Booker Visits Columbia Again, Leaning Mizzou?

    As reported earlier this week, Devin Booker visited Missouri this weekend on an unofficial visit. Booker was visiting mainly because his father was part of the ceremony honoring the Missouri team he played on that went undefeated in conference play. This comes just one week after his official visit, which was a very crafty recruiting move by Missouri coach Frank Haith. Booker has been rumored as a UK lean for awhile, but Missouri is making a serious push with a lot of factors swinging in their favor. We know what Coach Cal and Kentucky are bringing to the table, but here is what Missouri is pitching to Booker in a nutshell. 1. Come Be a Hero - As mentioned, Booker's father, Melvin, was a legendary Missouri player. Melvin Booker obviously would like to see his son play for his alma mater. Haith and the Mizzou staff are taking a page right out of Stoops' playbook by pitching to Booker the idea of being like his father. Melvin Booker is a beloved Mizzou alum, and Haith is clearly pushing for Devin to bring the same type of success to Missouri that his father brought years ago. Just like Stoops wanting the Kentucky boys to say in the state, Haith is wanting Booker to keep it in the family. 2. Style of Play - Haith runs a style of play that is extremely guard/perimeter oriented. While Missouri does not run like they did with former coach Mike Anderson (yes that UAB guy we all loathe), they still love to shoot from outside which is Booker's calling card. Haith's guards do the bulk of the scoring in his offense, and it would be tough to find a recruit that does not like the opportunity to pad his stats. 3. Being the star It is no secret that Booker is the biggest recruit for Missouri since Phil Pressey who was the ninth overall point guard in his class per ESPN. Being the star recruit for a school that is not a blue blood bringing in multiple players of your talent means playing time and the chance to be the go-to guy from day one. Booker would be the number one option at Missouri by a mile with his excellent shooting. You can probably count on one hand the number shooting guards who would not jump at the chance to be the guy who is guaranteed to get the ball in all pressure situations. Missouri is offering the chance for Booker to be the number one scoring option and star of the team for as many years as he chooses to play in college. 4. Fan Love Disclaimer: I do not need to be told that Kentucky fans do a great job with giving recruits attention. I promise I am well aware of this fact. Booker has made it clear that he was amazed by the fans on his Missouri visits. This may ruffle some feathers, but Missouri fans outdid Kentucky fans in regard to attention with Booker partially because UK has multiple recruits to worry about while Missouri fans are solely concerned with Booker. Mizzou fans chanted his name at the football game, had students with their chests painted to spell out Booker, and have flooded his Twitter with attention. They even took their traditional chant of "M-I-Z... Z-O-U" and changed it to "M-I-Z... DEVIN B" during the game. Missouri fans have simply done a particularly outstanding job at giving Booker the attention that every recruit minus Andrew Wiggins loves. 5. Recency It is always good to get the last word in with recruiting. Missouri has accomplished this with two visits right before his decision. Booker has high praise for the visits to Missouri, and its certainly helping Missouri's case that those will be fresh in his mind before he makes his decision Missouri certainly has plenty to offer Booker. I have found it wise to never doubt Coach Cal in recruiting, but the odds of Booker coming to UK are not as favorable as they once were. With James Blackmon seeming like a lock for UK, it would not be the end of the world if Booker chose Mizzou. At this point, I have Booker leaning to Mizzou, but the beautiful thing about recruiting is the momentum can change in one day. @JayHochKSR   MATT's TAKE: For what it's worth, I don't totally agree with Jay that Booker is now "leaning" Missouri. I think it is still too close to call and until I get word otherwise, I am not ready to say the Cats are behind. What I will say however is that one month ago, Booker was a virtual lock to Kentucky. That has certainly changed and uncertainty exists, whereas the kid was once almost already being fitted in blue.