Missouri DT could be states best

Blackburn (Mo.) Santa Fe defensive tackle Kurtis Gregory may be the top rated player in Missouri for the 2005 recruiting class and right now three schools have the inside track.

“I am focused on three schools right now,” the 6-foot-6, 295-pound Gregory said. “Missouri is definitely at the top of my list right now. Kansas and Kansas State are two and three. Those are the three schools I have talked to.

“There are other schools sending me stuff, but the schools I have talked to are going to be at the top of my list at this point. I went to Missouri’s junior day the other day. I had a good time talking to the coaches. I am going to go to Kansas’ junior day on February 29 when they play Oklahoma in basketball. I talked to Coach (Mo) Latimore at Kansas State about their program.”

While three area schools have made a lot of early interest, no scholarship offers have come the way of Gregory’s house.

“I don’t have any scholarship offers, yet,” he said. “I’ll get to the junior days and some camps this summer. That’s when things will probably start with that. I’m going to go to Missouri’s one and two-day camps. I’ll go to K-State’s camps too. And Coach (Mark) Mangino called my coach and invited me to their one-day camp this summer.”

While Gregory prefers defense, he is not set on playing defense in college.

“I would probably say they are recruiting me for defense,” he said. “But, I’ll do whatever the coaches want. If they want me on offense, I’ll do that. I come from a small school. I have played both ways since I was a freshman. I don’t have a real preference, so whatever they want, I’m fine with.”