COLUMBIA, Mo. — A boy who high-fived Mizzou football players on their way onto Faurot Field, dreaming that someday he’d be one of them. A recruit who committed to a school in a state he couldn’t quite pinpoint on a map. A player who bucked the prevailing view of his peers’ priorities to chase a degree more than playing time.
All three — quarterback Brady Cook, defensive end Johnny Walker Jr. and center Drake Heismeyer — were part of Missouri’s 2020 recruiting class, the first to sign with the program under coach Eli Drinkwitz.
All three have stuck around for his first five seasons in Columbia, three mediocre campaigns and two on the national radar.