FAYETTEVILLE -- Akial Byers' straight-ahead rush to the quarterback is nothing like the circuitous route he took to college.
Missouri waited nearly three months after February's national signing day to land the highest-rated recruit in their 2017 class.
Fayetteville's Akial Byers, a 6-foot-4, 289-pound defensive tackle who verbally committed to Alabama and signed with a junior college, became the Tigers' lone four-star prospect (according to 247Sports Composite rankings) in the class after signing in April.
Academic concerns lingered throughout Byers' recruitment. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, never offered a scholarship, which disappointed Byers, who had moved from Forrest City to Fayetteville after the sixth grade.
Byers said Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema told him they weren't recruiting him because they "weren't sure if I was going to make the grades to qualify."
"A lot of people thought that, and it just motivated me to work harder to get to where I needed to be," Byers said.
Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and several others figured Byers was worth the wait, at least until signing day. Byers verbally committed to Alabama, but the Tide ended up rolling with another recruit who was qualified in time to sign in February.
Alabama coaches suggested Byers enroll at a junior college, so he obliged, signing with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. But a last-ditch attempt at the ACT resulted in a score of 18, which gave Byers the score needed to get over the NCAA Clearinghouse hurdle.
He was immediately eligible to play at any FBS school, at least any with a scholarship still available for the 2017 class.
Arizona State and Oregon made strong pushes, but Byers signed with Missouri after an unofficial visit to campus.
"I liked it right away," Byers said. "I just think it was a good fit for me. I have big dreams and goals, and I think Missouri is the right place for me to achieve those goals."
Missouri defensive line coach Brick Haley was a graduate assistant at Arkansas in 1990 and has extensive SEC and NFL experience. Byers said Haley can help him "get better at everything" to realize those dreams of playing in the SEC and, hopefully, the NFL.
"I've been all about the SEC growing up," Byers said. "The SEC is just better and the coaches up there are real cool. I really like coach Brick Haley. He's the best D-line coach in the country if you ask me.
"I had to work hard to get here, and I'm going to have to work even harder to earn my turn at playing time."
Sports on 06/28/2017