Today we start with recruiting news. A couple WRs are liking Mizzou: first up is 3-star Houston WR Josh Gordon, who continues to rank Mizzou #1 on his list; next is...that's right, 4-star NC WR Jheranie Boyd. Rivals' #32 player in the country watched Mizzou on TV last Saturday, put the Tigers back in his Top 5, and scheduled a visit. Nice.
Another day, another "Wasn't Derrick Washington great the other day?" story. This time, Dave Matter compares Washington's starting debut to that of other Tigers...
Another day, another "Wasn't Elvis Fisher great the other day?" story. Actually, two of them. The Maneater and KC Star take their turns...
While the youngsters are getting all the attention, someone finally talks about just how freaking good Stryker Sulak was the other day.
SEMO Links! Feel the excitement! Or not!
- PowerMizzou: Three Tiger Keys to the game
- Missourian: Eddie Calvin did not pick SEMO over Mizzou
- SE Missourian: MU wears game face for Southeast
Dave Matter does a little thinking and shares some more thoughts on Michael Keck's departure.
Could Keck have developed into a Big 12 defensive end? We’ll probably never know. Gary Pinkel has historically maintained a strict policy against granting players a release from their scholarship if they intend to transfer to another Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) program. Maybe it’s for the best. Keck might be better suited and more comfortable playing at a lower level.
If anything, maybe Keck’s case can be looked as a strike against the recruiting services that rated him such a high-level prospect. Keck will probably be most remembered for being Rivals.com’s No. 1 rated high school recruit in the state — though Rock Bridge tight end Aron White surpassed him on the site’s rankings by national signing day last year. (Sometimes I think these rankings do more harm than good. I can’t help but sympathize with kids who carry these lofty mythical rankings into college. When White didn’t become an instant starter at Georgia last year, I’m sure some Bulldog fans were disappointed. Ridiculous.)
But back to Keck. There are some people around the state whose opinion I trust who believed he was a creation of the recruiting sites. Missouri certainly wasn’t the only program that offered Keck a scholarship, but his ranking didn’t necessarily reflect a consensus opinion around the state. Of course, hindsight is crystal clear, but it was strikingly obvious last fall that Derrick Washington, Carl Gettis and Luke Lambert were better equipped to contribute immediately at MU. As a 200-pound defensive end/outside linebacker, Keck was more of a project.
The KC Star's Blair Kerkhoff compares the atmospheres in StL (for MU-UI) and KC (for MU-KU). MizzouRah's Shawn shares his thoughts as well.
ESPN's Tim Griffin shares his weekend predictions. The only news will come if the Big 12 doesn't sweep this crappy slate of teams.
Finally, Mizzou Volleyball is in always lovely College Park, MD, tonight, for the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Invitational. They'll play St. John's (who receives votes in the latest polls), Maryland (unranked) and Kentucky (unranked). After a relatively strong showing last weekend, here's to hoping they go undefeated and come home 5-1. More here from the Maneater's astute, dapper volleyball beat writer...