Missouri Southern football announced its class of 2025 on National Signing Day on Wednesday with several local names on the list.
The Lions hosted a National Signing Day event at Downstream Casino, presenting each member of the signing class to the group of MSSU alumni and fans.
“I believe (the strength of this class) is the flexibility," MSSU Coach Atiba Bradley said to Joplin Sports Hub. “As you’re reading the bios, you’re going to see a lot of guys signed up for positions that they didn’t necessarily play in high school. You’ll see quarterbacks playing receiver, you’ll see receivers playing tight end and you’ll see defensive linemen playing o-line. So, I think we hit home on some really good football players.”
Missouri Southern had 51 student-athletes committed for this signing day, including five kids from the four-state area—Webb City DB Brody Eggleston, New Heights Christian DB Logan Decker, Monett WR Landyn Brandt, Mount Vernon OL Danny Fields and Nevada TE Grady Stewart.
“We want to have a footprint in the Four States,” Bradley said about recruiting locally. “There’s a reason why we have a Lion Pride area. If you drew a radius of about five hours, that’s where most of our guys are coming from. … In terms of building a program, something that’s lasting and something that is big, we want guys that are going to bring a crowd, guys that are going to bring tailgaters and we want guys who are going to bring their aunt, sister or girlfriend.”
Southern’s full list of signees can be viewed at http://mssulions.com/sports/football.