Here's what Eli Drinkwitz had to say about the 2023 recruiting class
Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said earlier this week he hasn't been able to reflect on the season to this point and that his focus has been "all gas" on the team's Dec. 23 matchup against Wake Forest, but with the first day of the early signing period in the books, he was able to admire what he and the coaching staff were able to do with this recruiting class. Especially, when it comes to in-state recruits.
"When you look at the players that we were able to get there are a lot of really good players in the state, but it's all about finding those guys that really want to be a true son," Drinkwitz said. "So, I'm very excited about those guys and our ability to attract quality players and as they see local players play for us and contribute 一 like Luther Burden, Armand Membou and Mekhi Miller playing as true freshmen. Even Dominic Lovett, a second-team All-Southeastern Conference player from St. Louis they're getting an opportunity to compete as we continue to demonstrate not only are we recruiting those guys, but we're recruiting those guys with an opportunity to play."
The Tigers were able to get seven in-state recruits led by four-star prospects Marvin Burks, Logan Reichert and Joshua Manning to go along with three-star prospects Jamal Roberts, Nicholas DeLoach and Jahkai Lang, with two-star Blake Craig rounding out the group.
"Jamal Roberts is a state champion," Drinkwitz said. "Joshua Manning is an elite wide receiver who had several offers come in late. Talk about Brett Norfleet, a state champion who had every offer in the country pretty much at tight end. Logan Reichert has elite size that can help us win in the trenches. Marvin Burks is a state champion who obviously had multiple offers that we were able to defeat. Blake Craig is a great kicker and then we include DeLoach there in that same thing across the river."
In total, Missouri had 21 commits (19 high school prospects and two transfers) sign on Wednesday including a surprise flip in three-star Wake Forest defensive tackle commit Sam Williams.
"Sam was a guy that we had went and watched on a Friday night and defensive tackle is a position that has to be really good in this league," Drinkwitz said. "Last year, we needed to sign four transfers out of the portal to get the size we needed at that position and Sam's already 6-3 ½ and he's got great bend and size.
"So, we're excited for us to find a way to get him on a roster and it's hard to recruit that kind of size. When you add him along with Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall in the previous class, you really have the nuts and bolts in the size requirements in the trenches."
The Tigers didn't have any commits flip on them, but Drinkwitz was quite happy that he was able to get Williams to flip on the Tigers' Gasparilla Bowl opponents.
"We kind of had an idea this was going to go our way during the coaches' social that we had Monday night, so for all of us to have a straight face and not let that one kind of slip out was a little bit difficult," Drinkwitz said. "But in recruiting that is kind of fun. I don't rub it in probably as much as I'd like to, but it's kind of fun when you beat people who think they've got you."
There were a couple of commits who were rumored to flip on the Tigers like cornerback Shamar McNeil, who recently received an offer from North Carolina State and had a visit to Raleigh over the weekend, but he ended up. Four-star Lincoln (Wash.) quarterback Gabarri Johnson also signed despite rumors that his commitment status was rumored to be in the air after Tigers quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan departed for the offensive coordinator job at Boise State earlier this month.
"That's a tribute to our coaching staff and all the hard work they did to build some relationships," Drinkwitz said. "Obviously, when other schools have people lose commitments from their home state you tend to get worried, but we were able to maintain and hold on.
"Gabarri was a born leader and that's something at that position you've got to always be excited about. He's a playmaker with his feet and his arm 一 he's got the ability to throw and he's an accurate passer, but he's also got that B button quickness and shake and bake ability."
Some prospects like Burks and Brayshawn Littlejohn will be early enrollees at the school in January, but Drinkwitz said he's in no rush for recent signees to join the program, saying that he supports the decision for high schoolers to stay at their respective schools for the spring semester.
"I think it's up to each individual person, what the maturity level is 一 time is one thing you never get back," Drinkwitz said. They're never going to get their senior year back in the spring and I hate to take that away from young men. So, I encourage them to stay, but it's also their decision and if they want to enroll early 一 it's no surprise Burden, Miller and Membou played this year because they're early enrollees and all three of them had the spring to really get invested in our offense and ready to play."
Drinkwitz was able to admire the program's top 32 recruiting class on the first day of the early signing period, but he will now have to shift his focus back to preparing for the Demon Deacons on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET in Tampa.
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