Move to Big Ten would not halt Missouri's commitment to recruiting in Texas
By Mike DeArmond
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Gary Pinkel took over as Missouri's football coach, he sent two assistants to recruit in Texas. Last year Missouri had six coaches recruiting the Lone Star State. And no matter whether Missouri moves to the Big Ten or stays in the Big 12, that will not change.
"We will always recruit the state of Texas," Missouri recruiting coordinator Dave Yost said on Tuesday in Liberty, where the MU football staff welcomed more than 250 would-be recruits to William Jewell College, a record for the annual camp stop.
"Texas has been a strong, strong deal for us," Yost said. "We started off with two guys in there. Went to three, then to four, then to five, and now we have six. Because of the football talent there and also now because of the name we have down there."
That, of course, is contrary to some of the claims of Texas-based and Texas-fed speculation about whether Missouri will wind up — along with Nebraska — in the expansion-minded Big Ten.
The most common asides the past week — since Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe allegedly issued an ultimatum to Missouri and Nebraska to reveal by 5 p.m. Friday, or June 15 at the latest, whether they are committed to remaining Big 12 members — have been that no one in the Big 12 really cares about Missouri.
It is Nebraska, the claims go, that might trigger a six-team flight from the Big 12 to the Pac-10 if the Cornhuskers receive and accept an offer to join the Big Ten.
Pinkel toed the general party line put forth by those advising Missouri on the best strategy regarding questions about ultimatums and MU's once and future address in the world of big-time college athletics.
"I'm not going to talk speculation," Pinkel said on Tuesday. "As far as I know we're staying in the Big 12. If there is a change, I'll be the first one to talk to you. You can call me at the house."
The response has become almost rote in recent weeks, from Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton to athletic director Mike Alden. On Tuesday afternoon there was a statement from the office of the University of Missouri Board of Curators that the system leaders would make no comment on Thursday or Friday when the board meets in Columbia.
The agenda for those meetings released on Tuesday does not list a Big Ten expansion or Big 12 ultimatum as agenda topics . But the meetings will start with a closed-to-the-media executive session.
Yost was a little more forthcoming than either Pinkel or the Curators, not on which league Missouri may call home, but about the present and immediate future of Texas as a prime recruiting ground for MU football.
"We're a name school in the state of Texas," Yost said. "The best guys in the state of Texas, we don't get them all, but normally our name's listed with them. That's part of being in the Big 12, also part of playing down there, but also being successful."
On its spring roster, Missouri listed 25 players from Texas. Recent MU stars from Texas include quarterback Chase Daniel, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, defensive lineman Ziggy Hood and wide receiver Danario Alexander.
Pinkel noted that Missouri has expanded its recruiting base within the last year, since the addition of Josh Henson, co-offensive line coach and a former recruiting coordinator at LSU.
Henson has responsibilities in the panhandle of Texas, plus Oklahoma and key connections in Florida.
"We're more appealing now," said Pinkel, whose team won back-to-back Big 12 North Division titles before being beaten out by Nebraska for the division championship last season. "People recognize our name. Our last two quarterbacks (Brad Smith and Daniel) are playing in the NFL now. We have two receivers that were All-American tight ends (Martin Rucker and Chase Coffman). We had three draft picks in the first round the last two years.
"All that stuff is raising us up. We've got a long way to go. But my job is to keep us going, searching for the top."
Despite outside concerns, inside the MU football program, there appears to be little fear that joining the Big Ten or remaining with the Big 12 would alter the prospects of Missouri's future recruiting anywhere.
In recruiting the Class of 2011, according to Rivals.com, Missouri has offers out to from eight to 10 players from Florida, a state in which Missouri has not played a football game since 1988 at Miami.
Additionally, Missouri's current coaching staff — most of the coaches having come with Pinkel from his staff at Toledo — have experience recruiting the fertile Big Ten recruiting grounds of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
"Toledo," as Pinkel pointed out, "is in Ohio. So ..."
So, concerns over Missouri recruiting should it join the Big Ten seem to be an outside supposition masked as a concern.
"As I've been told many times," Yost said, "good recruiters can recruit anywhere. We'll recruit anywhere we can find good players."
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