Mizzou commit Knox wants ‘chance to play Alabama’

There’s little doubt Jalen Knox is going to work hard once he’s made Columbia, Missouri his home for the next four years.

Expected to sign a letter of intent tomorrow to play for Missouri, the Mansfield Timberview wide receiver politely asked if he could fulfill his media commitments after a recent work shift at a local pizza joint.

“I just wanted to make some extra money and now is the best time to do that,” he said. “I’m not afraid of working and there’s about zero chance they’re not going to get the best out of me every day at Missouri.”

Such is the attitude that has made Knox a prized recruiting victory for Mizzou.

His reasoning for committing there is almost as impressive as the numbers he produced on the field.

“The main reason I wanted to go there was the chance to play Alabama,” he said. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an LSU fan so the chance to play Bama regularly factored in.”

Knox cited the student protests in 2015-16 as another reason.

“During that whole thing, the football team had each other’s backs,” he said. “And that’s the way I felt on my official visit up there.

“They were always making sure everybody had a ride and that we were having a good time and getting to see all the things we wanted.”

Timberview fans got to see plenty with Knox.

He caught 17 passes this season for 376 yards and three touchdowns.

That was a whopping 22.1 yards per completion percentage to go along with 50 carries for 325 yards and 5 more scores.

Speed and versatility is a premium for Knox and that wasn’t lost on Missouri recruiters.

“They run a very similar offense to what we did at Timberview,” he said. “I can play either receiver spot for them or at running back but I prefer the inside receiver spot.”

Knox said he was disappointed in the outcome of Timberview’s season, but learned a lot to take the next level.

“You can’t take anything for granted like we did this year,” he said. “We went to the playoffs four straight years and broke that string this year, but I feel like if I can keep working and keep the right mind set, we can do great things at Mizzou.”

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Mizzou commit Knox wants ‘chance to play Alabama’."