[KcMizzou]

I'm sure Pete wont mind if we just continue talking Mizzou stuff here until the game tomorrow...

Tigers set to unveil Pinkel’s ‘best’ class yet

MU’s cache of in- and out-of-state talent ranked in top 25 by recruiting sites.

By Dave Matter

Tuesday, February 2, 2010


Tomorrow afternoon Missouri will officially unwrap what’s almost universally regarded as the school’s best football recruiting class under Gary Pinkel, who’s into his 10th season at MU.
Football National signing day

And two things are bound to happen during Pinkel’s press conference: He will make his annual signing day statement that star ratings and rankings are inconsequential to the way his staff evaluates recruits. At the same time, reporters and other guests gathered for the announcement will receive a press release detailing exactly what Pinkel just trivialized — the star ratings and rankings for every one of those future Tigers.

And you can bet tomorrow’s handout will alert everyone that Pinkel just hauled in his best recruiting class, even though those words will never cross the coach’s lips.

Instead, MU will showcase the analysis from the recruiting experts whose companies have become as much a part of the culture of college football as tailgating and job-hopping head coaches. And this year, their words are flattering for the Tigers.

It will be years before Missouri’s 2010 class can be properly judged, but for now, the Tigers’ latest score can settle for being the highest ranked under Pinkel’s watch, for whatever that’s worth.

“This definitely will go down as the best class we’ve seen from Gary Pinkel,” said Jeremy Crabtree, national recruiting editor for Rivals.com, one of the prominent Web sites that tracks recruiting news and ranks prospects. “I see no reason why, unless something dramatic happens, that it won’t be a top-20 class, which is phenomenal.”

The folks over at Scout.com, Rivals.com’s chief rival, if you will, essentially share the same thoughts on Missouri’s class, which is expected to include 22 high school players and a junior college transfer.

“This is one of the strongest classes I’ve seen Missouri pull in from top to bottom,” said Greg Powers, who covers Big 12 recruiting for Scout.

As of yesterday, MU had the country’s 17th-ranked signing class, per Rivals, and fourth-ranked among Big 12 teams, trailing only Texas (No. 2), Oklahoma (5) and Texas A&M (10). Scout ranks Missouri’s class No. 25.

From 2004-2009, Missouri’s classes ranged between No. 25 to 47 by Rivals with an average ranking of No. 36. During the same time, Scout slotted MU’s classes between No. 31 and 58 with an average rank of No. 40

Since 2002, the highest either company ranked a Missouri recruiting class came in 2008, when Rivals put MU at No. 25. Among the signees that year were 10 players who have already started games, including quarterback Blaine Gabbert, offensive tackle Dan Hoch and defensive end Aldon Smith.

Proving the fickle nature of such rankings, the lowest-rated MU class the last six years came in 2006, a group that included arguably more impact players than any of Pinkel’s other classes: wide receivers Jeremy Maclin, Danario Alexander and Jared Perry, plus linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, center Tim Barnes and safety Pig Brown. Rivals had that class at No. 47. Scout was less impressed, putting the group at No. 58.

Back to this year’s class. Missouri scored high, most agree, by securing a stronger perimeter around the state border, even though this year’s crop of in-state prospects wasn’t considered bursting with talent.

“Because the state was average at best, and likely not even that good, anyone claiming to have done well in Missouri would have needed to sign a clear majority of the top players,” said in-state recruiting analyst Danny Heitert, who for years published the STC Grid Report, the local Bible for analysis of Missouri high school prospects. “And the Tigers did just that.”

“I think it’s just a good job of protecting what they knew is important and meeting some needs,” Crabtree said. “Obviously, when you recruit at Missouri, you’ve got to take care of Kansas City and St. Louis. You have to do that first and foremost. They did a tremendous job of that this year.”

Missouri’s expected to sign six home-grown players from around the state: quarterback Tyler Gabbert (Parkway West), offensive linemen Nick Demien (Timberland) and Anthony Gatti (Parkway North), wide receiver Marcus Lucas (Liberty), cornerback E.J. Gaines (Fort Osage) and defensive end Kony Ealy (New Madrid County Central). Just across state lines, MU landed two more targets: receiver Jimmie Hunt (Cahokia, Ill.) and defensive lineman Lucas Vincent (Olathe, Kan., North).

The bulk of Missouri’s other expected signees comes from Texas, where MU landed nine recruits, a group headlined by quarterback James Franklin of Corinth, one of five from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Tigers also landed one high school recruit each from Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma and Michigan.

Gabbert, younger brother of junior-to-be Blaine, has already enrolled in classes at MU, along with fellow newcomers Franklin, tight end Eric Waters of Arlington, Texas, and defensive back Kenronte Walker, a transfer from City College of San Francisco.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/...est-class-yet/

I thought the bold was interesting... that was a hell of a class.