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The last couple of weeks have been some of the quietest we can remember on both fronts. There just hasn't been a lot of movement. But here's what we've got:
BASKETBALL RECRUITING
Drew King has been putting out updates on some of the 2024 prospects he saw last weekend. Here are the links so far:
John Bol
Dallas Thomas
TO Barrett
We'll have more next week and Drew will be back on the road in Memphis for the final regular EYBL session next weekend.
*Missouri did extend an offer to 2024 seven-footer Chol Machot yesterday. A source familiar with Machot in North Carolina told us "would be surprised if a take right now" but add him to the list of players to monitor for the 2024 class.
*The major storyline right now is Caleb Love. Can't imagine that anyone doesn't know the situation, but just in case:
Love was committed to Michigan for more than a month. Then news came out this week that Love was denied admission to Michigan. To be clear, this does not necessarily mean he has bad grades or anything like that. Transfer rules are different and can differ by school. It has a lot more to do with how many credit hours you have and how many of those are transferrable to the new school than what your GPA is. To be honest, this is a breakdown on Michigan's part (and the second time it's happened in two years). It makes the kid look really bad when it should have been completely avoidable. Even if it's a situation where Love needed to finish the semester by doing certain things at UNC and he didn't do it, there's no way you should publicly accept a commitment from a transfer if there's ANY chance he's not going to be able to get into school. But what's done is done and Love is back on the market.
Will Missouri pursue? It's a hard maybe right now. Our initial impression was no. When rumors first started to swirl about Love 2-3 weeks ago, we checked in with sources and were basically told "We got Caleb Grill and Tamar Bates and we like those guys." The impression at the time was that even if Love became available, Missouri was content with the guys it had brought in. It's possible that's changed.
The night the Love news broke, we checked in again to see if Missouri would go after him. What we got back was a very ambiguous answer that wasn't a yes or no. We've reached out to Dennis Love to ask if Missouri is an option this time around, but have not heard back, which is not a surprise. The truth is this: We don't see Missouri going through a process here, especially a public one. If the Tigers are interested in Love and if he's interested in them, we would expect the whole thing to happen very, very quietly. Missouri isn't going to get publicly denied by Love a third time.
Other schools we've heard may be involved here are SLU, Texas, Indiana and Alabama. One source told us Alabama has had an eye on him since January and there was some thought when he initially entered the portal that Alabama was one of the reasons why.
The upshot: We're not ruling out Missouri pursuing Love. But the next thing we anticipate hearing out of him is a commitment somewhere (whether that's Missouri or elsewhere). Most teams are going to start summer conditioning in 2-3 weeks so you would anticipate a decision before then. And wherever he goes, we'd pretty much guarantee the academic questions are going to be cleared up before any sort of a public announcement is made.
*As far as other prospects, a dead period began yesterday and runs through next Friday. There can be no visits this weekend. The earliest someone can come in is next Saturday.
*By that time, a lot of the NBA decisions will be known. The deadline to withdraw from the draft is May 31, 12 days from now. Almost everyone we talk to expects Kobe Brown to remain in the draft. The vast majority of mock drafts have him in the top half of the second round. When he spoke to the media at the combine this week, he was pretty clear in saying his goal is to stay in the draft assuming he gets the feedback he wants (and the feedback it seems he is getting). The door isn't closed on Brown coming back to Mizzou, but we think the smart approach is to assume that he's not part of next year's roster. If that somehow changes, it's a very pleasant surprise.
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
*Missouri is not expected to host any official visitors this weekend. Butte CC tight end Connor Gilbreath had told us he was taking a visit to Mizzou this weekend. That visit is not happening at this time. A source told us it is possible it will be rescheduled for later in the summer. At this point, we aren't sure which side made that decision. Missouri could still definitely use a tight end, but the information has been virtually non-existent on that front.
*There will be a notable visitor in town this weekend, though. Ryan Wingo, the nation's No. 4 receiver in the Class of 2024, is expected to take another trip to Columbia on Sunday. It is, by our count, at least Wingo's seventh campus visit. He will be back in a month for his official visit to Mizzou. He's also tripping to Michigan, Texas and Georgia next month. Tennessee and Notre Dame are also contenders. It can never be a bad thing to have a player like Wingo on campus.
Wingo is the No. 1 player in the state of Missouri for this class. No. 2 is Williams Nwaneri and he will take an official visit next month as well, though Oklahoma is probably viewed as the favorite right now. Four other members of the top ten are already committed to other schools. Jaden Reddell and Jeremiah McClellan have cut down their lists and Missouri is not on them. That leaves Jayshawn Ross and Melvin Laster as the other uncommitted members of the top ten. There hasn't been a lot of information on their recruitments, but we will try to check in with them soon.
*A decision from James Madison defensive end transfer Isaac Ukwu could come at any time. Ukwu visited Auburn, Ole Miss and Mizzou and it is believed Colorado has been involved as well. Most think it's either Mizzou or Ole Miss for him. There was talk he might make the decision last night, but we do not have an update on whether that occurred. Stay tuned, as we said, the decision could come at any time.
