While formal commitment announcements were fewer in this week of Mizzouting, three intriguing prospects added Missouri’s men’s basketball and football to their shortlists.
In this edition of “This Week at Mizzouting,” we delve into Eli Drinkwitz’s first big moves of the 2022 recruiting class and Cuonzo Martin’s finalization of a 2021 recruiting group that is currently in the top 25.
Max Whisner (Football, 2022)
The 2022 recruiting cycle for football starts with a bang as Max Whisner, a three-star tight end from Lee’s Summit, Mo., confirmed his commitment to MU on Monday. This commitment continues to prove how Drinkwitz has been controlling the in-state commitment recruiting game.
Whisner made MU fans nervous as he continuously removed multiple Power Five teams from his interests over the course of this week. Most recently, he sent a notice via Twitter on Sept. 14 that Arkansas, Nebraska and Mizzou were his final options before he made his choice a week later.
His commitment isn’t the only connection he has to MU football, though, as he hails from quarterback Drew Lock’s old high school.
Big name wide receivers have Drinkwitz’s attention
Five-star wide receiver Luther Burden is Drinkwitz’s first big test to see if the first-year coach’s culture can attract the highest-caliber recruits in Missouri.
Ranked as a top 15 player by 247Sports and Rivals, Burden has the chance to be the Tigers’ most heralded “in-state” player since 2015 D-line commit Terry Beckner (who played right across the border in East St. Louis, Ill.). The Cardinal Ritter College Prep junior is listed as the best receiver in his class by Rivals and second-best by 247.
One look at Burden’s tape tells you all you need to know. Whenever the ball is in his hands, there is a chance he’ll take it to the house, regardless of whether he’s streaking downfield on a deep ball or doing the work himself on a screen play.
Burden also steps onto the field in what seems like a WD-40 suit. The 6-foot-2-inch pass catcher is nearly impossible to tackle one-on-one in the open field, slipping out of tackles and turning plays that would result in a loss for a lesser receiver into huge gains.
While Burden has the opportunity to fulfill Drinkwitz’s in-state recruiting mission, four-star Tyler Morris could highlight the pipeline he’s building in Illinois.
Morris has been placed in the top 75 by both 247 and Rivals, and he has the makeup of a solid go-to option for any Power Five program. His sophomore tape at Nazareth Academy has him making an impact on offense as a receiver, on defense as a defensive back and on special teams as a return specialist.
Despite the Tigers being in the hunt for these two premier weapons on the outside, MU’s chances of landing either is slim according to recruiting experts. The favorite to sign Burden’s receiving talent is Missouri’s former Big 12 counterpart Oklahoma, while the Michigan Wolverines have the edge for Morris.
Drinkwitz has a lot of ground to make up to sign these two recruits, but regardless of outcome, he has proven that he can enter recruiting battles for the best talent in the nation.
Hercy Miller includes Missouri basketball in top seven
Hercy Miller, a 2021 combo guard from Minneapolis, Minn., listed MU in his top seven schools Sunday, alongside UCLA, Arizona and others. Miller, who played his freshman and sophomore years in California, is the son of rapper Master P.
In 2020, Miller played alongside two five-star recruits in top two prospect Chet Holmgren and Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs at Minnehaha Academy, and he displayed talent that you rarely see in the fifth-highest ranked player on a team. Listed at six-foot-three-inches, he flashed some serious athleticism on high-flying dunks and averaged 8.4 points per game as a key scoring option last season.
In that role, Miller showed off a consistent play style with a good balance of playmaking and scoring inside and out. He holds a critical role on a nationally-acclaimed high school program, and he is definitely worth keeping an eye on for the Tigers’ upcoming class.
_Edited by Jack Soble | jsoble@themaneater.com_
