3-star cornerback Tyrone Collins commits to Missouri

Tyrone Collins, a three-star cornerback from Bradenton’s (Fla.) Braden River High School, committed to Missouri today.

Collins is the No. 85 cornerback in the class of 2018, per the 247Sports Composite. He listed offers from schools like Michigan, Tennessee, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and Cincinnati. (“Offer” has become an incredibly nebulous term, but that’s what’s listed.)

Collins is listed around 5’11, 165 pounds, but while he doesn’t have the pure size that Barry Odom has said he prefers at the cornerback position, his skills are obvious. In addition to clear ball-hawking skills, Collins shows a willingness to come up and make hard hits and plays in the run game, forcing several fumbles against ball carriers in his highlights below. He even shows some chops in the kick-return game, taking several to the house.

It should be noted that Collins may miss his entire senior year after tearing his ACL; he tore it in February and had surgery on March 13th. Missouri coaches will assuredly being making trips to check in on him and how his recovery is progressing.

It was inevitable that Missouri would land a recruit from Braden River eventually under Barry Odom — since 2012 the Florida high school’s coach has been Curt Bradley, a former receiver for Odom when he coached at Rock Bridge HS in Columbia. You may recognize the Bradley name as the son of Phil Bradley former MLB outfielder and dual-sport Mizzou athlete:

One of the most decorated athletes in MU annals, Bradley lettered in football at MU from 1977–81, and in baseball in 1979-80-81. Bradley quarterbacked the Tigers to three bowl games. He was a three-time Big Eight Conference "Offensive Player of the Year" and set the conference total offense record at 6,459 yards which stood for 10 years. In baseball, he starred as an outfielder on MU teams that won the Big Eight championship in 1980, and went to the NCAA Tournament in 1980 and '81.

A fun fact about Braden River HS is that it is less than 10 miles just down the road from the IMG Academy — a blue-chip football factory made possible because it recruits top athletes from around the country.

Welcom to Mizzou Tyrone!