FREE: Blair talks decision

DeSean Blair's decision was made on Sunday night. He had to just keep it quiet for three days.

Wanting to make his commitment to Missouri public on Signing Day, the three-star recruit from Jacksonville, Fla., didn't have to wait long after he returned from his official visit to Columbia to realize where he wanted to attend college.

"After I left Missouri, I was set on going there," Blair said. "I loved everything about it.

"I got home, talked to my grandparents and my mom and then I called Coach (Josh) Henson. I told him that was the place i wanted to be."

The hard part, Blair said, was keeping the decision secret from the main reason Missouri was in position to sign him late. Marvin Zanders, an early enrollee quarterback at Missouri, is one of Blair's best friends. When he arrived on campus in mid-January, Zanders told the coaching staff to offer Blair and try to sign him.

Quarterbacks coach acknowledged that Zanders was the reason Missouri signed Blair with long, enthusiastic nods.

But Blair knew that if he told his excitable friend, the decision may leak.

"I kind of told him Sunday," Blair said. "I think I said something like, 'I might just have to go there.'"

With the secret safe, Blair announced from his high school on Wednesday morning, pulling the rope-a-dope with a Louisville hat -- the school that previously received his verbal commitment.

Blair will arrive in Columbia for the summer semester on June 2, and will play Z-receiver.

"The same spot that L'Damian Washington played," Blair said.