This week in Mizzou recruiting: Cam’Ron Fletcher, Caleb Love and Night at the Zou

It’s a special Monday edition of the recruiting column, with Missouri’s start to football camp delaying things on Friday.

No, this will not become a regular thing. Lots to discuss, so let’s dive in.

Cam’Ron Fletcher commits to Kentucky

While at spring football on Sunday, all of the Mizzou beat writers discovered that Cam’Ron Fletcher had committed to Kentucky while we baked in the Columbia sun. I thought going into the weekend the best news Mizzou basketball could hope for with Fletcher’s visit to Kentucky was no news. One of the Tigers’ top three priorities for 2020 is officially off the board.

I can’t say I’m surprised that Fletcher committed, given that Kentucky has picked up a commitment from B.J. Boston and the window for Fletcher to join the class could have been closing. Now for the part you really care about, what does it mean for Missouri?

Fletcher was Missouri’s best shot at the trio of Josh Christopher, Caleb Love and himself. He’s best friends with MU freshman Mario McKinney and the Tigers have been on him longer than anybody. Missouri recently offered Colorado wing Ronnie DeGray, who spent the past season in Connecticut at a prep school. He’s a name to keep an eye on and could turn into more of a target in the coming weeks. Most of Missouri’s other targets are bigs such as John Hugley IV, Ryan Kalkbrenner and Davion Bradford, so Fletcher’s commitment isn’t tied to their recruitments. I think MU has the best shot at Bradford among those three.

Caleb Love cuts to six

Speaking of Love, he cut his list to six on Friday and Mizzou made the cut. Like I did for Christopher and Fletcher, here’s my breakdown on his six finalists.

Arizona: Sean Miller has a great track record of producing guards such as Alonzo Trier and Love can be the next one. The Wildcats have taken a step back since the FBI investigation but are primed for a rebound this season thanks to a loaded recruiting class.

Kansas: Like Miller, Bill Self is great with guards and has the Jayhawks dancing every year. The looming NCAA sanctions for Arizona, Louisville and KU could play a role in Love’s recruitment.

Indiana: Like Missouri, the Hoosiers underachieved with a local star in Romeo Langford, similar to the Porter situation without the injuries. But the history, and the playing time for him, are there.

Missouri: Be the hometown star in a positionless system that truly fits Love’s game. Cuonzo Martin likes players who can play and defend multiple guard spots and Love truly fits that bill.

Louisville: The Cardinals are primed for a big year under Chris Mack and feature the nation’s top recruiting class. Not all of those players are one-and-done, which leaves some leftovers for Love to take on a run in March.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels have a lottery pick at point guard this year in Cole Anthony and Love could be his heir.

Love plans to take five official visits and an unofficial visit to Missouri because of its proximity to home (I call these an unofficial official) and wants to decide by November. If I were making a prediction today, I’d say North Carolina is the school in the best shape for Love.

Night at the Zou

Missouri football’s premier recruiting event didn’t have the effect it usually does when it took place last weekend. MU did not land a single recruit in the days following the event. The early signing period had pushed up the calendar for when recruits want to make up their mind, which is why MU went into the night with more commits (12) than it has ever had since Night at the Zou started.

I caught up with MU tight ends coach A.J. Ofodile this weekend and he had an interesting point about the whole situation when I asked him about freshman tight end Niko Hea. He had a strong senior season at CBC, which made him a late add for the Tigers’ class. Here’s what Ofodile said about Hea and how he relates to the new early signing period.

“We go so fast in recruiting that you forget the senior evaluation is going to be the best one, most accurate one to what they translate to at the next level,” Ofodile said. “He’s done a great job of getting bigger and stronger. Really like what we’ve seen from him.”

He makes a good point, which is why I think schools will try and keep a few spare scholarships open to prepare themselves for players who come on the radar late after a strong senior season. Missouri did the same thing a year earlier with Raytown’s Dominic Gicinto. and it seems to have worked out. But Ofodile’s point shows there are downsides to the system.

Robert Wooten commits to MU

Speaking of Missouri football pledges, the Tigers landed their thirteenth on Sunday night in defensive end Robert Wooden. A three-star recruit from Stafford, Texas, Wooten joins Cooper Davis, a Florida pledge with Lee’s Summit ties, to round out MU’s current class for that position.

Wooten recently backed off his pledge to Arizona and was considered a lean toward MU for weeks. The Tigers are still in the mix for Columbia defensive end Jalen Logan-Redding and St. Louis prospect Joe Moore among others to fill out the defensive line. Logan-Redding recently tweeted that he plans to commit in the near future, while Moore announced on Sunday night that is pushing back his original commitment date of Aug. 18.