Missouri safety has no leader yet
Junior to Watch: Darius Witherspoon
High School: Blue Springs, Missouri
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Position: Strong Safety
Size and Speed: Witherspoon is 6-foot 185 pounds. He runs a 4.6 second (hand held) 40-yard dash.
Statistics: In his junior season, Witherspoon had 46 tackles, one interception, two fumbles recovered, eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss.
Honors: None received.
Strong Points: "Basically, getting to the ball and making the tackle. I'm also good at reading my keys and studying plays, things like that," Witherspoon said.
Favorite Schools: He has heard from Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas State, Kansas, Oregon, Boston College, Illinois, Brown, Stanford, UCLA, Colorado, Wisconsin and others.
Missouri, Nebraska, Illinois and Oregon are recruiting him the hardest.
He has no offers yet.
CURRENT FAVORITES: Witherspoon says that he is completely open at this time and doesn't have a favorite, but if he had to take his visits today they would be to:
1. Oregon - "I like their style of play. I've been reading up on their graduation rate and academics. I still need to find out more about them."
2. Oklahoma - "Pretty much the same thing as Oregon."
3. UCLA - "Their academics. I like their style and what they have to offer. I want to see the scenery and lifestyle out there. They would probably be my dream visit."
Skinny: He plans to attend camps at Missouri, Nebraska (pad session) and Kansas.
Asked if distance was a problem he said, "Kinda, sorta. Basically, I want to stay close and get good fan support, but if I have to go farther away it would give me experience for being away from home when I get out in the world after school."
He has received a call from Kansas. "On May 1 Coach Mangino called. He was giving me advice and letting me know that they're rebuilding. He said that I'm the type of player that they're looking for"
"I know that a couple of coaches from Missouri came by my school too. There might have been more schools who came to my school, but sometimes it's hard to catch up with my coach. We're both busy all the time and keep missing each other."
"I plan to take as many visits as I can and take things slow."
His priorities on his college choice are, "The academics, graduation rate of the players and the football program. I want to be on a team that's been to the most bowl games."
He plans to major in architecture or engineering.