‘Just the start’: Mizzou Tigers celebrate football recruiting class in Kansas City
Max Whisner had been to Arrowhead Stadium three or four times for Chiefs games, but he certainly had never experienced anything like this.
“This looks like a VIP section,” the tight end told The Star as he looked around in awe of the atmosphere at Tower Club East during a celebration of Missouri football’s 2022 signing class Wednesday evening. “It’s crazy that it was here.”
Whisner, a three-star recruit out of Lee’s Summit, and three other Kansas City-area signees — three-star offensive lineman Armand Membou (Lee’s Summit North), three-star wide receiver Mekhi Miller (Blue Valley North) and three-star defensive lineman Jalen Marshall (St. Thomas Aquinas) — were all in attendance for the reception, along with athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois, head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, several assistant coaches and well over a hundred Mizzou supporters.
The event, one of three organized by the Tigers for the start of the early signing period Wednesday (others were in Columbia and St. Louis) was emceed by former Tigers star quarterback Corby Jones.
“I think it’s a challenge for us to continue to build our brand,” Drinkwitz told media when asked about his efforts to celebrate the recruiting class across the entire state. “We didn’t sell out a game this year at Faurot Field and I take that as a personal challenge to myself that I haven’t done a great job of spreading the message.
“We’re building the program the way that we need to and so hopefully by us recruiting at a higher level, continue to put a better product on the field, they’ll see what we’re trying to pour into this program and maybe they’ll match the intensity ... because the reality of it is the only way we’re going to get to a championship level is for us to continue to have a championship fan base.”
The reception held in Kansas City held meaning beyond that though. Even having such an event there wouldn’t have been possible in recent years. For the last three recruiting cycles, Mizzou football was noticeably missing talent from the Kansas City-area.
Prior to Wednesday, the last KC-area player to join the Tigers was Blue Springs tight end Daniel Parker Jr. — who has since entered the transfer portal — in 2018. That changed with the additions of Marshall, Membou, Miller and Whisner, who make up a fourth of Mizzou’s 2022 class, which was ranked No. 12 in the nation by 247 Sports as of Wednesday evening — the best ever for the program, which finished this season 6-6 and plays in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 22.
“This class is just the start. Today is just the starting point for what we’re trying to accomplish. We’re going to still add more to it,” Drinkwitz told the crowd. “Obviously getting back into Kansas City and recruiting this and creating a pipeline again — the Corby Joneses, the Chase Coffmans of the world — we needed to get some guys back.”
Drinwkitz talked briefly about the importance of all four of the Kansas City-area signees before leaving to try to catch a flight to St. Louis for another signing day event. He praised Whisner for being the first pledge in the class, noting that he and his family led the way to get other players on board.
Drinkwitz said that Miller was an “outstanding wide receiver” and “a guy who takes a backseat to no one in our class as far as talent and toughness, willingness to go make the competitive catch.” He praised the size of both Membou and Marshall while joking about them squaring off in the trenches in summer camp.
“Armand is an SEC size player,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s a tremendous player with great aggression in the trenches. Very excited about him.”
Assistant coaches Marcus Johnson, Bush Hamdan, Al Davis and Aaron Fletcher all spoke as well. They brought the four players up onto the stage at certain points throughout the event, which was met by cheers from the group of Mizzou supporters. They also touched on the rest of the 2022 class, which includes one five-star in Luther Burden, the No. 3 overall player in the nation, along with six four-stars.
For the future Tigers in attendance, it was a culmination of their recruiting process after putting pen to paper earlier in the day to finally make things official. They know they are building something special together, not just as part of a historic recruiting class for Mizzou, but as the next wave of Kansas City talent to join the program.
“We’re about to make history,” Miller told The Star. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 9:28 PM.
