Glaser, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound dual-threat quarterback, completed almost 60 percent of his passes for 2,495 yards and 22 touchdowns, and rushed for 788 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games last season.

“I watched them play Oklahoma and Arkansas, of course, but I never expected that I would be playing for them or committing there,” Glaser said. “I felt like the coaches were family and they were the kind of people that I wanted to be around for five years.”

Verbal commitments are non-binding. A student-athlete can change his commitment before he signs his letter of intent on National Signing Day on Feb. 4, 2009.

Glaser received his offer from Mizzou after performing well at the Tigers’ camp in Springfield, Mo., in early June. Glaser admitted that prior to that camp he knew very little about Mizzou and vice versa. Glaser said he wasn’t even entered into the Rivals.com database until a week ago and is currently unranked.

Glaser said his high school team at Springdale (Ark.) runs a similar offense to Missouri’s. His team finished 4-6 last season, but averaged almost 26 points per game.

Glaser becomes the second quarterback for the 2009 class, joining Blue Springs South gunslinger Blaine Dalton. Glaser is the 13th known commitment for the Tigers, more than any other Big 12 North team.

Glaser had just one other offer - from Arkansas State - but had received interest from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, SMU and Tulsa.

“I’m solid,” Glaser said. “There are no other trips that I’m going to take except my official back up to Mizzou… I really just felt like I was at home.”

Daniel, a Heisman finalist, All-American, and All-Big 12 player last season, will join fellow Elite 11 alumni Mark Sanchez (USC) and Matthew Safford (Georgia), and Colt McCoy (Texas) will help out at the three-day camp that begins July 21 in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Daniel and Sanchez were in the same Elite 11 class in 2004.

Daniel is the second MU quarterback to coach the camp in consecutive seasons. Brad Smith also coached the camp during the summers before his junior and senior seasons.

According to StudentSports.com, seven of the 12 quarterbacks have been chosen and all but one has committed. That list includes the nation’s top prep quarterback Matt Barkley, the Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.,) product who is committed to USC. According to the site, none of the current quarterbacks received offers from Mizzou.

Last season, Daniel used part of his Elite 11 trip to recruit Mizzou freshman Blaine Gabbert, who had committed to Nebraska in May. With five campers yet to be named, there’s no telling whom Daniel might target this year.

The Fulmer Cup, named after Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer because his team always seemed to have run-ins with the law, has been around for three years, and for the first time in the Cup’s existence Mizzou finds itself atop the leaderboard with 21 points (West Virginia is in second with 19 points). Make no mistake, this is not a good thing. It means that Missouri players have gotten into more trouble with the law than any other school in the nation.

Until now.

Colorado football is threatening that title this week after a pair of players were arrested and jailed for armed robbery. Former quarterback/running back/safety/bench rider Bernard Jackson and former safety Lionel Harris could net the Buffs, who are currently in fifth in the Fulmer Cup standings with 15 points, at least eight points for their larceny if they are still counted as members of the team. Mizzou had a walk-on that wasn’t technically on the roster counted, so two guys who actually started games should be tallied.

You can find a complete breakdown of the point system HERE.

I make light of this because no one was hurt except for Jackson and Harris, who are doing time in the county jail. It’s also a good reminder that no matter how much off-field/off-court trouble Missouri seems to get into there’s always someplace worse.

The Tigers fell to the Bears 86-72 last year in Berkeley, Calif., the inaugural year of the Hardwood Series. The time of this year’s game will be announced at a later date.

This is the second known date for Mizzou’s 2008-09 schedule. The Tigers will travel to Canada for a three-game tour Aug. 30-Sept 1, and play in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off beginning Nov. 20.

Per NCAA rules, teams are allowed to make a trip away from the United States every four years. According to Missouri media relations, the Tigers haven’t made a trip out of the country since playing in Australia in 1995.

While team bonding could be beneficial for a Missouri squad that welcomes seven newcomers to join it’s five starters, the idea of playing a tournament just a week into the school year has often come back with mixed results.

Five teams played in Canada last year – Oral Roberts, Alabama, LSU, Morehead State and Duquesne – and only one of those teams, Oral Roberts, played in a postseason tournament. Only Alabama (17-16) and Duquesne (17-13) finished with winning records and those teams finished ninth and 10th respectively in their leagues. LSU finished eighth in the SEC and Morehead State was third in the Ohio Valley.

Even the year Mizzou went to Australia, the Tigers produced an 18-15 record and finished sixth in the Big Eight.

Sixth would be an improvement for a Missouri team that has finished seventh and 10th respectively in the last two seasons.

And need I remind that the last Missouri player to go to Canada never came back…

Missouri’s returning players are allowed to practice for the Canadian tour up to a maximum of 10 days prior to the departure on Aug. 29. Per NCAA rules, newcomers are not allowed to participate in organized practices until classes begin. Missouri starts school on Aug. 25. However, they can lift weights, play open gym with their teammates and watch the organized practices from the sidelines.

When the players return from a trip that will include a visit to Niagara Falls and a Maid of the Mist tour, which will showcase Ontario, Canada, they will go back to individual workouts before starting season practices on Oct. 17.

McArtor spent 21 years as Missouri’s baseball coach and amassed a 733-430-3 record. He coached six teams to the NCAA Tournament, 13 All-Americans, and saw 55 players go pro during his tenure.

McArtor played baseball at Mizzou and was the associate athletics director and senior associate athletics director in 1997.  He also had a brief stint as MU’s interim director of athletics.

According to the release, “As national coordinator, will assist the Division I Baseball Committee with the selection and evaluation of officials for the Division I championship.  He will also work with officials, as well as conference coordinators and regional advisors of officiating, coaches and NCAA staff, to help provide clear and consistent interpretations of NCAA men’s baseball rules and officiating mechanics.”

This is the second Missouri football game selected for television so far this season. Mizzou’s season opener against Illinois will be televised on ESPN (Aug. 30, 7:30 p.m.).

A few things about this Kansas game:

1. It’s great that this game has already been selected for television. It means the television powers that be thinks one of these teams will be playing for something at the end of the season.

2. This rules out ESPN Gameday attending, so let’s cut that talk out right now.

3. The time of the game is both good and bad. I think as a program, prime time games are preferred. However, a lot of 2:30 games have showcased good matchups. I do think this means there’s little hope for a No. 2 vs. No. 4 matchup at Arrowhead Stadium at the end of the regular season.

I wouldn’t rule out No. 2 vs. an unranked team as a possibility.

But what’s that old saying, when one door closes, another door opens? Well, step on through Jared Perry, it’s your time to shine.

During the spring season, no receiver impressed more than the junior-to-be Perry. He was catching the ball with confidence and looked every bit the player that earned honorable mention freshman All-American status two years ago. The only problem with Perry’s reemergence this spring was a logjam in the receiver starting lineup. That problem is now gone.

No one wants to see a player get hurt. Especially one like Alexander, who has tirelessly been rehabbing to get back on the field by the Labor Day opener against Illinois. And this has to be especially painful for Perry, who knows his opportunity back into the starting lineup comes at the expense of his roommate.

But honestly, Perry’s earned it.

After a dismal sophomore season that saw him catch just 13 passes for 152 yards, Perry reaffirmed his commitment to Mizzou and was one of the few players to stay on campus to work out during spring break instead of partying with friends.

“I feel that I need to start stepping up right now because this is my best opportunity to do it,” Perry said during a spring interview with the Post-Dispatch. “I had a bad season last year. I just knew from the last scrimmage I had one bad play and I wanted to come in and start changing stuff after spring break.

“I took a backseat roll last year and I lost a lot of confidence. Now, I think I’ve got my head on straight.”

Perry’s sophomore season was in stark contrast to his freshman campaign where he grabbed 37 passes for 429 yards and three touchdowns.

Missouri’s 2008 season has already started. Veteran players have been working out for the last week, and freshmen arrive on campus this weekend in preparation for their workouts beginning Monday.

The door is open for Perry to recapture his former self. All he has to do is decide whether to walk through.

Carroll is the only remaining Missouri player in the NBA Draft pool, and has until June 16 – 10 days before the draft – to withdraw his name and return to school. Anderson, who is also Carroll’s uncle, said he’s hopeful Carroll will return for his senior season. Carroll did not hire an agent, a move that would have made him ineligible to return.

“I think he understands that a senior year could be a tremendous benefit for him,” Anderson said from the Big 12 spring meetings in Colorado Springs last week. “He’s got a chance to be one of the leaders on our basketball team, so I think at the end of the day he’ll make the right decision.”

Junior forward Leo Lyons pulled his name from the draft on May 9, just two weeks after entering, despite leading the charge in talks about going pro. Anderson said he didn’t begrudge either player looking at professional options, but said he did everything he could to give them the information to make the right decision.

Neither Lyons nor Carroll was invited to the prestigious pre-draft camp in Orlando this week, though Anderson said Carroll was invited to work out with several NBA teams. The NCAA allows NBA teams to fit the bill for workouts of players who haven’t hired agents.

“At the end of the day, most kids, whether it be Leo or DeMarre, they want to be the best player they can be,” Anderson said. “The rules allow guys to test the waters… DeMarre told me his plans before the end of the season and I was OK with it. Now, he’ll know what he needs to work on and I’m confident he’ll take that advice and make the right decision.”

** The men’s basketball coaches unanimously voted against adding two games to their conference schedule and told athletic directors that they would add strong non-conference opponents to the 2009-10 schedule.  The women’s coaches talked about the idea, but it never came to a vote.

** The football coaches - for the umpteenth time - preached the need for five years of eligibility. The idea would take away the redshirt season and give each player five years to use five years of eligibility. Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe is one of the biggest proponents of the eligibility boost stating that it would alleviate disillusionment for redshirt players.

“There’s nothing to play for if you’re a redshirt kid and there’s a lot of disillusionment,” Beebe said. “And [coaches] don’t want to burn a year on a kid who looks promising by just playing him on the kickoff team.”

Although the push to extend eligibility in football has been around since the 1990’s, it’s been met by opposition from the NCAA Faculty Representatives that contend players should not be encouraged to spend five years in college. However, NCAA statistics show that Division I-A college football players take an average of 4.7 years to graduate.

There’s also the argument that if football gets an extra year then every sport should get an extra year. But Beebe said football brings a unique set of circumstances.

“Five years of eligibility, in my judgment, makes sense for football,” Beebe said. “You’re talking about a sport where I would guess, and I haven’t seen the data, that has more redshirts than any other sport. Then you’re talking about a sport in which youngsters are playing very physical, very tough games and the practices are long and hard and you’re getting beat up and there’s nothing to play for if you’re a redshirt kid.”

Beebe has joined the  NCAA’s Football Enhancement working group, which will give him an opportunity to pitch the fifth year eligibility again and hopefully generate momentum.

** Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach was the football coaches appointed media liaison this year. As he started to tell the small media group that the football coaches had nothing Earth-shattering to report, a large clap of thunder interrupted his sentence. He laughed and said, “OK, so that was a lie…”

He said officiating was the hot topic, but stopped there to avoid another $10,000 fine.

Leach was fined for making public comments about the league’s officiating following a 59-43 loss to Texas last season. During the tirade, Leach said Tech was the victim of “atrociously bad calls” in a 35-31 loss to Texas in Lubbock last year. He called the league’s review process “a sham” and suggested officials were biased toward Texas because the Longhorns are “higher bowl-wise.”

Leach never apologized for the comments and aired more grievances during Tuesday’s spring meetings.

Beebe, who wasn’t surprised about the officiating comments, apologized for not having perfect officials.

“Really, in our basement, we’re busy for all sports creating robots that can officiate without error,” Beebe said. “So we’ll have that probably rolling out in the next four or five years.”

** Things are so good with women’s basketball right now that part of the day was spent discussing when to have the national anthem. Yeah, that was the pressing concern coming from the nation’s best women’s basketball conference, according to RPI. It’s good to be No. 1.

** The Big 12 men’s basketball tournament has been moved from a Thursday through Sunday to Wednesday through Saturday to get better television exposure. The championship game is scheduled for 5 p.m. on ESPN.

** Toward the end of the day, Beebe mentioned that he was in the midst of gathering revenue sharing information from other conferences in an effort to adapt the Big 12’s policies. He said there’s a thought to provide additional incentives for going to a bowl game, going to the NCAA Tournament or going to the Big 12 football championship.

** And, for all you KU fans out there, Beebe said he doesn’t see any punishment coming for Kansas regarding the Darrell Arthur situation. Sad news for Missouri fans, I know.

There was talk about ways to remove AAU coaches, agents, and other influences from the game in response to the O.J. Mayo situation at USC. Iowa State coach Greg McDermott was especially vocal about the subject after losing star player Wesley Johnson this week. It’s suspected that Johnson’s former AAU coach prompted Johnson’s decision to transfer by promising Johnson greener pastures elsewhere.
It also sparked talk of of making college players stay two or three years before being eligible for the NBA Draft. Actually, Mizzou coach Mike Anderson said he wouldn’t mind if college basketball adopted the same rules as college baseball. Players could be drafted out of high school, but if they choose to go to college, they’d have to stay for at least three years before being eligible for the draft again.

** Oh, and Texas Tech basketball coach Pat Knight said he would not be surprised if his father, Bob Knight, came back to coaching down the road. But right now, Bob Knight is about to host his own fishing show. I have no other details, you’ll have to consult your local TV Guide. And both Knight’s, Texas coach Rick Barnes, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas and 15 other basketball names are heading to Ireland later this summer to partake in a little golf. Nice.

Speaking of golf, that’s all that on the docket Wednesday at the Broadmoor Hotel. I’m golfing with Anderson in a scramble with two other people. Since I’m not a good golfer and Anderson is about a 14 handicap, this might make an entertaining story someday.