Wyatt D. WheelerSpringfield News-Leader
Missouri State bolstered its roster on Wednesday with the beginning of the early football signing period. The Bears added a mixture of high school standouts and a few players who have been on FBS rosters.
Ryan Beard, heading into his second season as MSU's head coach, and the Bears don't have as many slots to fill heading into 2024 after maintaining the majority of its young roster. The focus of the early signing period appeared to be filling the spots where players moved on while also upgrading their linebacking corps.
The focus over the next few months will likely come on the defensive side, particularly on the defensive line, along with the need to add a backup quarterback.
Here are the players the Bears signed on Wednesday.
More: The 5 biggest questions for Missouri State football entering the 2023-24 offseason
Jeron Askren, TE/WR/ATH, Maize South (Kansas)
Askren is a 6-foot-3, 220-pounder who lists himself as a tight end, wide receiver and athlete out of Kansas. He committed to the Bears in July while also holding offers from Missouri Western, Emporia State, Northwest Missouri State, Lindenwood and others.
Askren played his senior high school season primarily as a tight end while also getting time in the backfield as a running back. Kansas media selected him as a Class 5A All-State performer at tight end.
Ezra Ballinger, OL, Northeastern Oklahoma Association of Homeschools
Ballinger is one of the Bears' most recent commits as a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive lineman out of NOAH in northeastern Oklahoma. He primarily played left tackle for his homeschool program.
Ballinger elected to stay closer to home over playing at Northern Arizona, Central Arkansas, Army, Navy, UNLV, Air Force and others. He's a great athlete on his size and his X, formerly known as Twitter, bio reads that his location is IHOP with a pancake emoji next to it — so you know what he's about.
Jashawn Cooper, RB/LB, Loomis Chaffee (Connecticut)
Copoer is a linebacker from the New England region that Missouri State is expected to sign. The Bears hopped on him in late November when he previously held an offer from Bryant, Army, Austin Peay and others.
Prep Redzone rates him as the No. 4 linebacker out of New England. Missouri State's lone rostered player out of the northeast part of the country is defensive back Avery Powell out of New Jersey.
More: Former Missouri State coach Bobby Petrino returning to Arkansas as offensive coordinator
Rylan Henry, P, Warrensburg
A two-time all-state performer out of Warrensburg will stay in-state and punt for the Bears.
Henry is a 6-foot-1, 205-pound ambidextrous punter. The Bears have had incredible success with their punters over the years, notably with two-time All-American punter Grant Burkett, a Webb City grad, who still has a senior year to play. Henry also held an offer from Southeast Missouri.
Missouri State did not announce his signing on Wednesday but it appears he remains committed to the Bears on his social media pages.
Elijah Leonard, QB, Lee's Summit North
Leonard has been a great quarterback for one of the state's best high school football programs over the last two years. He's a 6-foot-4, 216-pounder who threw to some of the best position players Missouri had to offer.
Leonard held offers from South Dakota and Lindenwood and had interest from Kansas State and Iowa State. He led Lee's Summit North to a state championship appearance in 2022 and a semifinal appearance this past season. The Broncos had a pair of the nation's top prospects including five-star defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri who is arguably the No. 1 player in the 2024 class and committed to Mizzou. Leonard threw to four-star 2025 wide receiver Isaiah Mozee.
More: With upset victory, Missouri State football provided needed reasons to believe in future
Missouri State's quarterback room will have a different look next season with Jacob Clark and Cole Feuerbacher as the only two players expected to return at the position. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Bears try to add a quarterback via the transfer portal to back up Clark in 2024.
Alred Luke, WR, Louisiana Monroe transfer
Luke is a 5-foot-8 wide receiver coming off his sophom*ore year at Louisiana Monroe. He redshirted in 2021 before appearing in seven games over the last two seasons. He has 17 total catches for 151 yards. He also saw time as a kick returner with 14 attempts for an average of 17.7 yards per return.
The name of Luke's game is speed after participated in track in high school. He was a state semifinalist in several sprint relays and the triple jump. His Hudl page from his high school days listed his 40-yard dash time at 4.39 seconds.
Stewart McDonald, K, Logan-Rogersville
Missouri State will add a local prospect in McDonald, who was a second-team all-state kicker for Logan-Rogersville this past season.
McDonald was a standout for the Wildcats on the soccer pitch and helped lead them to a state runner-up finish this past season. On the football field, he was almost automatic when kicking for touchbacks while also booting field goals from 45, 42 and 40 yards out.
Missouri State did not announce McDonald's signing on Wednesday but he remains committed to the Bears.
Ryan Mitchell, OL, Marquette
Mitchell is an in-state offensive lineman from the St. Louis area. He's listed at 6-foot-3, 300 pounds after playing left tackle for the Mustangs. His offers included Northern Iowa, Illinois State, Air Force, Southeast Missouri and others.
Mitchell is coming off a Class 6 Third Team All-State season while going up against the top teams in the state every week. He's been the captain of an offensive line that rushed for over 2,000 yards this past season.
Chris Scott Jr., WR, NC State transfer
Scott is a transfer from North Carolina State who played both wide receiver and corner with the Wolfpack during his three years with the program. He appeared in eight games over four seasons with his lone two catches coming in 2020 for 49 yards. He also had seven total tackles that same season. He missed 2021 with an injury.
Scott should have two years of eligibility having used a medical redshirt and by having an extra season of eligibility by playing in 2020.
At 6-foot-0, 160 pounds, Scott is a faster receiver who played both sides of the ball in high school. He was one of Georgia's top sprinters with a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter dash.
More: Missouri State's late-game collapse at Tulsa wasn't that surprising. That's a problem.
Logan Scrivner, OL, Francis Howell
Scrivner is a 6-foot-3. 270-pound offensive lineman commitment out of the St. Louis area. He's been selected as a first-team all-state lineman each of the last two seasons. He also held offers from East Central, William Jewell and Missouri Western.
Missouri State should have most of its starting offensive linemen back next season but it has moved toward recruiting high school linemen and developing them as opposed to adding through the portal.
Hunter Talley, TE, Arkansas transfer
Talley, from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, is a 6-foot-4, 251-pound tight end who announced his commitment to the Bears. He was previously a preferred walk-on for the Razorbacks.
Talley played quarterback in high school before redshirting his freshman season with the Hogs in 2022. This past season, he appeared in three games and didn't record a reception.
The frame should make Talley an attractive prospect for Missouri State, which needed to add a tight end or two after the departure of Stetson Moore. Talley announced his commitment to the Bears after former MSU head coach Bobby Petrino became Arkansas' offensive coordinator.
Elijawah Tolbert, LB, Eastern Illinois transfer
The headliner of the early-signing class appears to be Tolbert, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound transfer linebacker from Eastern Illinois. He's received First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference recognition in each of the last two seasons.
Tolbert is coming off a junior year in which he led the Panthers with 87 total tackles and seven for a loss. His sophom*ore year saw him rank third on the team with 70 tackles with 6.5 for a loss.
Tolbert figures to be an immediate impact player even when the Bears are currently set to return all of their starting linebackers from a year ago.
Eunique Valentine, LB, Butler CC transfer
Valentine is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior college transfer linebacker who started his career as a preferred walk-on at Tennessee. He recorded 29 total tackles this past season in the three games he played. Jackson State also offered but he chose to play in Springfield.
Valentine also played in Butler during the 2022 season where he finished an injury-impacted season with 12 tackles including four for a loss.
Camron Williams, WR, Gosnell (Arkansas)
Missouri State landed the commitment from Williams early in his recruiting process and then the receiver proceeded to post that he received offers from the likes of Florida State, Miami (Florida), Michigan State and others. The Bears still expect to get him signed and on Springfield's campus.
Williams is the younger brother of Floyd Williams who redshirted as a true freshman last season. Floyd was one of the top high school recruits of Missouri State's recruiting class heading into 2023 and his younger brother will be one of the, if not the best, high school recruits joining the Bears in 2024.
Williams is a 6-foot-1, 175-pound receiver who just needed the ball to get to his hands and he was a threat to score. There's little information about how he performed this past season following a breakout junior year. He's also capable of playing cornerback.
Iverson Young, RB, Montana transfer
Young hit the portal in early December before Montana made its run to the FCS National Championship game. He'll join the Bears with four seasons of eligibility and the hopes of making a bit of history in an MSU uniform.
With the Griz, Young carried the ball seven times across two games for 12 total yards. He originally committed to Louisiana Tech out of high school and Missouri State offered him before he wound up in Montana.
Out of high school, Young held a three-star rating by multiple recruiting websites. He played high school ball in a backfield alongside current MSU rising sophom*ore Jayden Becks — who carried the ball 38 times for 150 yards and two scores this past season and should expect more carries moving forward.
Missouri State opens the 2024 season at Montana on Aug. 31.
Transfer portal entrees
- Devin Goree, DL
- Jordan Pachot, QB
- Tevita Fuimaono, OL
- De'Andre Washington, S
- Jahiel Blue-Smith, DB
- Steven Ward, LB
- George Sims, WR
- Nik Goodwin, QB
- Dwight Jacobs, S
- Ivan Madrigal, OL
Raylen Sharpe staying in Springfield
The Bears' best addition ahead of the early signing period was by getting their best player out of the transfer portal and back in the maroon and white heading into next year.
Sharpe is staying put after flirting with others in the portal ahead of his recent announcement that he will return to the Bears. He is coming off arguably the best single season by any MSU wide receiver. He caught a school-record 73 passes in addition to having 991 receiving yards and seven touchdowns — the latter two stats ranking second in school history behind Ty Scott, who played two more games than Sharpe did this season.
A similar year in 2024 could give Sharpe the Missouri State career record for receptions and receiving yards. He could also end up in the top five for receiving touchdowns when most other players ahead of him played four seasons with the Bears. Next season will be Sharpe's third with MSU.
Jordan Pachot enters transfer portal
It wasn't the biggest surprise that one of Missouri State's two starting quarterbacks from this past season entered the portal and Pachot seemed the most likely of the two to do so.
Pachot showed that he's deserving of being the undisputed starting quarterback at an FCS program. Missouri State would have had to choose between him or Jacob Clark when Clark had already beaten him out in a competition and would have been the favorite heading into a new season.
Pachot will be eligible to play immediately wherever he lands. He's already received offers from Western Illinois, Arkansas Pine Bluff and Tennessee Tech.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email atwwheeler@news-leader.comor X at@WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms
