Jalani Williams is staying home: Why that’s big for Mizzou

St. Louis safety Jalani Williams made Missouri sweat a little bit, but the Tigers persevered and managed to land just their second four-star in-state commitment of the Barry Odom era. After a September official visit to Columbia, Williams was expected to make a mid-October commitment. That time came and went, however, with no decision rendered. A second commitment date was scheduled for Friday, and this time Williams came through, giving Missouri its second four-star in the 2019 class.

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WHY IT’S BIG FOR MISSOURI

Let’s talk first about Jalani as a player. Listed at 6-foot-2 with a frame that should play over 200 pounds in college he brings both size and length to the safety position. The best safeties possess the coverage skills of a cornerback and hit like linebackers. Williams has both elements. He is rangy and covers a lot of ground in that secondary, but he also can run the alleys and put fear in wide receivers who come across the middle. What Jalani means to this 2019 class is more than just what he brings to the field, however. The truth is, Barry Odom has not been very good at recruiting his backyard since taking over as head coach three years ago. Missouri signed just four in-state prospects over the previous two classes, and two of those prospects were rated two-stars. The 2019 class has been different, however, and Williams’ commitment puts an exclamation point on that turnaround. The Tigers now have six in-state commitments in 2019, including five of the top 15 prospects in the state. Successful recruiting classes start at home, and this commitment attests to Odom and Co., getting better at securing home-state talent.

WHICH SCHOOLS IT HURTS MOST

After reaching a crescendo at the beginning of September, the intensity of Williams’ recruitment had died down by month’s end and did not provide much drama over the final seven weeks. Much of that can be attributed to Williams shunning public commentary on his recruitment. An official visit to LSU was taken the weekend of Sept. 7. The Missouri official visit was taken two weeks later, and was supposed to be followed by an official visit to Alabama on Sept. 28, but that was cancelled – whether by Alabama or Williams is unclear. The interest from LSU did ramp back up after the Tigers lost a commitment from Texas defensive back Marcus Banks maybe that contributed to this recruitment stretching out longer than initially anticipated. If any other schools were involved late their involvement was not enough to generate serious discussion.