Keck highlights Tigers’ recruiting class

Once a day where high schools students gathered to see where the star players from their teams were headed, college football signing day has become a full-blown circus. Sports television and radio shows devote hours of coverage during their broadcasts and camera crews turn up at schools across the country.

Missouri chose to announce its 2007 class in a quieter, more relaxed setting: the Clinton Club at Mizzou Arena.

With 27 recruits signing National Letters of Intent with Missouri, the Tigers hauled in the 32nd-rated recruiting class in the nation, as rated by Rivals.com. The Web site, considered to be the main authority on recruiting, rated the Tigers’ class as sixth-best in the Big 12 Conference based on a point system for quality and quantity of recruits.

The Tigers signed four 4-star recruits, leading Missouri coach Gary Pinkel to call the class one of the most talented he has had since arriving in 2001.

Michael Keck, a 6-foot-5, 215 pound linebacker or defensive end committed early. He graduated from Harrisonville in December and enrolled at MU for the winter semester in order to participate in spring workouts.

Defensive lineman Andy Maples is a junior- college transfer from College of the Sequoias in California. Measuring 6-4, and weighing 300 pounds, the December graduate now enrolled at MU is expected to be a force on the line.

Gilbert Moye, a 6-2, 205-pound recruit from Diboll, Texas, waited until late Tuesday night to make his decision. He is considered an athlete and played many different positions in high school, but will start off training at quarterback.

Rounding out the highly-rated group is Derrick Washington, who is considered to be the top running back in the Kansas City area. As a 6-1, 195-pound senior, he led Raymore-Peculiar to three Class 5A state titles.

The Missouri coaching staff said the strength of this recruiting class, which also includes 16 3-star recruits, is on the offensive and defensive lines. Pinkel said it’s always a battle maintaining depth at those positions, and that they were the top priorities this year.

Some of the players who played both sides of the ball in high school will work with the coaching staff to see where they best fit in.

“You look at where guys are with their size and their potential,” defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski said, happy with the number of good, large athletes brought in. “You look at guys height, weight and speed. The defensive linemen are generally faster, while the offensive guys are bigger, but slower.”

In addition to the distinctions between offensive and defensive linemen, several players could play linebacker or defensive end, such as Keck.

“We evaluate those conditions, but we also look at how a guy moves, what his instincts are like getting to the ball,” Kuligowski said. “We don’t just look at a guy and have him play a position because that’s where he played in high school.”

One of Missouri’s biggest selling points to recruits is the family atmosphere the coaching staff says the team has. Current players have a big role in helping out with recruiting by showing recruits around and letting them stay with them.

“They see how family-oriented we are,” recruiting coordinator and

quarterbacks coach David Yost said. “It’s really a big deal with us. Our kids care about who we bring in, and we listen to what they have to say about a guy after spending a weekend with him. We don’t want to put a guy in our locker room who’s not going to fit.”

Another key in recruiting, the recently completed training complex, was something Pinkel put a heavy emphasis on at the end of Wednesday’s announcement.

“It just got done about a week ago,” Pinkel said. “It’s just a great facility. Of course people are more important than buildings, but we haven’t even really gotten to use it as a recruiting tool yet.”

The last time the Tigers brought in this many prized recruits was signing day in 2004. That class had five 4-star recruits, but looking back, the system doesn’t always accurately predict how players will pan out.

Wide receiver Jerrill Humphrey is no longer on the team. Columbia native, quarterback Chase Patton, was listed as third on the Tigers’ depth chart last season and has only played two snaps in two seasons. Groin injuries kept linebacker Van Alexander from playing, and offensive lineman Kyle Riggs was held out because of ulcerative colitis. The only 4-star recruit from that class to contribute much on the playing field is starting running back Tony Temple.

As festivities of the announcements were wrapping up, and the lemonade and mini-quiches were running low, coaches and fans huddled around the room’s many televisions to watch highlight tapes of the incoming players. When footage of Keck, and linebacker Luke Lambert, one of 16 3-star recruits, played, more eyes seemed to drift toward the screens. Linebackers coach Dave Steckel made an extra point to talk to the group of men standing near him.

“I love those two guys,” Steckel said. “Love ‘em, love ‘em, love ‘em. I can’t wait to get ‘em on the field.”