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-- PowerMizzou caught up with Park Hill (Mo.) prospects Chester Graves and Devin Haney after their visits to Mizzou for the SEMO game. For both players it was their first opportunity to attend a Mizzou football game as a recruiting target.
The two spent the whole day together and came away very impressed with everything they saw. Getting to go in the locker room after the game was the highlight for both. Graves was excited about meeting Maty Mauk and the whole defensive line he said.
“That was probably my favorite part,” explained Haney. “The players were really cool. I got to talk with them and have an actual conversation with them. Talked with Mauk, Morgan Steward and Drew Lock. I’ve known Morgan since I was little.”
Graves, as you all know, has his offer in hand (figuratively) already and Haney is trending in that direction.
“The Mizzou coaches told me they’ve been watching me. They’re going to try and make it out to one of the games,” Haney said. "They told me to keep up the good work. They said I’m on the right track and to just keep it up."
Kansas is the only other school showing early interest in Haney as of now. On the other hand, Graves has heard from Minnesota, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Kansas State, LSU, Purdue in addition to Mizzou just since September 1. Kansas State and Mizzou have offered out of that group. Additionally, Graves has offers from Iowa and Kansas.
All along the Tigers have been considered the favorite and Graves said Mizzou is still a place he considers a good fit for him. He went on to say he could see himself ending up in Columbia when all is said and done. As of right now, though, he is planning to take his time with recruiting and see what other schools get involved.
Haney did not mince words about how much it would mean for him to get an offer from the Tigers like his teammate Graves.
"If Mizzou was to offer me, honestly, that would be like a dream come true. It’s the home town team. All my life I’ve grown up watching them on television. Everyone is always talking about Mizzou so if I was to get offered by them I’d probably be lost for words.”
-- Brian will be in New Orleans today talking with Mizzou commit Ca’Ron Baham as well as Mizzou targets Michael Divinity and Kristian Fulton. The latter told PowerMizzou that Missouri just started getting back in touch with him in the last week and, although they are slightly behind some of the other schools recruiting him now, they are not completely out of the picture. The draw of playing with former teammate Tyrell Jacobs is still a factor.
-- Brian also spoke with Hinds Community College head coach Gene Murphy about Greg Taylor and Natereace Strong after the Eagles' win over Pearl River last night. Coach Murphy is reserved, but his thoughts on the two future Tigers should carry a lot of weight -- he is the winningest active coach in the NJCAA.
Murphy on Taylor: "He’s a very consistent player. That’s probably the number one factor. The offenses know where he lines up because he is a physical player. He’s really beginning to settle in with his position on this level. He’s an outstanding player. He has a knack for really breaking well on the a ball which to me is a really great trait for any kind of defensive back. To be able to get yourself in the right position and anticipate where the ball is going and being right. A lot of people anticipate, but they aren’t right. You saw that tonight with his interception. We’re just excited about him and we look forward to a lot more good games."
Murphy on Strong: "Nate was really beginning to come into his own. That’s a thing we teach in our program. There is all types of adversity that comes your way, but it’s not the adversity it’s how you respond to it that matters. It’s like any injury…you’ve just got to keep plugging away. We’ll get him started on rehab as soon as we can. He already had his surgery so we’ll be starting rehab soon and then we’ll see what the time frame is going to be."
-- A new name for Mizzou fans to track is Josh Clarke. The 2017 linebacker from Jefferson (La.) Riverdale already has a couple power five offers and it sounds like Mizzou could join the mix eventually. Clarke said he is taking his time with recruiting right now but is excited to know that Mizzou has some interest.
-- Official visits are beginning to get scheduled by Mizzou. If you ever want to see who we have confirmed is visiting just click the ‘Visit Dates’ link on the 'Football Recruiting’ submenu. Ikenna Okeke, Ca’Ron Baham and Jordan Carmouche are confirmed for October visits. Jasper (Texas) tight end Cody Mitchell hasn’t set his date yet, but he and the coaches are working on it. Schools can host just over 50 official visitors each class. From what PowerMizzou is hearing the Tigers won’t get very close to that number. It also doesn’t look like Mizzou will change their method of bringing large visit groups in after the season is over. It has worked well for them, so there is not much reason to.
--Top Tiger Targets is back and we’re still anticipating six more commitments in the 2016 class at this point. That would give Mizzou a class of 20. They have one open scholarship and 15 graduating seniors.
1. Amani Bledsoe
2. Emmit Gooden
3. Boss Tagaloa
4. Michael Divinity
5. Ikenna Okeke
6. Albert Okwuegbunam
On to some hoops recruiting news...
-- Missouri coaches have been on the road over the last couple of weeks. One guy we know they checked in with was Reed Nikko. Nikko, who will visit officially on the first weekend in October, hosted Brad Loos and Kim Anderson for an in-home visit this week. He told me the visit went “very well.” At this point, he does not have any other official visits set.
-- Also checked in with Ar’Mond Davis from the College of Southern Idaho. Davis took a visit to Memphis last week (apparently he was at one point committed to them, but has opened it up). He also has visits scheduled to Alabama, Texas A&M and LSU. He told us he’s still considering Mizzou and the Tigers could get that last visit, but reading the tea leaves, this probably isn’t one we’d count on.
-- Mizzou offered Arkansas prospect Mitchell Smith this week. I checked in to confirm the offer and Smith replied “Yes sir, I got an offer from them and that moves them into my top three! I really like coach Anderson and the situation up there.”
When I asked Smith who else was in his top three he said Wichita State and Arkansas/Creighton (which would seem to me to make it a top four). He has already visited Creighton and will visit Wichita State on October 3rd...if he makes the trip. I had one person tell me last night he expects Smith will commit to Missouri when he visits. Smith told me he hasn’t had an in-home visit with the Tigers yet.
-- PowerMizzou caught up with Park Hill (Mo.) prospects Chester Graves and Devin Haney after their visits to Mizzou for the SEMO game. For both players it was their first opportunity to attend a Mizzou football game as a recruiting target.
The two spent the whole day together and came away very impressed with everything they saw. Getting to go in the locker room after the game was the highlight for both. Graves was excited about meeting Maty Mauk and the whole defensive line he said.
“That was probably my favorite part,” explained Haney. “The players were really cool. I got to talk with them and have an actual conversation with them. Talked with Mauk, Morgan Steward and Drew Lock. I’ve known Morgan since I was little.”
Graves, as you all know, has his offer in hand (figuratively) already and Haney is trending in that direction.
“The Mizzou coaches told me they’ve been watching me. They’re going to try and make it out to one of the games,” Haney said. "They told me to keep up the good work. They said I’m on the right track and to just keep it up."
Kansas is the only other school showing early interest in Haney as of now. On the other hand, Graves has heard from Minnesota, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Kansas State, LSU, Purdue in addition to Mizzou just since September 1. Kansas State and Mizzou have offered out of that group. Additionally, Graves has offers from Iowa and Kansas.
All along the Tigers have been considered the favorite and Graves said Mizzou is still a place he considers a good fit for him. He went on to say he could see himself ending up in Columbia when all is said and done. As of right now, though, he is planning to take his time with recruiting and see what other schools get involved.
Haney did not mince words about how much it would mean for him to get an offer from the Tigers like his teammate Graves.
"If Mizzou was to offer me, honestly, that would be like a dream come true. It’s the home town team. All my life I’ve grown up watching them on television. Everyone is always talking about Mizzou so if I was to get offered by them I’d probably be lost for words.”
-- Brian will be in New Orleans today talking with Mizzou commit Ca’Ron Baham as well as Mizzou targets Michael Divinity and Kristian Fulton. The latter told PowerMizzou that Missouri just started getting back in touch with him in the last week and, although they are slightly behind some of the other schools recruiting him now, they are not completely out of the picture. The draw of playing with former teammate Tyrell Jacobs is still a factor.
-- Brian also spoke with Hinds Community College head coach Gene Murphy about Greg Taylor and Natereace Strong after the Eagles' win over Pearl River last night. Coach Murphy is reserved, but his thoughts on the two future Tigers should carry a lot of weight -- he is the winningest active coach in the NJCAA.
Murphy on Taylor: "He’s a very consistent player. That’s probably the number one factor. The offenses know where he lines up because he is a physical player. He’s really beginning to settle in with his position on this level. He’s an outstanding player. He has a knack for really breaking well on the a ball which to me is a really great trait for any kind of defensive back. To be able to get yourself in the right position and anticipate where the ball is going and being right. A lot of people anticipate, but they aren’t right. You saw that tonight with his interception. We’re just excited about him and we look forward to a lot more good games."
Murphy on Strong: "Nate was really beginning to come into his own. That’s a thing we teach in our program. There is all types of adversity that comes your way, but it’s not the adversity it’s how you respond to it that matters. It’s like any injury…you’ve just got to keep plugging away. We’ll get him started on rehab as soon as we can. He already had his surgery so we’ll be starting rehab soon and then we’ll see what the time frame is going to be."
-- A new name for Mizzou fans to track is Josh Clarke. The 2017 linebacker from Jefferson (La.) Riverdale already has a couple power five offers and it sounds like Mizzou could join the mix eventually. Clarke said he is taking his time with recruiting right now but is excited to know that Mizzou has some interest.
-- Official visits are beginning to get scheduled by Mizzou. If you ever want to see who we have confirmed is visiting just click the ‘Visit Dates’ link on the 'Football Recruiting’ submenu. Ikenna Okeke, Ca’Ron Baham and Jordan Carmouche are confirmed for October visits. Jasper (Texas) tight end Cody Mitchell hasn’t set his date yet, but he and the coaches are working on it. Schools can host just over 50 official visitors each class. From what PowerMizzou is hearing the Tigers won’t get very close to that number. It also doesn’t look like Mizzou will change their method of bringing large visit groups in after the season is over. It has worked well for them, so there is not much reason to.
--Top Tiger Targets is back and we’re still anticipating six more commitments in the 2016 class at this point. That would give Mizzou a class of 20. They have one open scholarship and 15 graduating seniors.
1. Amani Bledsoe
2. Emmit Gooden
3. Boss Tagaloa
4. Michael Divinity
5. Ikenna Okeke
6. Albert Okwuegbunam
On to some hoops recruiting news...
-- Missouri coaches have been on the road over the last couple of weeks. One guy we know they checked in with was Reed Nikko. Nikko, who will visit officially on the first weekend in October, hosted Brad Loos and Kim Anderson for an in-home visit this week. He told me the visit went “very well.” At this point, he does not have any other official visits set.
-- Also checked in with Ar’Mond Davis from the College of Southern Idaho. Davis took a visit to Memphis last week (apparently he was at one point committed to them, but has opened it up). He also has visits scheduled to Alabama, Texas A&M and LSU. He told us he’s still considering Mizzou and the Tigers could get that last visit, but reading the tea leaves, this probably isn’t one we’d count on.
-- Mizzou offered Arkansas prospect Mitchell Smith this week. I checked in to confirm the offer and Smith replied “Yes sir, I got an offer from them and that moves them into my top three! I really like coach Anderson and the situation up there.”
When I asked Smith who else was in his top three he said Wichita State and Arkansas/Creighton (which would seem to me to make it a top four). He has already visited Creighton and will visit Wichita State on October 3rd...if he makes the trip. I had one person tell me last night he expects Smith will commit to Missouri when he visits. Smith told me he hasn’t had an in-home visit with the Tigers yet.
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