Pressey, Ratliffe to visit Missouri
With Ricardo Ratliffe scheduled to visit Missouri this weekend, there was already plenty of intrigue on the basketball recruiting trail. But Ratliffe won't be alone on his visit. Navarro Junior College guard Matt Pressey confirmed that he will also take an official visit to Columbia this weekend.
Pressey lists a final four of Missouri, Texas A&M, Iowa State and Nebraska. He says he will visit all four, but does not have dates finalized beyond this weekend.
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"I want to go somewhere I can play right away, not where they have a bunch of guys lined up at my spot," Pressey said. "And I want to go to either a program that is rising up or a program that is winning. Those are the two main things."
A bonus would be playing with his brother. Phil Pressey signed with Mizzou out of the Episcopal School of Dallas last November and will be a freshman point guard next year.
"Most people are asking me about that," Matt said. "But that's more like the cherry on top and not the major thing."
Pressey received some light recruiting interest out of high school, but headed to Navarro to hone his game. In two years, he has emerged as a much different player.
"Last year, we had DeAndre Brown, so I didn't have to score a lot," he said. "This year, we lost him and coach needed me to pick up some of the scoring load, so that's what I did and I think I had a real good year.
"I can shoot, have a good midrange game. And I will do a lot of the little things that a lot of people don't really like to do anymore. I can defend and rebound. I just do a little bit of everything, an all-around game."
As proof, Pressey shot 46% from three-point range while averaging 17.4 points and more than four rebounds a game in helping Navarro back to the National Junior College Tournament in Hutchinson, KS this year. The Bulldogs finished fourth in Hutch, ending the season at 29-and-7.
Both Pressey and Ratliffe were named first-team NJCAA all-Americans. Missouri will get a shot at making a good impression on the duo this weekend.