ESPN: Durron Neal Hopes For Increased Role With Oklahoma Sooners

The De Smet Jesuit standout is in spring practice for the Big 12 power.

Durron Neal knows something about the number 5. He wore the jersey number in a De Smet Jesuit football career that saw him become one of the state's top recruits in the class of 2012. His performance in that jersey attracted the attention of elite Division I programs like the one he chose, the University of Oklahoma Sooners. After he played himself into the Sooners' 2012 plans as a Freshman, Neal saw limited action during the season, due in large part to a pair of receivers who transferred in with experience. His total number of catches last season? Five. Now, going through his first spring practice, Neal, who wore number 13 as a Freshman at Oklahoma, is getting number 5 back for his Sophomore campaign as he competes for a starting job. “I…

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MBU Football Program Formally Unveiled

Team will begin play as a competitive varsity sport in 2014.

Missouri Baptist University officials Tuesday unveiled for the public what Patch first reported Monday night: plans to launch a football program, a club team in the fall of 2013 and a competitive NAIA varsity squad in 2014. Read: Missouri Baptist University Getting Into College Football Jason Burianek was introduced as the program's first Head Coach in what will be the former McKendree University assistant's first opportunity to lead a team. Mock-ups of the team's uniforms were also on display. In the announcement, the school said it planned to recruit more than 100 student-athletes over the next year and a half for the sport, in addition to more students who will participate in the school's cheer program and a marching band. Still …

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Missouri Baptist University Getting Into College Football

The NAIA school will play games at CBC High School, with plans to compete as a club team in the fall before playing at the college varsity level in 2014.

College football is coming to West St. Louis County. During a Tuesday afternoon campus event, Missouri Baptist University administrators will unveil the school's plan to launch a football program that will be ready to go in time for the fall. Jason Burianek, a former player at the University of Colorado and most recently an assistant coach at McKendree University, has been hired as the program's first head coach. The school's board of trustees approved the move Thursday. Athletic Director Dr. Tom Smith said the decision to jump onto the gridiron came after a pair of feasibility studies over the past five years. "I think we really did our homework," Smith said in an interview Friday, indicating that he'd spoken with other schools which have…

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National Signing Day: Ezekiel Elliott Signs Letter Of Intent With Ohio State Buckeyes

February 6 is the first day high school seniors can confirm their college choices. The University of Missouri, Ohio State and Oklahoma State are among the NCAA schools looking to St. Louis for recruits.

College coaches are getting their money's worth out of fax machines today. This is the first day high school seniors playing Football, Baseball Field Hockey, Soccer, Track and Field, Cross Country, Men's Water Polo can submit a signed letter of intent to play at the college level. Ezekiel Elliott, the John Burroughs running back who gave a verbal pledge to the Ohio State Buckeyes last spring, confirmed that decision late Wednesday afternoon in an announcement that was also carried on live local television. Ladue-Frontenac Patch was there for what was an emotional decision for the entire Elliott family Patch editors have been at schools throughout the St. Louis area as athletes celebrated the next step in their careers: We'll update this …

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Bowl Season Kicks Off With Famous Idaho Potato & Gilden New Mexico Bowls

The college football bowl season starts Saturday and ends next month with the BCS National Championship game as Notre Dame takes on Alabama.

Student-Athletes And Families Happy Recruiting Process Is Over

Creve Coeur area schools produced large number of college-bound football players.

Families around the St. Louis area have a huge collective load off their shoulders, and it has nothing to do with shoveling, or snow days. Wednesday was the first day high school seniors in a variety of sports, but primarily football, could sign their college letters of intent to play at the college level. College recruiters have been beating down a path to the Creve Coeur area for years, and this was no exception, as players from Chaminade, De Smet and Parkway North attracted attention from BCS conference programs from around the country. This year, there were no last-minute high profile defections of Creve Coeur products from one school to another. That's not from a lack of trying on the part of college coaches though. Christian Suntrup …

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