Local OL Monroe Mills 'honored' to receive Mizzou offer
At the conclusion of Saturday’s big man camp held on Missouri’s campus, the Tiger coaching staff told Tolton Catholic guard Monroe Mills to step aside. He was approached by offensive coordinator Derek Dooley and head coach Barry Odom. The two coaches offered Mills a scholarship.
Mills, a Columbia native and the son of two Missouri alumni, described receiving the offer as “an honor.”
“It just meant so much,” he said. “It’s awesome to finally have that under my belt.”
The 6-foot-7, 285-pound Mills has been on Missouri’s radar for a while, but the Tiger staff wanted to see him work out before pulling the trigger with an offer. Despite the fact that he lives minutes away from campus, Mills said Saturday was his first time attending one of the team’s camps. He said offensive line coach Brad Davis was impressed with his blend of size and footwork. He also credited new Tolton coach Michael Egnew, an all-American tight end during his playing days at Missouri who recently spent time on the Tiger coaching staff, for convincing the Missouri staff to give him a serious evaluation.
Mills has received offers from several other Power Five schools in recent weeks. As a result of the influx in attention, he said he’s still working to figure out when he will visit each school. He plans to visit Rutgers, Iowa State and Kansas this summer, and could visit Illinois during the fall. He hasn’t yet cemented a date for a return trip to Missouri, but given his proximity to campus, he’s confident an official visit will occur.
“Coach Odom talked to me about getting back up there pretty soon, so I’m trying to figure that out with my parents and my whole family, trying to go around our schedule,” Mills explained. “I’m definitely going to be up there pretty soon.”
Missouri has already landed three commitments from offensive linemen in the class of 2020 in Drake Heismeyer, Mitchell Walters and Ray Curry. The staff has also had plenty of success recruiting in state during this cycle, with five of the Tigers' eight current commits coming from Missouri and one coming from just across state lines in East St. Louis. Missouri is expected to take one or two more linemen in the class, meaning Mills may have to commit sooner than later if he wants one of those spots.
While Mills would like to visit each of the Power Five schools that have offered before finalizing his decision, he didn’t rule out the possibility of committing before the end of the summer.
“I have been wanting to do it before the season starts for my team so I can kind of just focus on high school football for that time,” Mills said, “but we’ll see just what my gut feeling tells me.”