Guess who’s coming to campus?

It’s not always a bad thing when it feels like your program is having a quiet summer. Despite a commitment from T.O. Barrett in late June, the Mizzou Basketball summer has been a quiet one.

But the lack of news doesn’t mean the staff hasn’t been busting it trying to put together a stellar 2024 recruiting class. If you were following along, Parker Gillam went to Peach Jam and was able to track the staff as they watched several top targets. They have been able to turn that activity into a hot board complete with set visits, possible visits, and some potential commitments, too. :eyes emoji:

So let’s jump in!

Scheduled a visit

Burns emerged as a target in the spring. In a recent interview with 247sports.com he cited Dennis Gates as his primary recruiter. Burns is being pursued by Purdue, Xavier, Ohio State, and Nebraska.

Jones was an early offer for the new staff, and was pursued by C.Y. Young while at Florida State. Jones is a bit more of an undersized post player but he has been stretching the floor more and working out away from the basket.

Planning a Visit

Has Already Visited (and still uncommitted)

• Marcus Allen, 4-star Forward — One of the longest-standing targets, Allen has included Missouri in his top schools each time he’s been asked. He’s also been to Miami, and has Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, and Florida State.
• Bishop Boswell, 4-star Guard — Visiting Wake Forest August 2nd, Tennessee on September 8th, and Georgia on September 15th. Boswell released a top 6 with those three schools, Missouri, Xavier, and South Carolina.
• Jordan McCullum, 3-star Forward — McCullum’s recruitment hasn’t fully taken off. But he’s been to both Missouri and Tennessee, and holds offers from Georgia, Ole Miss, and Georgetown.
• Peyton Marshall, 4-star Forward — Marshall set a commitment date of August 11th. He visited Missouri last fall and the Tigers could be a surprise dark horse in the race while many presume the Ole Miss Rebels are the favorites.

The one thing to watch here is that August 11th date. Peyton Marshall is a St. Louis native who lives in Georgia now. He was committed to Auburn, but de-committed when Wes Flanigan left for the same role at Ole Miss under Chris Beard. Ole Miss would appear to be the primary competition, with Mississippi State and Georgia Tech lurking around as well.

Missouri is in good shape here. There have been several independent recruiting sites with reporters who have indicated Mizzou may, in fact, be the favorite. Things have been quiet on the Mizzou side and we haven’t gotten any indication one way or another that Marshall is going to hop on board. But the trends certainly seem positive. So if they secure a commitment on the 11th from Marshall, that could impact some of the above visits. Would Missouri still take Burns? Burns and Marshall are different players stylistically — with Marshall being a bit more of a traditional post player and Burns being a little bit more of the new style stretch center — but there are some indications both could fit well together since they occupy different spaces. There’s also something to be said for not loading up on a bunch of young big men and trying to compensate for some of the youth through the transfer portal next spring.

With T.O. Barrett already on board, potentially adding Marshall would mean two of a likely 3-4 man class, with 5 being possible if things really go the Tigers’ way with some of their other top targets. All indications are they are going to be in the thick of things with Annor Boateng until the end, and there’s been no reason to suspect they wouldn’t still take Bishop Boswell. Oh and then there’s Marcus Allen who has always been high on their list.

So keep a good eye on that August 11th announcement as it could be a bit of a domino effect for the rest of the class.