Donavin Newsom Commits to Mizzou, Durron Neal Picks Oklahoma

I guess it’s time to lay out two truths about myself. (1) I am a poor soul who cannot spend the money on PowerMizzou.com, arguably the best source for Missouri recruiting news as it breaks. As it stands right now, I’ve stocked all of my graduation gift money away in the bank; in the end, about 70 percent of it will be involved in the purchase of gas and/or ramen noodles. That said, it isn’t too much of a deal to me because (2) as of right now, my knowledge of recruiting in college sports, and especially in football, is about on par with my knowledge of organic chemistry or elementary math, which is not very good.

That said, it’s my job to cover as much Mizzou-related news as I possibly can, and that is what I plan to do. Whether it’s a big name linebacker saying that he’ll be playing for the Tigers in the future, or a recent filler piece about Kareem Rush’s new solo album, I will be there to give the insight only a ramen-noodle eating blogger can. In the meantime, I hope to also learn plenty more about the inner workings of recruiting and former basketball players-turned pop/R&B singers.

Anyways, it was recently reported that Donavin Newsom, a standout linebacker from Parkway North High School in St. Louis, Missouri verbally committed to Mizzou. Here’s the info I could get from Scout.com and the Post-Dispatch for free:

"He has great speed and quickness which he uses to cover sideline to sideline from his MLB position, and he also brings a lot of pressure on the blitz and has good cover skills as well. He is physical and plays with a mean streak on the field. He has very good hands and ball skills. He could probably be a very talented tailback with his size,speed,vision and natural ability to make plays with the ball in his hands."

—

"Newsom was credited with 91 tackles, five sacks and two interceptions during his junior season as a linebacker, but also rushed for rushed for 396 yards and scored a total of 10 touchdowns as a back-up running back."

While it’s certainly nice to grab a consensus 4-star linebacker for the Tigers, who have really made strides with their defense under coordinator Dave Steckel, it’s even better to get such a highly regarded recruit that is right in-state. The more hometown guys we can get, especially if they’re big time players getting offers from the Oklahomas and the Floridas of the college football world, the better, and Mizzou has been doing a nice job in that area of recruiting.

Now on the other end of the spectrum, Mizzou did lose an in-state recruit to one of the Oklahomas of the world, that school being Oklahoma. Durron Neal, a 4-star wide receiver (ranked number six in his position on Scout.com)  from De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis verbally committed to the Sooners on an unofficial visit. Now, while I just got done commenting about how important it is for Missouri to get as many in-state recruits as you can, especially the 4 or 5-star guys, it is inevitable that they will lose a few recruiting battles to a school with a better college football pedigree. You win some, you lose some. That’s the truth in life and in sports.