targets that visited campus unofficially earlier this week. We caught up with him afterwards and he told us he's built a good relationship with Coach Ofodile, who recruits the Nashville area. The three-star prospect also liked his conversation with head coach Barry Odom during his time on campus. He said he is planning to take official visits to TCU, Notre Dame, and Purdue for sure, but isn't sure who will get the last two but Missouri could be a possibility.
- Wilson is one of four new underclassmen in-state targets that was offered in the last week. He took part in Missouri's Elite Camp on Tuesday and defensive line coach Brick Haley was impressed enough to extend an offer. Missouri has known about Wilson since he was freshman and took part in a satellite camp at his high school and has visited multiple times. Wilson also has offers from Northwestern, Arkansas, and Iowa State.
- We caught up with local Rock Bridge target this past week, who picked up an offer from Missouri defensive coordinator Ryan Walters during the last weekend's camp at Lindenwood. He followed that up with a visit to Mizzou on Tuesday. As you can imagine, he grew up a big Tigers fan.
"For one, I love the campus and I've grown up in Columbia and just been reppin' Mizzou since I was young. I've been to tons of games. The fans are really good to you. I love the stadium, it's real nice, especially with the new endzone they are getting there."
Continuing our coverage of Jack Buford's commitment to Missouri on Wednesday, we did reach out to the other St. Louis targets to get a reaction. We didn't shoot 100% on the replies, but got a couple of note:
"It was good to see him stay loyal to where we are from and I'm happy for him."
"It was good for Jack to find his home, especially in his home state. He just started the train to get STL players over to the Zou in 2019."
It's another pretty big weekend in Columbia. Today, there is a camp at William Jewell in Liberty. We don't expect this to be a big day for prospects, but Gabe DeArmond and Mitchell Forde will be there to pass along any worthwhile information.
Tomorrow, there will be upwards of 20 teams in town for 7-on-7 and we'll go by there as well. Some of the teams we know will be there are Kirkwood, Trinity Catholic and Cardinal Ritter. That obviously means guys like Marcus Washington, Shammond Cooper, Maurice Massey, Arvell Ferguson and Jameson Williams will be on campus. While we don't think Ira Henry plays in 7 on 7, he told us he's going to be on campus as well. So we're going to be over there seeing what we can see and who we can talk to.
If we had to handicap things, following the Buford commitment, we think Missouri has an excellent shot with Marcus Washington, Ira Henry and Jalani Williams. And it helps their chances with Shammond Cooper as well. We've been told all along that Jameson Williams will be tough for the Tigers to get. It should be an interesting few weeks on that front. Once one guy makes his choice, others tend to start to decide too. So we'll be keeping an eye on all the St. Louis guys to see if any other decisions come down soon. Another in-state guy we've been told Missouri has an excellent shot to land is Ladue Horton Watkins defensive lineman Moses Okpala.
It's also another official visit weekend for the Tigers. Here are the guys we've confirmed will be here (in addition to Zach Zimos who was listed above):
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/ishmael-burdine-209791
We think it's possible there are a couple more, but those are the seven we have confirmed. We will be in touch with them as soon as we can after the weekend wraps up.
