As a sophomore, Jack Lange barely sniffed the field at Eureka (Mo.) High.

It had nothing to do with his ability, but more to the presence of Justin Selbert, a then Princeton commit, holding down the left tackle position. Yet Selbert went down with a torn ACL in a district quarterfinal game in 2022.

"As a sophomore in a typical year, he would have probably been a starter for us," Eureka coach Jake Sumner said. "He jumps in the district championship game that year and goes against a pretty good kid from MICDS, ended up somewhere pretty good, and he plays the game of his life."

Getting thrown into that moment, after playing junior-varsity talent all season, Lange only got better. All the glimpses of potential he showed Sumner in practice translated in that postseason game.

"Watching the film back, I'm like, 'Alright, we got something,'" Sumner chuckled. "We knew he was going to be good, but we knew in that moment he's pretty special."

Two years later, Lange's final campaign at Eureka didn't end as planned. The Wildcats, who played a perfect 9-0 regular season, were bounced from the second round of the MSHSAA Class 5 Playoffs.

"He's a team guy," Sumner said. "He'd always been a team guy. You knew that going back to that first moment he stepped on the field in the district championship game. He's like, 'Coach, I got this. I'm ready'. And he was. He loves the people that are around him, and he loves people that are loyal to him."

As Lange improved as a football player, he also advanced as a leader. He gained more confidence, seeing wins stack up and bringing out the best in his teammates. Sumner, who has coached offensive linemen at Eureka for over 20 years, has never seen a ceiling like that of Lange.

The four-star offensive tackle stands at a massive 6-foot-8, 300 pounds, with measurables off the charts for his age. His technique, quick feet and athleticism led to Eureka running the ball left nearly three-fourths of the time.

"Jack's ability to just take anybody in front of him, handle and dominate them and make the guys next to him better was a big piece of how we had success this year," Sumner said. "When things were on the line this year and we needed plays to occur, he wanted the ball on his side.

"That young sophomore that didn't get in there until the district championship game, the jump from that Jack to this Jack, I think shows you how much growth he's made and how much more growth is still to come."

Lange chose Missouri over Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Wisconsin in April. He loved being close to home and recruiting for his program, which he's done over the past few months with some of the Tigers' top targets.

"I know that's one of the reasons he loves Mizzou," Sumner said. "He likes building. He's a hometown type guy, and he loves that aspect of what they do up there."

As Lange watched multiple recruits decommit and flip in the 2025 class, he held true to his commitment. He kept his promise to head coach Eli Drinkwitz, offensive coordinator Kirby Moore and offensive line coach Brandon Jones, who Lange credits with helping change the culture at Missouri, signing with the Tigers on Wednesday.

"He's a loyal kid, and when he's loyal to you, he's going to do everything he can to be great," Sumner said. "I think that he felt that, and that's where he ended up."

Lange, who will enroll in the summer, always admired Drinkwitz's personableness. He felt like his coach got a bad rap for comments he made to the media and opposing teams.

"A lot of people really underappreciate just how good of a coach he is to the players on a relationship standpoint," Lange said. "I feel like a lot of people just look at the flashy stuff which he does, but I think just his personality and his personableness is really overlooked a lot. There's a reason I chose Missouri over some of the schools, and he's one of those."

Similar to Drinkwitz, Lange has a fun side to his serious nature on the gridiron. As a rising leader in the program, he knowns exactly when to flip the switch.

"Jack, he's just a happy-go-lucky kid," Sumner said. "He can be a violent football player, but he's one of the nicest, sweetest kids you're going to meet outside of football."