Since classes have started up in Columbia, a handful of recruits have announced that they will start classes in the next year or two at the University of Missouri.
The Missouri men’s basketball and women’s soccer teams each landed two commits during the first week of classes. Coach Cuonzo Martin’s cohort will receive the basketball talents of two three-star prospects, Kaleb Brown and Sean Durugordon, next school year, while Hannah Boughton and Jessica Larson will join Bryan Blitz’s soccer program in the fall of 2022.
And Sept. 5, Eli Drinkwitz secured Commit No. 19 in the 2021 recruiting class with three/four-star weak-side defensive end Kyran Montgomery.
In this edition of “This Week in Mizzouting,” we take a look into the aforementioned athletes who will bring their talents to The Show Me State in the near future.
###Kyran Montgomery (Football, 2021)###
Montgomery sent a tweet out Saturday morning saying, “TODAY’S THE BIG DAY ?BEST DECISION DAY OF MY LIFE.” That afternoon, Drinkwitz sent out the trademark #NewZou21 football commitment infographic with an additional #DLINEZOU hashtag.
For those who follow Missouri football and put two and two together, it was only a matter of time before Montgomery announced his intentions to spend his collegiate career in black and gold.
And sure enough, later on Saturday, Montgomery committed.
Drinkwitz’s latest commit had 99 tackles in his junior season at Pike High School in Indianapolis, Ind., with 22 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Montgomery joins defensive back Daylan Carnell as the second top-10 commit from the Hoosier State. Montgomery is the sixth D-lineman to join the Tigers in the 2021 class.
###Kaleb Brown (Basketball, 2021)###
MU’s week on the recruiting trail started strong when Brown, brother of Missouri sophomore Kobe Brown, officially committed to the Tigers on Monday.
The 6’6 point guard out of Huntsville, Ala. turned down offers from Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Minnesota in favor of Missouri. Brown cited his relationship with Martin and familiarity with the program as some of the reasons he chose MU. He joins Anton Brookshire and Sean Durugordon in the Tigers’ 2021 class.
Listed at 5 feet, 9 inches his freshman year at Lee High School, Brown grew nearly a foot since 2017. Brown’s trainer, Kelly McCarty, told The Maneater that the growth spurt enhanced the 17-year-old’s athleticism, which allowed them to implement more athleticism-based drills in training. Described as a leader that loves to pass and has good basketball IQ, Brown has a lot to offer in Martin’s system.
“It was a pretty obvious decision, but I still wanted to make sure that it was the right decision,” Brown said.
Read more about Brown’s commitment by checking out the article by Kyle Pinnell below.
###Sean Durugordon (Basketball, 2021)###
Durugordon, the No. 237 player in the nation according to 247Sports, announced his commitment via Twitter Wednesday morning, sporting a No. 2 black Mizzou jersey while flanked by Martin. This is appropriate considering the relationship he built with Martin—a primary reason for his decision.
Despite never making an official visit to the MU campus, Durugordon said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dave Matter that the relationships built between himself, Martin and the rest of the coaching staff was a prime factor in his decision.
A two-way small forward, Durugordon averaged 23 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game in his junior season at Canterbury School, a prep school in New Milford, Conn. He is listed at 6’7”, but his seven-foot wingspan and three-point shooting prowess (44% from three) makes him a versatile weapon all over the court.
Durugordon, who grew up in Queens, N.Y. before attending Canterbury, will be jumping from one Connecticut prep school to another this fall with his enrollment at Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Conn. for his senior campaign.
Read more about Durugordon’s commitment by checking out this article by Mason Arneson.
###Hannah Boughton (Soccer, 2022)###
February of this year, Mizzou soccer announced that eight prep soccer players had signed letters of intent to join the program for the 2020 season. Since then, there had been little to no noise coming out of the recruiting office for any of the ensuing recruitment classes.
That changed Aug. 24, when midfielder Hannah Boughton announced her commitment via Twitter that she will be joining the Tigers during the 2022 season. Boughton hails from Coreyville, Texas where she played club soccer for the Dallas Texans.
“Thank you to my family, coaches and teammates that have supported me throughout this journey. Glory be to god. Go Tigers,” Boughton said in her Twitter post.
###Jessica Larson (Soccer, 2022)###
More recently, Jessica Larson of St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon, Missouri announced via Twitter her commitment to Mizzou Soccer in 2022 on Aug. 28. The freshman forward was honored in 2019 with being a part of the Class 3 All-State Girls team.
However, her talent on the soccer field is not where her prowess ends. Larson is actually a two-sport athlete at St. Dominic, having competed on the school’s freshman basketball team as a small forward.
_Edited by Maia Bond | jsoble@themaneater.com_