Is Cam’Ron Fletcher trending away from Missouri?

It wasn’t long ago, July 17th in fact, when Cam’Ron Fletcher announced his final five schools on social media. There have been signs for the better part of a month that showed Fletcher was trending towards a Kentucky commitment, away from both Missouri and Michigan State. They were, however, somewhat easy to ignore because of the Wildcats usual success with wing players at the top of their class. Rarely do the Cats dip into players ranked below the 30th spot, where Fletcher currently resides. From 247sports:

There are currently 10 predictions, seven for Kentucky, two for Missouri, and one for Michigan State. Here are the last eight predictions in order: Kentucky, Michigan State, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky.

You get the picture.

Rumors swirled mid day Saturday that a commitment might be imminent if not already in place. TiptonEdits (a popular edit maker with the kids these days) posted to instagram that a 5-star commitment was coming today. The account didn’t specify which 5-star player was committing, and technically Cam isn’t a 5-star prospect by either Rivals or 247sports. But it was enough to send the alerts up for us and many Mizzou fans.

However shortly after the rumors of a potential commitment came out Fletcher took to instagram to state “Don’t believe everything you hear”.

It would seem that the momentum for a weekend commitment has faded but the threat of a commitment soon is still there, maybe even within the week. But the best case scenario for Missouri is Fletcher getting back home and letting some local friends and trusted advisors cool his heels a little bit, enough to let Missouri get back in the picture.

I’m certainly not confident that happens, and there is likely pressure from UK to secure a spot if he wants one. Where Missouri has to wait on decisions of players like Fletcher, Kentucky can pressure them to commit or lose out on all being apart of the Wildcat family has to offer, including a long list of draft picks and deep NCAA runs.

That’s what Missouri and Cuonzo Martin are fighting against. Martin has made progress in recruiting St. Louis kids, but Fletcher and Caleb Love both present challenges he hasn’t quite had to face. And he’s facing them before the program has fully been set right. Missing the tournament last season after losing Jontay Porter and Mark Smith looked bad optically, less so for those like us who pay deeper attention. But it made five of the last six years without an NCAA trip.

So for now we keep watch and at least a little hope alive. But maybe prepare to start talking about what the Plans B are?

Your daily Football camp links:

• BenFred’s column on how the focus has rightly been on Bryant, but its his supporting case which provides the key to the season.
• While Dave Matter looks at Derek Dooley’s second season at the helm of the offense.
• I recommend following Hunter Dyke on twitter, the former Tribune photographer is working for Mizzou Athletics and I think he has an eye for a good picture:

In other news:

• Mizzou made the top 6 for Jayla Kelly, a 6’3 post player from Parkway Central High School in St. Louis.
• Alex Schiffer’s instagram story reporting has worked again, as he notified us that Mizzou signee Axel Okongo is on campus after finishing up a class in Wyoming.
• We’re losing you guys! Vote!