Luther Burden, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound wide receiver from East St. Louis, Illinois, has backed off of his verbal commitment to the University of Oklahoma, potentially opening the door for Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri Tigers to swoop in and pick up one of the most highly-sought after prospects in the Class of 2022.
Burden’s had been committed to Lincoln Riley and OU since October 2020, with his decision to decommit first reported by Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports. A Burden commitment would be huge for Mizzou, potentially as important as Gary Pinkel’s work to gain the commitment of Dorial Green-Beckham, the top-ranked prospect in the country, in 2012.
Burden has very much been on the Mizzou radar for the past couple of years, although, in addition to Oklahoma, one of the biggest programs in the country, including Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, have offers to Burden, ranked as the #5 overall player in the Class of 2022, the #1 player at the wide receiver position, and top-overall player in the state of Illinois. He transferred across the Mississippi River from Cardinal Ritter High School in St. Louis into East St. Louis earlier this year. Rivals ranks him as the #6 overall prospect in this year’s senior class. He caught 31 passes for 895 yards with 13 touchdowns at Cardinal Ritter last season. Burden has taken several unofficial visits to the Mizzou campus in Columbia over the summer months, leaving his verbal commitment to Oklahoma very much in question, even before Tuesday’s announcement.
