MU notebook: Tigers lose another WR commitment as Gardiner picks Ohio State

For the second consecutive day, Missouri’s 2017 recruiting class was raided for a wide receiver.

Kemp (Texas) High senior Elijah Gardiner — a 6-foot-5, Rivals three-star prospect — announced Monday that he will play in college at Ohio State. He had originally committed to the Tigers since Dec. 11.

Gardiner became a hot property in the recruiting world during the last few weeks.

Shortly after Tom Herman accepted the Texas job, Gardiner received an offer from the Longhorns. Herman had recruited Gardiner at Houston before being tapped to replace ousted Texas coach Charlie Strong.

Mizzou was able to fend off overtures from Gardiner’s in-state powerhouse but wasn’t able to hold off the Buckeyes.

Gardiner visited Columbus, Ohio, this weekend and received a scholarship offer Monday morning from Ohio State.

New Buckeyes offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, who was forced to resign as Indiana’s head coach Dec. 1 amid allegations he mistreated injured players, had a previous recruiting relationship with Gardiner.

On Sunday, Bishop Miege senior Jafar Armstrong, who had been committed to the Tigers since June, switched his commitment to Notre Dame after a weekend visit to South Bend, Ind.

The decommitments from Gardiner and Armstrong — along with Roderick Ford from Southwest High in Fort Worth, who decommitted two days after Gardiner’s initial commitment for Mizzou — leave Barry Odom and company with only one known wide receiver commitment in the 2017 recruiting class, Lee’s Summit North’s Da’Ron Davis.

National signing day is Wednesday.

Ex-Mizzou QB Zanders picks Virginia

Seven weeks after announcing that he would transfer from Missouri, quarterback Marvin Zanders has found a new home.

Zanders announced Monday on his private Twitter account that he had committed to Virginia.

During the spring and fall, Zanders — a former three-star prospect from Raines High in Jacksonville, Fla. — competed with Lee’s Summit graduate Drew Lock for the Tigers’ starting job.

After appearing in only one game as a redshirt freshman in 2015, Zanders played in eight games last fall, going 10 of 12 for 114 yards with a touchdown and rushing 35 times for 198 yards and two touchdowns.

He plans to graduate from Missouri in May and would be immediately eligible for his final two seasons with the Cavaliers as a graduate-student transfer.

More preseason honors for Houck

Missouri junior right-hander Tanner Houck landed on his third preseason All-American team Monday when Baseball America revealed its picks.

Houck, a 6-foot-5 native of Collinsville, Ill., was one of four starting pitchers picked for the first team after going 5-6 with a 2.99 ERA last spring, scattering 82 hits and 27 walks against 106 strikeouts in 105  1/3 innings.

Houck also was a PerfectGame.com first-team All-American and Collegiate Baseball News third-team All-American.

Baseball America also dubbed Houck the No. 8 prospect in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He owns a 13-11 career record with a 3.23 ERA, boasting 197 strikeouts and only 39 walks with a .220 opponents’ batting average during two seasons at MU.

Rockhurst’s May will be Tiger

Rockhurst senior linebacker Chance May announced Monday on Twitter that he would attend Missouri and play football.

May, who is 6-0 and 220 pounds, was a Missouri Class 6 all-state first-team selection. He also played quarterback for the Hawklets.

This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 6:28 PM with the headline "MU notebook: Tigers lose another WR commitment as Gardiner picks Ohio State."