Tigers add a corner

From the time he visited Missouri this past summer, 2015 Conyers (Ga.) Rockdale County cornerback T.J. Warren knew he wanted to play for the Tigers. He was in Waynesville visiting his grandparents and attending his cousins graduation, when he made the drive up to Columbia to check out the campus and the football facilities.

He came away impressed by everything he saw. Since then, Warren communicated with Alex Grinch as much as possible. They talked about football, recruiting and a myriad of other topics. Over time Warren became very comfortable interacting with the safeties coach.

Warren had visited the campus and knew he really liked it. He had seen the football facilities and realized they offered him everything he needed to become a great player. He had also built up a great relationship with his recruiting coach. The final step was landing an offer from the Tigers.

While he waited on the offer, Warren continued to put in hard work each day so when his opportunity came he would capitalize on it. That happened this past Thursday when Alex Grinch came to watch Warren practice. An offer was extended directly after it concluded.

"It was shocking. I loved it," said Warren to PowerMizzou about his offer.

His plan was to take some time and think over everything before pulling the trigger, but that plan was scrapped tonight when he called Grinch.

"He was excited," Warren said of his commitment over the phone to Alex Grinch. "He said that made his night."

What was it about Missouri that made Warren go ahead and decide that Columbia was the best place for him to continue his football career?

"The family part," he said "I just felt like that's where I belonged. I'll have family members around, so I'm always going to be safe. I just love the atmosphere around the program."

Next up for Warren is taking an official visit to Missouri. As it stands right now, he will take that after the Tigers' season is over. Most likely in mid-December.

Warren made sure to clarify that no matter what happens with late offers, he was invited to Georgia for the Bulldogs' game against Vanderbilt last weekend, he is 100% committed to Mizzou. He chose the Tigers over offers from Indiana, Georgia Tech and Marshall.

With his commitment out of the way, all of his focus will shift towards finishing his senior season strong.

"We're 3-3 right now, but I think things are getting ready to turn around for us," said Warren. "I think I've been playing pretty good, but I can always get better."

Warren has even had a chance to matchup with a future SEC opponent in four-star Tennessee wide receiver commit, Preston Williams.

"He made big plays, because he's a big time athlete, and then I made plays. It was going back and forth," explained Warren about holding Williams to half of his usual yardage and touchdown production.

Warren is commitment number twelve for the Tigers in the class of 2015 and their first at cornerback.