Mizzou Hopes To Land Top Football Prospect In America Wednesday

The only piece of the puzzle left to put in place for the National Letter of Intent signing date Wednesday is the decision of Dorial Green-Beckham of Springfield, Missouri.

The Hillcrest High School senior, 6-foot-6, 220 pounds is the envy of every school in the nation. His picture graced the cover of a recent Parade Magazine, selected “Player of the Year.”

Green-Beckham could select from any major football program in America. Mum’s the word, but the world knows he’s going to play next year in the Southeast Conference.

The All-American receiver said no to national programs Alabama, Florida, Texas and Oklahoma.

The two border states are in the final two-Arkansas and Missouri.

This star will announce his decision to the world live on ESPNU Wednesday around 9 a.m. CST. Missouri will either step onto the national stage, netting America’s top prospect, or head into the SEC conference next fall with more recruiting work to do.

This class coming in looks very solid for the Tigers. Locally, two-way star Michael Scherer of MICDS is in, picking the Tigers over Stanford. The Tigers will ink Edmund Ray, 6-foot-5, 290 pound tackle from Ritenour and Donavin Newsom, a 6-foot-2, 220 pound hard-hitting linebacker from Parkway North. Markus Golden of Affton High School kind of slips into Columbia unnoticed. Grown to 6-foot-3, 230, Golden was the area’s leading rusher for the Cougars two years ago. He went from there to junior college.

One year ago, the Tigers won the battle for the services of Sheldon Richardson, 6-foot-4, 290 pound defensive tackle from Gateway Tech. Richardson too went to junior college, his choice was in California. The Tigers won out over USC, Miami and other big time programs.

This year’s 19 man list (so far) includes outstanding players from  Missouri, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio. Maty Mauk is a Gary Pinkel prototype quarterback.  Mauk set four national quarterback records for his team in Kenton, Ohio.

The Tigers are deep with signal callers, James Franklin, returning junior; Corbin Berkstresser and now Mauk give the Tigers a lot of depth. Will they have the depth of talent to match LSU, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina and the like will be the question going forward at Mizzou?

There’s more local talent signing letters today.

Ladue’s sparkling 6-foot-5 wide receiver Jehu Chesson will ink with the Michigan Wolverines. He never warmed up to pass-happy Mizzou. Chesson turned away Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Northwestern to head to Ann Arbor.

Patch will be at two local schools for NCAA signings Wednesday.

At MICDS, at 2 p.m., Scherer will sign with Mizzou while quarterback Thomas Militello and wide receiver Jack Howell will indicate their choices with Dartmouth College and Brown University respectively. Ivy League schools do not have athletic scholarships so they don’t offer binding letters to sign. Annie Goessling will be singing to swim for the University of North Carolina.

At Ladue, at 3 p.m. eight athletes will sign on the line. In addition to Chesson, Ladue will feature letters signed by Danielle Dub, softball to Central Methodist; Elena Greisick, Johns Hopkins for field hockey; Libby Ferris, Carleton College for tennis; Chandler Millstone, Colgate University for Lacrosse; Maddie Wall, Dartmouth College for swimming; and Katie Westervelt, Williams College for rowing.

Signed National Letters of Intent are binding for one year.

That starts the recruiting process for the Class of 2013. The center of attention turns to Ezekiel Elliott, running back from John Burroughs who undoubtedly will be one of the hotest prospects in the country.

Here is Parade Magaine's account of their Player of the Year.