Mizzou Basketball Recruiting: Close to decision day for top targets

Cuonzo Martin and his staff typically keep a low profile when it comes to recruiting. Piecing together top targets involves a lot of stalking on twitter, but also some sleuthing. Understanding who Mizzou might be likely to target in the spring usually comes down to whether or not he’s from Michigan.

I’m half joking, of course. But in reality keeping a close eye on Michigan prospects has paid off in the past. There’s always a wealth of talent coming out of the state, and even though it’s difficult to convince some of them to leave Michigan, both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University can’t take everyone. And sometimes they miss a good one.

Matt Harris already walked you through Mizzou’s pursuit of Bowling Green graduate transfer Justin Turner. And it looks like we’re getting closer to a decision for Turner:

The situation with Turner seems fairly clear at this point. He’s weighing the above schools, and a potential return to Bowling Green is possible, if unlikely. Missouri would appear to be the favorite by most who seem to know. If you like to read into mostly meaningless signs, five of Turner’s last 6 follows on twitter are all Mizzou accounts and none are from other schools.

Turner is obviously filling a big need if Martin can land him. He’s a perimeter bucket-getter, and fits in right away getting starter minutes. If I’m forced to guess, I think Mizzou gets Turner. He seems to feel comfortable with the staff, the fit and need is there. It makes a lot of sense.

We find out tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Missouri made the top four for David DeJulius, and he’s announcing soon as well

DeJulius is a former 4-star prospect from Detroit who committed to Michigan just five days after getting offered by John Beilein. So previous recruiting relationships might seem dubious at best as he was long viewed as a lock if offered by the Wolverines.

The turnaround, not the decision makes it tough to get a good read on the situation, and DeJulius hasn’t been doing any press interviews. So there’s very little information flowing out. But Missouri is firmly in the mix.

I’d give the edge to Marquette right now, based upon the fact his former AAU teammate and high school teammate are both playing for Steve Wojciechowski right now. It sets the table for DeJulius to get better, more immediate intel on what it’s like on campus and in practice.

DeJulius would be a good fit at Missouri, as he’s been a consistent producer in a lead guard position off the bench at Michigan. He projects as a quality high major starter and simply being a consistent producer would help the Tigers offensively. It would also be a win for Martin, and the recruiting wins have been a little scarce lately.

Last, we’ll finally know the landing spot for Josh Christopher

I’ll start by saying Missouri is almost certainly not the landing spot for Christopher. I don’t think they’d be pursuing Turner as doggedly if they felt good about where things were with Josh. My pick, basically bringing this all full circle, is Michigan. The Wolverines are upgrading this offseason, with 5-star forward Isaiah Todd, and Columbia grad transfer Mike Smith. They’ve also got a pair of 4-star players to go with that group too.

What the Wolverines need is a wing scorer.

Meanwhile, Christopher’s other suitors have all added as his position with UCLA and Arizona State adding wings in recent weeks and days. Missouri hasn’t, but again their pursuit of Turner tips their hand a bit.

Even though this recruitment has taken a while to get to the end, Mizzou has had plenty of time to pivot and pursue other players. Which brings us back to Turner.

There have been a few other names floating around, Matt interviewed JUCO guard RayQuawndis Mitchell about the Tigers entering his final five. And CJ Moore mentioned JUCO wing Ed Chang as another potential target. Chang was a former Mizzou offer a couple summers ago from Nebraska, he instead chose San Diego State, and then transferred to Salt Lake Community College.

Both Mitchell and Chang are more specialists, guys who’ll be looked at as floor spacers. The real prize would be Turner who can score all multiple levels. We’ll see what happens in the next few days.