Eli Drinkwitz building a recruiting wall around the state of Missouri

After landing a potentially program-changing recruit in 2022 four-star wide reciever Luther Burden out of East St. Louis, head coach Eli Drinkwitz spoke on the importance of locking down the state of Missouri

“I can speak to the importance of us continuing to recruit our state,” Drinkwitz said on SEC head coaches teleconference Wednesday. “Last week versus Texas A&M, a young man who played extremely well and had an interception against us and is a tremendous player, was from East St. Louis. In order for us to get to where we want to be we need to have those players continue to come play for us and so that’s been an emphasis for our staff and we got to continue to do that.”

Luther Burden, the No. 90 recruit in the country, is the most heralded recruit to come out of St. Louis since Ezekiel Elliott.

In recent years, talent out of St. Louis like the aforementioned Elliott, Adrian Clayborn, Terron Armstead, A.J. Epenesa, Ronnie Perkins and countless others have landed at schools other than Missouri.

Drinkwitz and his staff aim to change that and it starts with Burden, who becomes the second-highest commit the Tigers have ever landed, only behind Dorial Green-Beckham.

For Missouri, keeping Burden home not only sent a message on , but it sent a message on just how serious Drinkwitz and his staff are on the recruiting trail. Burden was heavily recruited by the likes of Georgia and Alabama, and at one point was committed to Oklahoma. Though Missouri isn’t having nearly the seasons that any of those other three teams are having, Burden bought in to the program Drinkwitz and Co. are building.

With Burden in the fold, attention now turns to Boonville EDGE DJ Wesolak, a national recruit the Tigers desperately want to keep home.

Looking forward, the Tigers will have some tough tasks looking to keep the likes of 2023 offensive tackle Cayden Green, 2023 EDGE Chandavian Bradley and 2023 defensive back Christian Gray home.

Missouri sits 3-4 on the season and have yet to pick up a conference win this season. With games against Vanderbilt and South Carolina still ahead, it’s likely the Tigers pick up at least one conference win. Now in year two of the Eli Drinkwitz era, Missouri is recruiting at a high level, currently boasting a top 15 class in the 2022 recruiting cycle. Notable commits include the aforementioned Burden, Collins Hill (GA.) quarterback Sam Horn and Omaha (Neb.) Central offensive guard Deshawn Woods.