First off, be warned, if you reply "first" to this thread, I reserve the right to ban you. That said, let's get to the recruiting news, or what there is of it:
FOOTBALL
As of right now, we've only been able to confirm one visitor for this weekend's game against Kentucky. 2018 Georgia defensive back Donte Burton is supposed to be in town. The interesting thing is that Burton is already committed to North Carolina well over a year before he will sign. Kids that commit that early generally end up sticking, though they do often take some other visits. We'll see if anything develops.
As far as the lack of 2017 visitors, honestly, at this point, I expect pretty much all visits to be pushed back till after the season if at all possible. We have always said you push your strengths in recruiting. Right now, game day atmosphere is hardly going to be a strength for this staff to be able to sell. They had 52K for Homecoming last weekend and lost to Middle Tennessee. My guess is the number will be lower this week. If you're bringing in kids with other Power Five offers, that's simply not what you want to show them. Anybody Missouri can get to come in after the season, it's probably a better move. Unfortunately it also looks very unlikely the Tigers will be able to bring them in for bowl practices in December. This staff is going to sell playing time. We have said over and over you sell one of two messages in recruiting:
1) We're on top and we want you to help us stay there
2) We're not on top and we want you to help us get there
At heart, every recruiting pitch comes down to this. Obviously, Missouri is selling number two right now.
There have been a few new offers out this week, which we've posted on the board. But as far as movement in recruiting, it just isn't there.
*I've got a message out to former Iowa commit Eno Benjamin, who parted ways with the Hawkeyes this week. He visited Mizzou for the UGA game and wanted to keep it quiet. That ended up not happening. Considering the way things went between Benjamin and Iowa, I would not be at all surprised to see him just go silent on the recruiting front this time around. Missouri and Arizona State have gotten visits and have a good shot. I'm told Nebraska may be trying to get involved as well. If there is information we'll pass it on, but not much out there right now.
*I also tried to check in with Houston commit (??) Terry Petry. He visited Mizzou a few weeks ago and we kind of expected something to happen. We have no idea what's going on. He hasn't responded to messages and seems to be a kid that gets irritated with doing interviews or anything about recruiting. He told us he wasn't ever committed to Houston, but others are certainly under the impression he was. We expected a decommitment at some point, but so far as we know, that hasn't happened. So, like the rest, we'll keep our ears open.
Again, we'd love to be able to pass on more. There just doesn't seem to be a whole lot happening we can get our hands on right now. When there is, you'll know.
BASKETBALL
Felipe Haase is supposed to visit South Carolina next weekend. He was at Pitt this week and Purdue this weekend. Art Alvarez's ties to Frank Martin could be a tough factor here. Louisville is also in his final five. That's quite a bit of competition, but at some poit Missouri has to close on a contested guy.
Anthony Mack was supposed to hear from Villanova this week. Can confirm the Wildcats attended an open gym at his school, but can't confirm whether an offer came out of that. If it did, as Schiffer has always said, he almost certainly ends up there. If not, Mizzou has a good chance. We'll see over the next few days if we can get more information.
That's it for the fall period. Signing day is a week and a half away. Missouri could add one or both of these guys to CJ Roberts, but there won't be any other names pop up in the next week from what we're hearing. Missouri would wait until spring beyond that group.
And let's be honest, we're almost certainly going to need to wait until spring to see what the future of the program and recruiting is. I said on the radio yesterday, the decision for Jim Sterk isn't simply going to be, should Kim Anderson come back? After this season, it's more, should he get an extension? He's going to have two years left on the end of his deal at the end of this year. It's virtually impossible to recruit in that situation (insert preemptive snarky comment about how it's already been virtually impossible). So to me, Sterk has to extend him or cut ties at the end of this season. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what makes sense to me.
I'm expecting to see quite a few nut-kicking memes and the like after this. I get it. Not the most uplifting Chamber. We can only pass on what we hear is happening, we can't make up news. There will, believe it or not, be good news on the field, the court and the recruiting trail at some point. But it doesn't appear that we have much for you on this Friday morning.
Halloween and Hoops is tonight, we'll be there. We'll also be at the football game tomorrow with full coverage. Until then, we'll keep you updated on the message board.
FOOTBALL
As of right now, we've only been able to confirm one visitor for this weekend's game against Kentucky. 2018 Georgia defensive back Donte Burton is supposed to be in town. The interesting thing is that Burton is already committed to North Carolina well over a year before he will sign. Kids that commit that early generally end up sticking, though they do often take some other visits. We'll see if anything develops.
As far as the lack of 2017 visitors, honestly, at this point, I expect pretty much all visits to be pushed back till after the season if at all possible. We have always said you push your strengths in recruiting. Right now, game day atmosphere is hardly going to be a strength for this staff to be able to sell. They had 52K for Homecoming last weekend and lost to Middle Tennessee. My guess is the number will be lower this week. If you're bringing in kids with other Power Five offers, that's simply not what you want to show them. Anybody Missouri can get to come in after the season, it's probably a better move. Unfortunately it also looks very unlikely the Tigers will be able to bring them in for bowl practices in December. This staff is going to sell playing time. We have said over and over you sell one of two messages in recruiting:
1) We're on top and we want you to help us stay there
2) We're not on top and we want you to help us get there
At heart, every recruiting pitch comes down to this. Obviously, Missouri is selling number two right now.
There have been a few new offers out this week, which we've posted on the board. But as far as movement in recruiting, it just isn't there.
*I've got a message out to former Iowa commit Eno Benjamin, who parted ways with the Hawkeyes this week. He visited Mizzou for the UGA game and wanted to keep it quiet. That ended up not happening. Considering the way things went between Benjamin and Iowa, I would not be at all surprised to see him just go silent on the recruiting front this time around. Missouri and Arizona State have gotten visits and have a good shot. I'm told Nebraska may be trying to get involved as well. If there is information we'll pass it on, but not much out there right now.
*I also tried to check in with Houston commit (??) Terry Petry. He visited Mizzou a few weeks ago and we kind of expected something to happen. We have no idea what's going on. He hasn't responded to messages and seems to be a kid that gets irritated with doing interviews or anything about recruiting. He told us he wasn't ever committed to Houston, but others are certainly under the impression he was. We expected a decommitment at some point, but so far as we know, that hasn't happened. So, like the rest, we'll keep our ears open.
Again, we'd love to be able to pass on more. There just doesn't seem to be a whole lot happening we can get our hands on right now. When there is, you'll know.
BASKETBALL
Felipe Haase is supposed to visit South Carolina next weekend. He was at Pitt this week and Purdue this weekend. Art Alvarez's ties to Frank Martin could be a tough factor here. Louisville is also in his final five. That's quite a bit of competition, but at some poit Missouri has to close on a contested guy.
Anthony Mack was supposed to hear from Villanova this week. Can confirm the Wildcats attended an open gym at his school, but can't confirm whether an offer came out of that. If it did, as Schiffer has always said, he almost certainly ends up there. If not, Mizzou has a good chance. We'll see over the next few days if we can get more information.
That's it for the fall period. Signing day is a week and a half away. Missouri could add one or both of these guys to CJ Roberts, but there won't be any other names pop up in the next week from what we're hearing. Missouri would wait until spring beyond that group.
And let's be honest, we're almost certainly going to need to wait until spring to see what the future of the program and recruiting is. I said on the radio yesterday, the decision for Jim Sterk isn't simply going to be, should Kim Anderson come back? After this season, it's more, should he get an extension? He's going to have two years left on the end of his deal at the end of this year. It's virtually impossible to recruit in that situation (insert preemptive snarky comment about how it's already been virtually impossible). So to me, Sterk has to extend him or cut ties at the end of this season. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what makes sense to me.
I'm expecting to see quite a few nut-kicking memes and the like after this. I get it. Not the most uplifting Chamber. We can only pass on what we hear is happening, we can't make up news. There will, believe it or not, be good news on the field, the court and the recruiting trail at some point. But it doesn't appear that we have much for you on this Friday morning.
Halloween and Hoops is tonight, we'll be there. We'll also be at the football game tomorrow with full coverage. Until then, we'll keep you updated on the message board.
