Commitments are rolling in as signing day draws near

The early signing period — aka the new National Signing Day — starts tomorrow and Mizzou Football coaches are zeroing in on the majority of their 2019 class. Recruits can’t sign until tomorrow, but that hasn’t stopped Missouri from closing the deal (so to speak) on some new names, including St. Louis area tight end Niko Hea.

The St. Louis area prospect took an official visit to Missouri the weekend of December 7th. However, Hea didn’t receive an offer from the coaching staff until Monday night, and he immediately jumped on the opportunity.

This is obviously a class of major importance to Barry Odom and the program at large. The 2018 has been a step forward for Mizzou’s profile under Odom, and it would be a boon to capitalize on the recruiting trail. Things have been helped along by the commitment of several Missouri recruits and some high profile grad transfers like Kelly Bryant and Jonathan Nance. We still have one day before the letters of intent start coming in, so Odom and Co. still have 24 hours to pull a few surprises out of their sleeves...

In addition to the above story, the PowerMizzou staff also did a rundown of their recruiting tips early this morning.

Mizzou Hoops returns to the floor

It’s been a looooooooooooong layoff for the Missouri men, but they return to the floor tonight against a good-not-great version of the Xavier Musketeers.

Under first-year coach and longtime assistant Travis Steele, the Musketeers lost three straight November games — to Wisconsin, Auburn and San Diego State —but have since won five of six, including a victory over Illinois in the Maui Invitational seventh-place game. … Xavier features four players averaging double-digit points per game, led by 6-7 sophomore Naji Marshall at 13.2, plus 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Missouri, meanwhile, may have some rust to shake off after more than a week since their last outing. However, they’ll be looking to capitalize on the strong play of Torrence Watson and big man Jeremiah Tilmon, who has been trying to take a lighter approach to the game, specifically when it comes to fouls.

When he picked up fouls last season, Tilmon would visibly show his frustration. He questioned the refs and displayed facial expressions that ranged from shock to suspicious. Porter got on Tilmon throughout their freshmen season and told him that attitude would do him no good and likely fed his current reputation.

This year, Tilmon said he laughs when picking up a foul. He wants to show he’s matured and combat that reputation.

We’ll have our official preview up later this morning. For now, you can check out the previews that have gone up all over the Mizzou beat.

Yesterday at Rock M

• The Watch: The middle of the SEC standings might be fluid
• BREAKING: In-State TE Niko Hea commits to Mizzou Football

More Links:

• The Missouri women got back on track last night with a dominant showing against Texas State. It was good to see Jordan Roundtree contribute 10 points and 3 steals — if Missouri wants to go a little further than the first weekend of the Tournament this year, they’ll need more than Sophie Cunningham and Amber Smith.
• Dave Matter looked at how Missouri’s tight ends are coping after the loss of their coach Joe Jon Finley to Texas A&M.