Is Mizzou the clubhouse favorite for Williams Nwaneri?

Tonight is the biggest night in Mizzou Football recruiting since October 2021.

Two years may feel like a lot, but it’s actually a relatively short time for Mizzou. It’s not often they’ve been in the running for multiple five-star in-state recruits (at least not until the end), but credit to Eli Drinkwitz: it’s starting to feel like a regular occurence.

Consensus five-star DE Williams Nwaneri is committing this afternoon, and Mizzou is one of his finalists with Oklahoma and Georgia. Those are heavy hitters, especially for a guy looking to play in the trenches. But according to one of the nation’s leading recruiting analysts, Mizzou might be the favorite down the stretch. 247 Sports’ Steve Wiltfong placed a Crystal Ball prediction for Nwaneri yesterday, and he picked the Tigers.

A crystal ball is far from 100% accurate, but Wiltfong has a pretty strong track record. According to 247Sports, 91.5% of his predictions have ended up being accurate all-time. He’s correctly predicted 308 of 319 (over 96%) commitments for the Class of 2024 cycle.

Do with this information what you will, Missouri fans.

Wiltfong explained his choice in an accompanying article, saying he believes the Tigers have made a strong pitch to Nwaneri, one backed up by the strong NIL opportunities shown to players like Luther Burden.

We’ve been reporting for awhile Missouri has been trending here and with head coach Eliah Drinkwitz and assistant Kevin Peoples leading the charge. The opportunity to play in-state for a rising program and the opportunity that brings regarding NIL has made the home-SEC program enticing.

Over at On3, Mizzou also appears to be the popular name.

“Missouri is the hot team attached to Nwaneri’s name over the last 2-3 weeks,” wrote On3’s Chad Simmons on Aug. 10. “It is the in-state school, some didn’t view Eliah Drinkwitz’s program as a legit contender for much of the process, but the Tigers have really picked up some steam in this race. They have the momentum late.”

Nwaneri will commit this afternoon at 3 pm CT. There will be no shortage of local TV coverage or coverage on this site in the immediate aftermath, so be sure to stay locked in to Rock M Nation for the latest.

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