Football recruits announced

By Mike Bushnell

Published Feb. 8, 2008

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel and his staff announced Wednesday the highest-rated signing class in school history. The class features 23 players, including eight of the top 11 rated players in the state, and was rated No. 24 nationally by Rivals.com.

MU’s top recruit of the class was quarterback Blaine Gabbert of Ballwin, who initially signed last summer with Nebraska. Rated the No. 1 player in the state, he withdrew his commitment in the fall and committed to the Tigers in November.

Coach Gary Pinkel said Gabbert, who is seen as the quarterback of Missouri’s future, will have a chance to learn from rising senior Chase Daniel, statistically the best quarterback in school history.

“He’s got a chance, going to Missouri, to be a sponge with Chase,” Pinkel said of Gabbert. “He can learn from the best. We think he’s a high-level athlete with a lot of skills, and he’s going to be a great athlete.”

One of MU’s other major pickups, wide receiver Wes Kemp of DeSmet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, originally committed to Wisconsin.

Scout.com rated him the No. 3 player in Missouri, and assistant coach Cornell Ford said Kemp kept the door open for MU even after he committed to the Badgers.

“He, like Blaine, kept letting us contact him,” Ford said. “We kept a relationship with Wes, built up the trust, and by the end of last year he decided to come here.”

Ford said MU has a policy of staying in contact with recruits who commit elsewhere but remain open to being recruited.

“When you deal with 17- or 18-year-olds, they don’t really know what they want sometimes,” he said. “If you can keep a good relationship with kids, it can help you down the road, and it did with us. I’ve heard the horror stories of kids calling schools expressing interest and coaches cursing them out. We don’t do that, and it’s how we can get guys like Blaine and Wes.”

Kemp and Gabbert are products of the St. Louis area. Ford said MU’s success and that of other local players allowed the university to retain the best in-state talent that they might not have gotten in years past.

“Kids are watching and listening and seeing success of St. Louis and other Missouri guys in this program,” he said. “They’re seeing that if Jeremy Maclin can go and have success and Will Franklin can go and have success, then they can go have success too.”

Maclin attended Kirkwood High School, and Franklin attended Vashon High School.

Tight end Andrew Jones of Smithville, Mo., was rated the No. 2 player in Missouri, and Pinkel said after he committed, he did his best to get other players to come to MU with him.

“I’d put (Andrew) on my payroll, but that wouldn’t be good,” he said to laughter. “I had him basically on my staff.

When you get good people committed and they’re excited to go out on their own because they love Missouri, that’s very positive.”

Jones has been credited with helping get Gabbert; Kemp; defensive back Robert Steeples, of DeSmet; defensive lineman Aldon Smith, of Raytown; and offensive lineman Dan Hoch, of Harlan, Iowa, to come play for the Tigers.

Hoch was rated the No. 1 player in Iowa by Scout.com and had been committed to Nebraska for over a year.

“Andrew’s infectious,” said assistant coach Andy Hill, who recruited Jones. “He loves Missouri, and he’s smart enough to know that if he gets other good players to come its in his best interest. And it’s been in our best interest too.”

The class features 12 players from Texas, as well as running back Drew Temple, of Kansas City, the brother of Tony Temple, who is statistically the best MU running back in history.

While the class gave MU coaches a lot to smile about, assistant coach Matt Eberflus said there are still a lot of unanswered questions about every player.

You can always say this guy will do this or that, but you don’t know,” he said. “It all comes down to work ethic. All of a sudden a guy can become all — conference out of the blue. But today’s a good start.”