We fully expect Mizzou to be the choice for Jalani Williams. Nothing's certain until it's public,but any choice other than Missouri would be a surprise. He will be announcing his decision around 6 p.m. today.
Assuming it goes that way, it will be the sixth in state commitment for Barry Odom. If the Tigers can pick up one more, they'll equal the number of total high school players that committed from Missouri in the previous three classes combined (that would be seven for the mathematically challenged).
Williams would be the highest rated player from the state on Missouri's list at No. 5. You've got to imagine he's jumping Cam Coleman, who committed to Western Michigan earlier this week, but Danielson Ike could always pass him and the rankings may be shaken up after the season.
Regardless, Williams is one of the top players in the state and in terms of sheer need, a guy that many believe was the most important in-state recruit in the class. If the Tigers could add Shammond Cooper and Ira Henry (at this point we aren't sure the likelihood of that) they'd be up to eight in state commitments, which would equal the most since the Class of 2014 (although of those eight,only four finished their careers in CoMo).
- Last week, Chad Simmons mentioned that Missouri was in the mix for the recent Louisville decommitment. On Thursday night, the Tigers extended an offer to the three-star prospect. A lot of other new schools have now targeted Varner since he's reopened his recruiting process, including the likes of Ole Miss, Iowa, North Carolina, UCF, Wake Forest, and Virginia. He currently has official visits set to Ole Miss on November 30th, Arkansas State (yes, the Red Wolves) on December 7th, and Georgia Tech on December 14th. It will be interesting to see where else he schedules visits to as Missouri and the other programs mentioned will be jockeying to get him on campus as well.
The big question is Kelly Bryant. As Woody Wommack wrote earlier this week, he'll visit Mississippi State, Auburn and Miami before making a decision. It appears then that Florida is not in the picture. I checked with a source earlier this week who told me "Call me crazy, but I think Missouri gets him." Auburn is now viewed as the major competition. We still won't write off Arkansas, though logic says if he was sold on going to Fayetteville, he already knows the coach and it might have happened pretty quickly. This is just one source, so don't take it to the bank, but Missouri's camp definitely feels like it has a shot. As a different source told me "He's saying all the right things ,but he also understands how to play this game."
Just a housekeeping note for those that don't spend every hour of every day on the site, it is our information Harry Ballard has put his name on the NCAA transfer list. We've tried to get a little more information on his situation at Missouri but have been stonewalled on getting an answer. Whatever the resolution is or will be doesn't much matter because it appears he's going to look for a fresh start somewhere else.
On the basketball front, after signing Mario McKinney and Tray Jackson, things will be quiet during the season mostly. We'd look for Missouri to add one or two players in the spring signing period.
We asked Mario McKinney about being a recruiter for the 2020 kids in St. Louis. He said "I’m not recruiting anyone they’ll see what Mizzou is doing and hopefully they make whatever decision that’s best for them and their family just like I did."
Last note, Maliq Carr tweeted out earlier this week that he was committing soon. He is not. Don't believe everything you read on the Twitter.
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