East St. Louis wide receiver Luther Burden III commits to the University of Missouri

Burden picked Mizzou over Alabama and Georgia.

STORY:

The top wide receiver recruit in the country is officially heading to the University of Missouri. East St. Louis senior Luther Burden III committed to the Tigers on Tuesday.

Burden made the announcement at the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club in St. Louis.

"It's a blessing. Being from St. Louis and in this rough city playing... This is where I grew up basically playing here. This is where I built my legacy so I just came back to support and uplift the community," Burden said.

"I've been working since I was eight years old. I remember being out there playing sandlot. Playing football with no equipment just having fun. But I worked hard and I'm ready."

Burden picked Missouri over SEC powerhouses Georgia and Alabama and wants other St. Louis area recruits to follow in his footsteps and stay close to home at Mizzou.

"Big recruits in St. Louis go to places like the Georgias and Alabamas... I just want to start a trend here in St. Louis for the younger people with talent... to stay home and take our talents to Missouri," Burden said.

Burden is the first 5-star recruit for Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz, who has put together one of the best recruiting classes in Mizzou history in the class of 2022.

Burden said his relationship with Drinkwitz was a key factor in what pushed Missouri to the top of his list.

"I believe in him rebuilding and recruiting St. Louis. We gonna rebuild this thing," Burden said.

"It's close to home. The relationship I have with coach Drink is ridiculous. We built a great bond. We really worked on it for real. We really got real close. At the beginning of the year when transferred over to East St. Louis he was there with me each and every step of the way."

Since taking over at Missouri, Drinkwitz has focused on recruiting St. Louis area kids and has built a foothold in the region in his past two classes.

Drinkwitz and Mizzou fans are hoping the addition of Burden could be the spark that really lights the St. Louis-to-Columbia fire.

Some of Burden's future Mizzou teammates were there to support him Tuesday, and echo the St. Louis-to-Columbia sentiment.

"I've been playing against Luther since second grade and he's definitely one of the best competitors I've ever played against. He's just been a beast always and I knew if he came to Mizzou it'd be huge for the program and change around everything for Mizzou and the St. Louis area. So I'm really excited for him to come," SLUH senior defensive back and Mizzou commit Isaac Thompson said.

"As long as we keep our players here, we're going to be better than everybody else. That's how I feel. Everybody can go to different places, everybody can do other stuff, but the Lou is the best place to come out of. We're the best spot. You're coming from nothing and you're coming up. You can't get knocked back down unless you fall in the trap. Other than that you're going up," Parkway West wide receiver and Mizzou commit Ja'Marion Wayne said.

"It just felt like I needed to be there and I need to make a change in my home state...," Burden said. "That's a whole lot of St. Louis people (coming to Mizzou). We fitting to turn it around. We here."

Burden plans to graduate early and be in Columbia in January of 2022 to get ready for his freshman year as a Tiger.

So what can fans expect from him?

"They can expect 'Touchdown Luther'," Burden said.