At the beginning of June, Missouri was courting three running back recruits: blue-chipper Emeka Megwa and 3-star talents C.J. Stokes and Joseph Himon. By the time the the whirlwind recruiting month wound down, Missouri ended up with zero running back commits, with Stokes committing to Michigan and Megwa apparently not having the Tigers as a realistic option for his services.

So what did Drinkwitz and his staff do? Oh, they just offered another blue-chip Texas running back a scholarship. And you know what happened from there.

The Drinkwitz Bat Signal went up...

...we all started doing our excited dance...

...and then the official commitment hit on Tavorus Jones’ Instagram. Now we can bask in the glory of yet another recruiting win for Drinkwitz and The Boys.

I think it’s great that Missouri can be a later offer for an out-of-state 4-star recruit and then beat out Texas for his services. It’s just the coolest thing ever.

Get to know: Tavorus Jones

Hometown: El Paso, TX

High School: Burges

Position: Running Back

Ht/Wt: 5’11” , 205

Rivals Ranking: 5.9, 4-star

247Composite Ranking: 0.9299, 4-star

Total announced offers: 25

Offers to note: Every Texas school, every SEC West school, Arizona State, Florida, Michigan, Penn State, USC, Washington

Jones only took two official visits — to Texas and to Missouri over this past weekend — but the fact that the young man has 25 offers, including offers from some of the most elite schools in the country, and he chose Missouri? Mercy.

What they’re saying:

Jones is only the second blue-chip running back to commit to Missouri in the recruiting-service-era, joining Arkansas native Damarea Crockett in that elite fraternity. While Missouri was potentially looking to add two running backs in this class, being able to only nab Jones is certainly an excellent consolation prize.

Jones now becomes the fifth 4-star recruit to join the 2022 class, no matter which recruiting service you prefer.