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Blake Baumgartner, ESPN Staff Writer
Eliah Drinkwitz and Missouri scored a big win off the field on Monday by securing a commitment from five-star defensive end Williams Nwaneri.
Nwaneri, No. 12 overall in the 2024 ESPN 300 and the cycle’s second-best defensive end, is a product of Lee’s Summit North High School (Missouri) and becomes the highest-ranked prospect in the Tigers’ 2024 class.
He would be the highest-ranked player to sign with the program since wide receiver Luther Burden (No. 5 overall) in 2022 and the highest-ranked defensive lineman since Terry Beckner, Jr. (No. 2 overall, No. 1 DT) in 2015.
“I’d say really ever since they started recruiting me, I feel like it’s been consistent,” Nwaneri told ESPN. “But I have a good relationship with the coaching staff and I feel like it’s somewhere I could go and be successful as a student and as an athlete.”
He cited the “great conversations” with Drinkwitz and defensive line coach Kevin Peoples as big reasons he’ll stay close to home.
“It’s my home state,” Nwaneri said. “It’s like me being a hometown hero, so it’s a pretty big deal to me.”
He also considered Oklahoma, Georgia and Tennessee. Nwaneri joins St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida) wide receiver James Madison II (No. 284 overall) as ESPN 300 recruits in the 2024 cycle for the Tigers.
Missouri’s classes over the last several cycles have been up and down: 53rd in 2020, 32nd in 2021, 11th in 2022 and 37th in 2023. Nwaneri believes Drinkwitz is on the cusp of building something great.
“I think this changes the class completely,” Nwaneri said. “I feel like I’m going to have a lot of [people notice]. It’s going to give them a little bit of momentum. Recruits are going to see it and I feel like it’s going to probably be very, very good for the class.”
Last season, the Tigers’ defense tied with Alabama for second in the SEC in sacks (36) and was fourth in total defense (337.3 YPG). That represented a huge improvement from 2021 where Missouri ended the year 13th in the SEC both in total defense (445.4 YPG) and scoring defense (34.7 PPG).
“They run a lot of different things, like different types of formations and all that,” Nwaneri said. “But mainly like a four-man front. I’m going to be coming off the edge rushing the quarterback. There will be times where they drop me into coverage. That’s what I’d like to see myself doing.”
In 14 games, the 6-foot-7, 260-pound Nwaneri recorded 56 tackles (31 solo) with 10 tackles for loss and 12 sacks as a junior in 2022.
“I really feel like I’m a very position flexible defensive lineman,” he said. “But I can play all the way down the line. I feel like I can use my length to my advantage. I feel like I got a good get off. I feel like I’m just a great defensive lineman all around.”