Althoff group gives Mizzou junior day high marks

Belleville (Ill.) Althoff had the most visitors at Mizzou junior day this past Saturday with five 2017 prospects in Columbia. PowerMizzou.com caught up with each of them to find out how the day went.

Wide receiver C.J. Coldon is likely the closest to a Mizzou offer of any of the prospects from Althoff. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound prospect had a huge junior season for the Crusaders hauling in 64 receptions for 1347 yards and 13 touchdowns.

"It was nice," Coldon said of Mizzou junior day. "The coaches showed love to everybody. I talked with [Cornell] Ford and [Sam] Carter a lot."

Talk about a Missouri offer never fully developed in the few hours Coldon was on campus. Instead, he plans to reach back out to Ford and have a good discussion about what the Tigers are looking for in order to offer.

Coldon has offers from Miami (OH) and Northern Iowa at this point. He is hearing from Illinois State, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa, New Mexico and Louisville in addition to Mizzou.

"I'm not really thinking too much about recruiting," Coldon explained. "Just weighing my options. I know I got a whole season to play still."

The highlight of the day in Coldon's opinion was the opportunity to talk with current Mizzou players, learning about their accomplishments and what it takes to get to their level.

Linebacker Bryson Strong is the leader of the Crusader defense. As a junior he made 155 tackles, 14 tackles-for-loss and 10 sacks.

"It was awesome," Strong said of Mizzou junior day. "I liked the energy. As soon as we walked in I met a bunch of coaches including [Cornell] Ford, the recruiting coach for our area. We went in the locker rooms and tried on uniforms. They had the lights going and the music blasting. It was awesome."

Strong is one of a couple Althoff prospects that have made the junior day rounds recently. They visited Miami (OH), Illinois and Louisville. He has liked each one he attended, but thought Missouri stood out a little.

"Mizzou has always been a school I’ve really been interested in," he said.

In his talks with Ford and new Tiger defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross, Strong got a consistent message.

"It’s going to be a process," he explained about Mizzou's recruitment of him. "They said they like me and definitely want me to come back up for spring game. They also want me to come to a camp and ball out. Performing well in front of them is how I think I’ll get an offer."

At this point Strong thinks Miami (OH) is closest to offering. The Redhawks will be in Belleville this spring to check back on the talented linebacker.

He is also hearing from FAU, Illinois State, Illinois, Bucknell, Iowa, Wyoming, Princeton, Northern Arizona, Montana, Louisville, Purdue, Bowling Green, Indiana State, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, South Dakota State and Florida A&M.

When asked about a highlight of Mizzou junior day, Strong had a tough time picking one part.

"The basketball game was pretty cool. Trying on the uniforms was super cool. Really just learning more about Mizzou," he said. "They’ve been at the top of the SEC in graduation rate since they’ve been in the SEC."

Defensive lineman Christian Wills was already pretty familiar with Mizzou before attending junior day. The talented prospect was defensive line MVP last summer at Mizzou's padded camp.

"When I first walked in at Mizzou I was greeted by one of my camp coaches. I really just felt a lot of love at Mizzou," explained Wills. "It was a great experience to talk with all the coaches and meet the new defensive line coach."

Jackie Shipp is the new Mizzou defensive line coach. Wills had a good conversation with the newest Tiger coach and the two were able to talk about the type of line schemes the Missouri could run.

At this point Mizzou is still evaluating Wills for an offer. He understands recruiting is a process and appreciates the coaches being upfront with him.

"It's a lot to take in. There are a lot of guys out there like me," said Wills. "I wanted to meet all the coaches and show them who I am and not just be a guy on Hudl. I want to show them my personality and hope it makes a difference."

In addition to Missouri, Wills is hearing from Indiana, Wyoming, Iowa, Western Illinois and Louisville the most.

The highlight of Mizzou junior day for Wills was the reception everyone got from the staff.

"I liked how they cared about every single player that showed up," the recent Georgia camp top ten finisher said. "Initially through the door they shook my hand and talked with me. The took the time to talk with each individual player about how we’re going to get to the top. How we’re going to get the D1 offers. How we’re going to play at Mizzou."

Christopher Branson was another big producer for the Crusader defense. As a junior he made 129 tackles, four tackles-for-loss and three sacks.

"It was fantastic. It was a great experience. It felt like home. It was amazing," he said to describe Mizzou junior day.

Branson was able to talk with Cornell Ford, Sam Carter and DeMontie Cross. Each coach told him to keep grinding and the offers will take care of themselves.

When comparing Mizzou junior day to the others he had recently been on Mason said the Tigers did a good job making the experience very comfortable.

Still looking for his first offer, Branson plans to hit the camp circuit hard this spring and summer.

"Get to some camps and work as hard as I can," he said about his upcoming plans. "I’m a little short so I got to show them what I can do."

In addition to Missouri, Branson is hearing the most from Iowa and Illinois.

The highlight of the day was an easy choice for Branson.

"The facilities. Everything in there was nice," he said without hesitation.

Athlete Edwyn Brown wasn't sure what to expect at Mizzou junior day, but he left feeling good about the day.

"It was really cool. More than I expected," he said. "Way more than we expected."

Brown plays wide receiver and defensive back for Althoff. He talked most with Tiger cornerback coach Greg Brown while at Missouri.

"He just said he liked how I play and that they’ll be by Althoff coming up," explained Brown. "This was my first year playing defense so I need to get out and show people what I can do."

Right now Brown is hearing from Miami (OH), Wyoming, Notre Dame and Indiana in addition to Mizzou. He is planning to definitely camp with Notre Dame and Indiana and will likely attend some others as well.

The highlight of Mizzou junior day for Brown was simple, but very important to a growing teenager.

"The food," he said before pausing. "And the facilities. The food was really good."