Davis, Hayes enter top 250
The 2018 and 2019 classes in the state of Missouri have quite a bit of top end talent. But the 2017 class is looking better all the time as well. Two of the nation's fastest rising prospects play their high school football in the Show-Me State.
DaRon Davis and Marquise Hayes were elevated into the Rivals250 that was released on Tuesday morning. The list also includes Park Hill defensive lineman Chester Graves at No. 218.
*************Complete Rivals250: Updated June 7th, 2016***************
Hayes, who checks in at No. 190 in the updated rankings, has ten offers and a list that is certain to grow. The offensive lineman from Pattonville entered the Rivals Camp Series event in Kansas City as a three-star prospect. He came out with the Offensive Line MVP award and now a fourth star.
Rivals.com Midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt said the following of Hayes coming out of the KC camp: "Was a dominant performance at the Rivals Camp Series last weekend in Kansas City a fluke, or is the Missouri native one of the 2017 class' legitimate under-the-radar prospects? Matching up against the top defensive linemen in the country who will be in Atlanta will give us the answer, and my expectation is that Hayes validates his earlier performance. His initial punch is legitimately rare and he is agile enough to stick and mirror."
“He really reminds me of a kid where, if he was in Georgia, he’d have 30 or 40 offers by now," national analyst Mike Farrell said. "He’s going to get 20 to 30 offers before everything is done.”
Hayes has seen his recruitment pick up in recent weeks and the trend will continue, but Missouri, Iowa State, Kansas State and Minnesota have been in the running since the early going.
Davis, a long-time Mizzou commit, will join Hayes at the 5-Star Challenge in Atlanta this weekend and is now rated as the No. 240 prospect in the country. Davis is listed as an athlete by Rivals.com. He plays running back at Hogan Prep in Kansas City, but is being recruited by most schools as a wide receiver. He was the MVP among receivers at the Rivals Camp Series in Kansas City.
"We weren't sure what we were going to get out of him at the wide receiver position," Helmholdt said of Davis. "He has ideal size for that outside receiver position, but he was much more polished in his route running than we expected and then his physical tools took over."
Davis committed to Missouri on November 6, 2015. His recruiting interest has skyrocketed in the last few months and he expressed interest in taking a few visits, but told PowerMizzou.com last month that his commitment to Missouri "has always been solid."
PowerMizzou.com will be in attendance at the 5-Star Challenge this weekend in Atlanta and will have complete coverage of the performances by Davis and Hayes as they face some of the nation's elite talent.
The weekend will also feature the Rivals.com Underclassmen Challenge, which will include a number of prospects from the Show-Me State, including standout 2018 defensive lineman Trevor Trout.
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