Missouri still carries on Aaron O’Neal’s legacy, 12 years later

Mizzou had its first fall scrimmage on Saturday. We have virtually no idea what happened at it because it was closed to the public. But here are two minutes of Barry Odom talking about it:

He said virtually nothing of magnitude, but I guess “no major injuries” and “healthy locker room” are good things, yeah?

One area of potential concern, health-wise, is tight end, where quite a few guys were held out of practice recently.

Senior Jason Reese missed practice with back spasms, while two other tight ends — redshirt freshman Albert Okwuegbunam (hamstring) and freshman Logan Christopherson (right ankle) — were limited.

“They took the day off today,” second-year Tigers coach Barry Odom said. “(Tight ends) coach (Joe Jon) Finley has been hard on them.”

Of course, that list doesn’t include likely starter Kendall Blanton, so it could be worse.

Despite limited access, there were quite a few good player profiles that you need to catch up on from the weekend.

• The Trib: MU backup QB Lowary impresses teammates with his heady play
• Post-Dispatch: Nate Strong pushes for role in Mizzou backfield
• The Missourian: Black belt background helps Mitchell on the offensive line
• KC Star: Healthy, determined Terry Beckner Jr. eager to fulfill potential with Mizzou

My favorite profile of the weekend is Dave Matter’s piece on freshman LB Jamal Brooks.

After the staff suggested he wear 25 earlier this summer, Brooks did his homework on O’Neal — and he didn’t start and stop with a simple Internet search. Brooks researched the old fashioned way. He asked questions. He listened. He learned. [...]

“As soon as they brought it up to me in that first conversation I started looking into (O’Neal),” Brooks said. “I understand that was a devastating day for Mizzou and the entire Tiger Nation. For some people who were there, when they’ve been ready to talk to me about it, I’m always ready to talk. I’ve wanted to learn as much as I can about the situation. Google and the Internet can only tell you so much. The strength staff, Coach [Will] Franklin, they all have their own views and memories of that day. Just to hear them talk about it has been a good thing to sit down and listen to.” [...]

“Aaron’s still very special to me,” [Cornell] Ford said. “Even 12 years later, it’s still hard to believe he’s not with us anymore.”

12 years!

Definitely check out all of that one. Can’t wait to see Brooks and fellow freshman Aubrey Miller on the field. Sounds like both of them are good candidates to avoid redshirts and join the crowded competition at linebacker.

More Links:

• Matter talked to folks about Mizzou’s transformative, unprecedented basketball recruiting class. Rivals’ Corey Evans: “We’ve never seen anything like it.” Meanwhile, recent 2018 commit K.J. Santos talked to the Trib: “I know they’re going to be really good.”
• We’ve seen quite a few pretty good Jim Sterk profiles in recent months. The latest from the KC Star’s Tod Palmer is no exception.
• Mizzou has struck out on most of the primary tight ends it has pursued in the 2018 class, but the Tigers have made the final three for 6’8 Long Island product Messiah Swinson, alongside Arizona State and NC State.

• Switching sports, four-star 2018 guard Alex Lomax also cut his list down to six, and there were evidently no surprises on it. Mizzou made the cut, along with Memphis, Wichita State, and three other SEC schools.

• Andrew Gachkar is a Jaguar. #MizzouMade

• Mizzou Soccer played three 30-minute exhibition periods with Oklahoma State on Saturday, played its nine freshmen a ton, and fell, 1-0.