Pendleton makes his choice

Kevin Pendleton didn't have some epiphany. It didn't come to him in a dream. His decision to commit to Missouri wasn't a case of a high school player following his heart. He'll leave that sort of voodoo to other prospects.

Instead, his choice was the product of logic - the product of a process. Pendleton has known he'd be a Tiger for a solid week, but waited until Wednesday night to make things official. According to him, you can never be too careful with life decisions.

"I have been thinking about it for the last couple weeks but decided to take my time and talked to some more coaches," Pendleton said. "This week, it was about what day I was going to do it. After my K-State visit and talking more with them, and talking to other coaches to see where they stood, I knew Mizzou was the right place for me."

Pendleton chose Missouri over an offer from Memphis, but other schools were heavily involved in his recruitment. There's no telling which program may have been the next to offer. Then, the three-star offensive tackle isn't so concerned with that anymore.

Instead, he's done with talking to coaches. He's done with doing the recruiting dance. He's done with hearing pitches and pleas. He's done weighing options.

"I'm not going to take any more visits," he said. "I'm done with the recruiting. I just want to relax and concentrate on high school and focus on my high school career."

Missouri offensive coordinator Andy Hill accepted Pendleton's commitment by phone on Wednesday and apparently didn't allow the Tigers' newest addition to be the most excited person on the line. That title was one the longtime Tigers coach snatched for himself.

"He was like, 'are you serious?'" Pendleton said. "He was hooting and hollering in the background. He was really happy. Then I called Coach (Bruce) Walker, and he was ecstatic, too."

The final loose end on Pendleton's recruitment is the process of showing his mother around the Missouri campus. While the Lee's Summit (Mo.) West senior-to-be has visited Columbia on three occasions, his mom has seen her son's future home only in pictures.

"I went on all my recruitment trips with my brother and my father, so I am gonna bring my mom up there sometime this month."

That, of course, is a mere formality, as Pendleton feels she'll see what he noticed long ago.

"Being that hometown guy and being in state and having the support there is important," Pendleton said. "Each time I visited, I just loved it more and more. It's what I want in a school."