I'll have some Nwaneri related stuff in ten thoughts this morning, but I figured we needed a dedicated pre-decision update/thread. It's become tradition in this recruitment for me to express myself in GIF form so we'll start there.
This was really the only appropriate choice. It was the easiest selection of them all. For weeks, if not months, this one had been pointed to Oklahoma. And now? Not so much.
This isn't a guarantee. I don't do guarantees. I've seen too much stuff. But everything is pointing in Mizzou's direction for this afternoon's announcement. Reporters that follow other teams and national recruiting people have started putting in their predictions in the last 24 hours. That doesn't generally happen if people are guessing. Some of them might be, but all of them probably aren't. Even people who follow Oklahoma have changed their tune significantly in the last 24 hours.
That said, recruiting is weird and nothing is certain until the kid says it publicly himself. So there will be nerves among Mizzou fans (and even coaches) until a little after 3:00 today.
We have said all along that today is not the final step in this. The team that doesn't get picked is not going to concede. What you will hear out of OU circles this evening, if the pick is Missouri, is that today doesn't matter and only December 20 matters. Obviously, in one sense, that's true. It's what we have been saying about Jeremiah McCllellan and it's also the case here. That said, I always tell you guys that you'd rather have the commitment and try to hang on to it than be the one trying to change it. Flips absolutely happen, but far more kids stick with their initial choice than don't. The team that wins today is not done with its work, but it is certainly riding pole position.
I will be live from Lee's Summit North this afternoon. I'm planning to get there by 2 p.m. and am joining Parker Thune and Brandon Drumm from our OU site on a live show. You can watch that here:
Following the announcement, if it goes Missouri's way, I'll talk to Nwaneri, write a story with him explaining his choice, jump on a PM live show with @Sean_Williams and @JHamilton23 and then put together a behind the scenes of the recruitment post for you all. This recruitment has been basically all I've done for about a week and it will be all we do today. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
