Missouri basketball adds height with latest recruiting class

Missouri men’s basketball signed three players Wednesday as the NCAA’s early signing period got underway.

The Tigers, as expected, received signed National Letters of Intent from small forward Willie Jackson, power forward Reed Nikko and center Mitchell Smith.

All three are Rivals three-star recruits.

“We feel like we’ve addressed some needs for our program,” MU coach Kim Anderson said in a statement from MU athletics. “One of our main goals was to recruit size. With all three guys, we’ve got some bigger players.”

Jackson is a 6-foot-6 prospect from Garfield Heights High in Cleveland, where he plays on the King James AAU team.

He also had offers from Boston College, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, SMU, Temple and Wisconsin, among more than a dozen other programs.

Jackson — who averaged 18 points, 14 rebounds and five assists as a junior and was named the Cleveland.com Area Player of the Year — boasts a composite ranking of No. 200, according to 247 Sports and is the No. 42 small forward in the country.

Scouts describe him as a “freak athlete that plays very hard,” giving the Tigers an athletic inside-out coach Anderson covets. He has enough range to play shooting guard but profiles as more of a small forward at MU.

“Willie is a basketball player,” Anderson said. “What I mean by that is he can do a lot of different things. He’s a good defender and a guy who shoots the basketball well. He can drive to the basket. He comes from a winning program and was extremely well-coached in his high school and AAU basketball. Similar to Reed and Mitchell, he’s a person of high character who will be great for our program.”

Nikko is a 6-9 standout at Maple Grove (Minn.) High. He’s ranked as the No. 63 power forward in the country, according to 247 Sports’ composite ranking.

ESPN lists Nikko as the No. 3 player in Minnesota. He also had offers from his home-state Gophers, Iowa and Kansas State, among others.

Nikko averaged 9.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks as a junior.

“He’s a true back-to-the-basket player and has been very successful in high school,” Anderson said. “He’s continued to grow as a player every year. We feel he’ll continue to mature and become a great player in the SEC.”

Smith, a 6-10 post player, brings much-needed size to a roster with only one player taller than 6-8 — senior center Ryan Rosburg, who will graduate before the trio of players who signed Wednesday arrive on campus.

ESPN lists Smith, who averaged 18.1 points and 7.6 rebounds as a junior, as the No. 3 prospect in Arkansas and the No. 24 center in the country. He chose the Tigers over Arkansas, Creighton, Oklahoma State and Tulsa among others, according to recruiting sites.

“He comes from a great high school program, and we feel like he has the opportunity to be able to contribute immediately, as do Willie and Reed,” Anderson said.

With one available scholarship and only one senior on the 2015-2016 roster, Missouri, which opens the regular season against Wofford at 8 p.m. Friday at Mizzou Arena, now is over-signed by one player for next season.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 9:37 PM with the headline "Missouri basketball adds height with latest recruiting class."