COLUMBIA, MO. • Barry Odom and his Missouri football staff weren’t kidding about the importance of the 2018 collection of in-state recruits. Mizzou has already offered scholarships to 10 in-state targets, and on Sunday, Odom’s staff arranged to have all 10 on campus for unofficial recruiting visits. 

All seven of the St. Louis area’s heralded recruits for the 2018 class were in attendance: Chaminade defensive tackle Trevor Trout, CBC receivers Kamryn Babb and Cameron Brown, Parkway North defensive lineman Michael Thompson Jr., Lutheran North defensive lineman Ronnie Perkins, Hazelwood Central safety Dallas Craddieth and Ritenour linebacker Ayodele Adeoye. Mizzou’s three Kansas City area targets also made visits: Blue Springs defensive lineman Daniel Parker, Lee’s Summit West athlete Mario Goodrich and William Chrisman defensive end Daniel Carson.

Babb, Goodrich, Thompson and Trout are all rated four-star prospects by Rivals.com.

“Those guys are our focus,” Missouri defensive coordinator DeMontie Cross said earlier this month about the in-state targets. “We don’t need to start anywhere but here in the state and secure the borders because we have enough talent, especially in this 2018 class to really put Mizzou back in position to dominate the SEC East and get back to Atlanta as we all keep preaching. These kids are talented and we’ve go to make sure we get them all, not just some of them. We want them all.”

Recruits are not limited on how many unofficial visits they can take during the recruiting process. Recruits are responsible for all expenses during an unofficial visit other than three complimentary admissions to a home athletics contest. 

Sunday’s swarm of state recruits left an impression on at least one local coach. Lutheran North’s Carl Reed, Perkins’ head coach, was impressed with MU’s efforts with the local targets.