While it was a slow week for most athletic programs in Columbia, Cuonzo Martin’s basketball team made tremendous progress in their 2021 recruiting endeavors.
Martin received commitment notices from two in-state recruits: Trevon Brazile, a wing out of Springfield, and Yaya Keita, a three-star center from the St. Louis area. The second and third in-state commits, respectively, bring the Tigers neck and neck with the Florida State Seminoles for the most commitments for 2021 with five apiece. These recent commitments see MU knocking on the door of the top 25 in the class rankings.
However, things were not all rosy for Missouri this week, as Tigers football missed out on a potentially huge addition to their offense when four-star wide receiver Dominic Lovett committed to Arizona State. A teammate of Tyler Macon’s, Lovett placed Missouri in his commitment shortlist, but he chose to catch passes in The Valley of the Sun.
In this edition of “This Week in Mizzouting,” we take a look at the two exciting commitments of Trevon Brazile and Yaya Keita and one the disappointment of losing 4 star receiver Dominic Lovett to Arizona State.
Trevon Brazile (Basketball 2021)
On Tuesday, Sept. 8, Kickapoo forward Trevon Brazile announced on Twitter his commitment to play for the Tigers only an hour after being offered the opportunity. Rock M Nation reported that while schools like Arkansas and Illinois were starting to show interest, Cuonzo Martin had been courting the young talent since the beginning of summer.
Brazile attributes his commitment to MU to the “family atmosphere” that Martin has created within the team.
Brazile is listed at 6-foot-7 with an impressive 7-foot wingspan to accompany the forward’s startling height. His skills at shooting the ball continue to grow, but fans have gotten most excited to witness his skills defensively. Brazile is known to be a supreme rim protector in the paint and a gladiator for offensive rebounds, making him a reliable outlet for second chance points.
“I’m super excited that we got him,” fellow Kickapoo teammate and now MU teammate Anton Brookshire said. “He will bring such a great culture to the program.”
Yaya Keita (Basketball, 2021)
Much like Brazile, Yaya Keita’s commitment took less than a day to accept Martin’s scholarship offer and he committed only one day after Brazile joined the Tigers 2021 class.
Listed at 6-foot-9, the DeSmet Jesuit (Creve Coeur, Mo.) product is an undersized center in comparison with most other Division I big men. It will be up to Martin whether or not Keita will retain his high school position in Columbia or whether he will assume a role at power forward.
Keita is the third athlete in a revenue-generating sport from DeSmet to commit to the Tigers, joining Mekhi Wingo and Taj Butts, who committed to Eli Drinkwitz’s football team earlier in the year.
Drinkwitz loses out on Dominic Lovett
The 247 Crystal Ball projections turned out to be true: Tyler Macon’s East St. Louis teammate — receiver Dominic Lovett — will be playing his home games at Sun Devil Stadium, not Faurot Field.
Lovett would have been a key addition to Drinkwitz’s first recruiting class at Missouri for a number of reasons. No one on the Tigers surpassed 500 receiving yards in 2019, and the team needs an option to complement 2020 four-star commit Javian Hester. There would also be chemistry and timing established between Macon and Lovett upon arriving in Columbia.
Lovett is the second East St. Louis receiver to spurn the quasi in-state Tigers for the Pac-12 Conference. Keontez Lewis, the No. 446 prospect according to 247Sports, accepted an offer from the UCLA Bruins, who will play Lovett’s ASU Sun Devils once a year.
_Edited by Jack Soble | jsoble@themaneater.com_
