It appears Gary Pinkel is pulling in a pretty standard recruiting glass this season, though it is certainly bigger than normal. How might the Tigers finish this class up? And who's on the horizon for 2015?
2014 Class
Just like the 2013 football season, the 2014 recruiting class is pretty well wrapped up. There could be a big win still out there however. First off, lets take a look at where the class stands right now (from PM as always):
Paul Adams
OL
6-6/270
70
Sam Bailey
OL
6-5/245
NR
Andy Bauer
OL
6-6/304
5
Kendall Blanton
TE
6-5/225
NR
Nate Brown
WR
6-3/215
47
Logan Cheadle
DB
5-10/165
NR
Kenya Dennis
DB
6-0/190
NR
Michael Fairchild
OL
6-6/262
NR
Darnell Green-Beckham
WR
6-5/175
NR
Zach Hudson
OL
6-5/280
NR
Stepfawn Hughes
ATH
5-10/170
NR
Grant Jones
ATH
6-3/216
NR
Brandon Lee
LB
6-2/203
32
Lawrence Lee
WR
5-10/167
NR
Rocel McWilliams
DE
6-3/240
NR
Kevin Pendleton
OL
6-4/329
NR
Thomas Richard
WR
6-1/185
NR
Tavon Ross
ATH
6-1/196
NR
Finis Stribling IV
DB
5-10/170
NR
Greg Taylor
DB
5-10/181
38
Trevon Walters
RB
5-10/189
14
Thomas Wilson
ATH
5-10/176
NR
Roderick Winters
LB
5-11/196
NR
Ish Witter
RB
5-8/190
NR
Marvin Zanders
QB
6-1/175
NR
This class is ranked 33rd in the country by Rivals and has an average 2.8 star rating. 33rd is right about average for GP and staff when it comes to national rankings for their classes. But man oh man is the SEC a different freaking animal. 33rd would put us 12th out of the 14 schools with only Mississippi State and Arky ranked lower. Now the 2013 season has shown us that Pinkel and Co. can and do recruit in their own way and produce results with the kids they do get, so I'm not in the least worried about our rankings. It should also be noted that recruiting for this class is most likely still hurt a bit by last season's woes. If we take care of business in the offseason and come out solid again next fall, we can almost certainly see a higher rated group for the 2015 class.
Early Enrollees
Logan Cheadle might be the most famous, outside of Andy Bauer, incoming freshman this year, but he appears to have his head on straight. He will be enrolling early along with: Kenya Dennis, Brandon Lee, Michael Fairchild, Marvin Zanders & Andy Bauer. Certainly good to see this many of the highest ranked kids in the class getting on campus early and being able to participate in spring practice. Especially as most are saying Cheadle and Bauer could provide an impact in their freshmen year.
Still Out there
There are a few recruits who the coaching staff is still working and may end up in Columbia before all is said and done. OT Brian Wallace is the #2 ranked player in the state, a massive dude who appears to still be interested in Missouri. CB Raymond Wingo has been as tough to read as any kid in this recruiting year, he still has Mizzou listed highly and may end up a Tiger, but I'm not holding my breath. There are a few other out of state recruits that GP and staff are still looking at and everything that is coming out of PM is also saying that they wouldn't be surprised if another recruit was added before signing day.
Eyes on 2015
That's really weird to write, but the coaching staff is indeed focusing on the 2015 recruiting class right now and will continue to do so heavily after bowl season finishes up. Chase Abbington is the lone listed commit for the class currently, however it wouldn't be out of this world for the class to start filling up shortly. There are some serious studs in MO and bordering states next year, here are a few names you'll be hearing a lot about:
QB Drew Lock, Lee's Summit, MO - #5 ranked pro passer in the country
QB Alex Delton, Hays, KS- #10 ranked dual-threat QB in the country
RB Natereace Stong, East St. Louis, IL - ranked #20 nationally
RB Marquise Doherty, Kansas City, MO- ranked #29 nationally
WR Alex Ofodile, Columbia, MO - ranked #15 nationally
TE Hale Hentges, Jefferson City, MO - ranked #8 nationally
OT Christian Gaylord, Baldwin City, KS- ranked #33 nationally
OG AJ Harris, Stillwell, KS - ranked #12 nationally
DT Khalil Davis, Blue Springs, MO - ranked #19 nationally
DT Carlos Davis, Blue Springs, MO - ranked #23 nationally
DE Terry Beckner Jr., East St. Louis, IL- ranked #4 nationally
This is just a sampling of the players I'm sure the Mizzou staff is already out and looking at. Its awesome to see so many local kids rated this highly and many in areas that our staff has a very good track record recruiting, looking at you Andy Hill.
As in most things, keep on winning and things will keep looking better. If Mizzou takes care of bidness in the Cotton Bowl and starts out strong in the 2014 season, there is no reason to expect a very nice recruiting class for 2015.