[KcMizzou]

Mizzou basketball looks to future, offers several top '14 prospects

COLUMBIA | It’s no secret Missouri is still working on its 2012 recruiting class.

The Tigers have one scholarship available, and while they remain a finalist for five-star forward Devonta Pollard (whose status remains in the air), it’s certainly worth noting that Tulsa transfer Jordan Clarkson and Findlay Prep star Matt Willms are currently visiting the campus and are believed to have committable offers.

But Clarkson, a 6-foot-4 guard who averaged 16.5 points per game this season, and Willms, a 6-11 three-star forward, aren't the only recruits on Missouri’s radar this weekend. Coach Frank Haith and associate head coach Tim Fuller were also busy entertaining a quartet of high-level 2014 recruits from one of the top 16-and-under AAU teams in the South.

That’s right. Four players from Memphis-based Team Thad – which is currently 24-0 and sponsored by current Philadelphia 76ers Thaddeus Young – visited Columbia on Saturday, including four-star forward Leron Black (who is rated by Rivals as the No. 20 overall player in his class) and four-star point guard Anton Beard.

Five-foot-nine point guard Chris Chiozza and 6-7 combo forward Marcanious Hymon also made the trip, and while they haven’t been assigned a star rating by Rivals yet, they - like Black and Beard - also left Columbia with scholarship offers.

“All of them got offered today by Missouri,” said Team Thad coach Norton Hurd, who drove the boys from Memphis to Columbia late Friday/early Saturday. “I was excited for them, just like they were. But right now, they expect the offers. They’ve put in the hard work. Everybody is calling for them left and right.”

Hurd said the 6-7 Black and 5-10 Beard have already received offers from schools like Georgetown, UConn, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Memphis and Tennessee.

Those two arrived in Columbia with Hurd and their teammates at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, only to wake up at 10 a.m. so they could see the campus and athletic facilities. Sometime after that, Haith gathered them all together and gave them the good news.

“He said he ‘wanted Team Thad to come to Missouri, so all four of you have an offer,’” Hurd said.

Black, who spoke briefly as he rode back to Memphis with his coach and teammates, said he enjoyed the visit.

“It was exciting,” Black said. “I’d probably put (Mizzou) second or third behind Georgetown.”

Hurd said Missouri is also high on Chiozza, who has an offer from Virginia Commonwealth and who Hurd believes is underrated because of his height.

“If he commits, Missouri will get a steal,” Hurd said. “Teams think he’s too little, but Missouri sees him as the next Phil Pressey. His parents are looking at Mizzou because they play Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi State, places that aren’t that far from Memphis. Missouri is already No. 1 on their list.”

Aside from Beard, all four of the kids Hurd brought Saturday are from Memphis, and the fact he drove to Little Rock, Ark., to pick up Beard – which was hours out of the way – for the 18-hour round-trip speaks to the relationship he has with Fuller, who is serving as the lead recruiter.

“I would have brought them anyway because Missouri is a high major school and I’m an equal opportunity coach,” Hurd said. “But if it weren’t for Tim, I wouldn’t have done all that.”

Hurd said Missouri has also shown interest in three Team Thad players he didn’t bring – point guards C.J. Anderson and Davell Roby and forward Todd Lewis.

And while his kids are still two years away from a decision, Hurd did agree that Missouri’s move to the nearby SEC sure won’t hurt their recruiting efforts with his players going forward.

“I do think some of them will stick together (when picking a school),” Hurd said. “I think Missouri could have pulled off one (commit without the move), but not as many as I think they could now with the move.”

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