Remember when Mizzou would land a highly-ranked high school recruit and we didn’t have to worry about re-recruiting them after their freshman year? Ah, those were the good old days!
Of course, that opening line is a bit tongue-in-cheek. The improvement in Missouri’s high school recruiting under Eli Drinkwitz is a development we wouldn’t trade for anything. However, the rise of the transfer portal has introduced some complexity to the equation. Despite consistently bringing in Top 20 recruiting classes, Mizzou has faced some challenges turning high-profile recruits into significant contributors. For every Luther Burden III, there seem to be at least three recruits with tons of promise who, after one or two years, leave the program.
This issue has been particularly noticeable during this portal window, where five of Missouri’s Top 10 recruits in the 2024 class (according to On3) have left after just one season. While the portal also serves as a leveler — and Drinkwitz has proven skillful at using it to bring in impactful players — it raises an important question: Should we be concerned about this trend? It makes sense to be worried. While bringing in top recruits is fantastic, at some point, you have to develop them. This is something Drinkwitz and his staff are no doubt keeping an eye on as they prepare for the 2025 class in January. It’s not about giving young players snaps for the sake of it, but maybe focusing more on their immediate development could benefit everyone.
We also wanted to throw in a question just for fun: What are your thoughts on the transfer portal? Do you think it’s working? About half of you seem to accept it, with the belief that it needs some adjustments to make it work better for everyone. We can’t disagree with that!
