Mizzou Links, 1-19-09

And a happy MLK Day to you all...

(Oh yeah, and my apologies to The Beef for crapping out and only coming out Friday night when he was in town this weekend...)

This weekend basically consisted of two major events: Mizzou crushing Iowa State in basketball, and Mizzou getting a handful of football commits.

First, to basketball.  Murdering Iowa State links!

• Upon Further Review: Tigers are loving that home cookin'
  
• The Trib: Forget-me-nots
• The Trib: Tigers still hard to read

  As I watched yesterday’s game, I kept wondering how this play or that would translate to another arena. It’s nice that Keith Ramsey, DeMarre Carroll and Zaire Taylor sank those 3-pointers, but they would be wise to keep them in their pockets Wednesday at Oklahoma State. The phrase "fool’s gold" comes to mind.

• The Missourian: Missouri's Denmon heats up against Cyclones
• The Missourian: Ramsey takes advantage of Lyons' suspension
• KC Star: Missouri excels in another blowout
• Post-Dispatch: Tigers start slow, finish strong in rout of Cyclones
• Ames Tribune: Tigers steal Cyclones' forte
• Des Moines Register: Barrage of 3-pointers sinks Cyclones

Now, to recruiting.  For this, I turn mostly to PowerMizzou (with a bit from Inside Mizzou), whose writers were working overtime this weekend...

• Kendial Lawrence commits to Mizzou.  A late-bloomer who fielded offers from Louisville, Kansas, Iowa State, and Arizona, the 5'9 Rockwall (TX) Heath product chose Mizzou last night in front of a packed house at a local...bowling alley.  Awesome.  He is a 3-star talent, ranked by Rivals as the #16 All-Purpose Back in the country.
• Matt White commits to Mizzou.  Is it bad that I almost get as excited about landing a Texas sleeper as I do a name we've been following all year?  I guess you can call White, a cornerback from Dallas Keller, a late-bloomer as well, as he was not on Mizzou's radar screen until late in the process...but when Mizzou saw some film on him, they offered him pretty quickly.  Not every sleeper works out, but...well...we could use some help in the secondary, so here's to hoping he's the new Jerrell Jackson.
• Mark Hill commits to Mizzou.  The big kid from Branson, who could play DE now or put on about 25 pounds and play OT, joins the club.
• Tavon Bolden commits to Mizzou.  Don't know much about Bolden, but his Rivals film is pretty solid.  Really, as long as he or White work out, I'm happy.
  
• Ty Phillips reaffirms his Mizzou commitment...but might still visit Illinois.  Some fun drama from the East St. Louis kids right now.  Illinois is trying to steal Phillips from us, and we're trying to steal Terry Hawthorne from them.
• Ghaali Muhammad probably isn't getting a Mizzou offer.  Martin Rucker's cousin from St. Joe, Muhammad probably lost his chance at a Mizzou schollie when White committed.  He'll likely follow Dave Christensen to Wyoming now.

Two more links from the increasingly prolific PowerMizzou about current Tiger commits: TJ Moe plans on playing defense, and Jack Meiners is training with the dude who trained Orlando Pace.  That means he'll be as good as Pace, right?

Willy Mo and Ziggy Hood: your reasons to watch the Senior Bowl.

Finally, now-#12 Mizzou Wrestling bounced back after an extremely disappointing showing at the National Duals by thumping Chattanooga, 32-7, and Missouri Valley, 33-12.  Mizzou is still struggling mightily in the lower weights (and Brian Smith knows it), but freshman Taylor Crane (Rock Bridge product) is hopefully starting to put things together at 133 pounds...