This week in Mizzou recruiting: Tray Jackson, Sean McNeil and Harlond Beverly

Without any interruption, here is this week’s (all-basketball) edition of This Week in Mizzou Recruiting.

Tray Jackson comes through CoMo

Tray Jackson, Missouri’s 6-foot-9 2019 signee, took his official visit to campus this week and had a front-row seat for the Tigers’ loss to Kentucky. I hadn’t seen Jackson in person since the Peach Jam in July, and he looks to have bulked up a bit since the summer.

I texted Jackson to recap his visit this week and didn’t hear back from him. He doesn’t seem to be much of a talker.

One other takeaway I had from Jackson’s visit was that he was introduced to the Mizzou Arena crowd on the video board and got a roaring applause. I think the Tigers should do this more. It can only be done with signed recruits, but could be executed in the presence of a top unsigned target. It also is good for marketing because it could give fans on the fence about renewing their season tickets a reason to pay up.

Women’s signees Aijha Blackwell and Hayley Frank were in town for the Tigers’ loss to Tennessee and I’m surprised the video board welcome didn’t occur.

Missouri offers Sean McNeil

Cuonzo Martin’s staff extended another 2019 offer this week, to junior-college shooting guard Sean McNeil. A former Division II commit, McNeil took just two classes at his original school before heading home. He’s one of the top junior-college scorers, averaging more than 30 points per game while shooting 41 percent from three.

In the last two weeks he’s picked up offers from Missouri, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Colorado State among others, while getting interest from Kansas State and TCU. It appears McNeil is waiting until the end of the season to take visits and sign with a school. I’m curious to see who else he picks up offers from before then. As of right now, I think Missouri is in good shape to land a visit.

A few people reached out to me surprised that Missouri offered a non-frontcourt player again, but I think the Tigers are waiting for March, when the coaching carousel gets going, or looking for the right junior-college guy. I think McNeil is a “best player available” situation and MU thinks there’s a way where he can exist with the rest of its wings. If MU did land McNeil, I could see next season’s team looking like the Golden State Warriors offense, in which the team has a four-guard lineup, with multiple three-point shooters and Jeremiah Tilmon as the main frontcourt presence.

Mizzou visits Harlond Beverly

Missouri had an in-home visit with 2019 wing and Michigan native Harlond Beverly earlier this week, according to reports. Beverly is currently playing for Montverde Academy and has been linked a lot to Xavier and Baylor throughout his recruitment.

Beverly can play both guard spots and on the wing, which makes him an interesting prospect. Like McNeil, he is more of a luxury than a necessity. On the AAU circuit, Beverly played for the Reach Legends, the same program MU assistant coach Cornell Mann played for years ago and with the same coach/program director, so the relationships are there.

Beverly is another recruit who didn’t respond to my texts. I think he’s an interesting name to follow, but it’s tough to gauge MU’s chances until he takes some visits or cuts his list.