While a decision may not come until his senior season, Dallas high school junior Elijah Thomas recently cut his list of prospective schools to 24 schools with Missouri making the cut.

“I know they have a strong pipeline as far a recruiting in Dallas, I really like that they make everyone that’s skilled a(n) available shooter meaning (their) skill development is pretty good,” Thomas said of the Tigers’ basketball program in an email.

Aside from MU, Thomas’ list features some of the nation’s most elite programs. Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Texas are just a few of the schools joining Missouri on his list of suitors.

The 6-foot-9 center is a five-star prospect from Lancaster, Texas, who currently attends Lancaster High School after attending national power Prime Prep for the first few years of his career. Thomas is considered a very complete player for his age. Scouts rave about his ability to finish around the rim, rebound and be a defensive force in the paint.

While Missouri head coach Frank Haith and assistant Tim Fuller are the primary recruiters for Thomas, the coaching staff appears to be receiving help from a pair of former Tigers from the Dallas area.

“Phil and Matt Pressey, who I’m close to, tell me about the program all the time,” Thomas said in the message.

Thomas wrote he is a big fan of the coaching staff because “they’re really cool people and like for (their) players to have fun.”

Thomas first visited Missouri last summer with his AAU teammate Austin Grandstaff and said he plans on returning to Columbia this season to catch a basketball game.

**Whitt and Langford Visit**

When Haith said he thought the Tigers’ had “recruited well” in a speech before Tuesday’s annual Black and Gold game, he wasn’t kidding.

The Tigers were visited by 2015 target Jimmy Whitt, who was in attendance for the game at Mizzou Arena. Whitt is a Columbia native at Hickman High School but just because he holds an offer from Missouri does not mean he is a certain commit. The four-star point guard also holds offers from Arkansas, Creighton, Kansas State and Oklahoma among others. With Whitt living in town, it only makes sense to presume he’ll make his way to a few basketball games this seasons.

Whitt wasn’t the only big visitor the Tigers had on campus this week. They hosted 2016 five-star talent Josh Langford.

Langford lives in Alabama but has family in the area, which is how the Tigers got him on campus this past weekend. The Tigers offered Langford on his visit, adding their name with Alabama and Florida among the list of early offers he has already gathered. Langford is expected to visit Kentucky for their Big Blue Madness event with another 2016 Tigers target, St. Louis star Jayson Tatum.