Insider Hard Checks Talk of Mizzou Offering JJ Andrews The Biggest NIL Bag

When you get down to it, the decision of JJ Andrews is a Rorschach test.

Except, in this case, there almost certainly will only be two reactions. If the blue-chip talent out of Little Rock Christian dons a cardinal red cap on Thursday at 4 p.m. during his commitment announcement, the Arkansas basketball faithful will see his decision as a vindication for loyalty to one’s native land and further evidence that John Calipari is the greatest recruiter the game has ever seen.

If the junior instead chooses to go with Missouri, then Lord have mercy. It would be like the Malik Monk racket all over again. Instead, this time, the legacy recruit’s Razorback football star relative would be a father and not an older brother.

The amount of angst generated by JJ Andrews going to Mizzou would be like the very bowels of hell opening up across the land, with the Razorback faithful dropping to their knees, hands and eyes heavenward, their lips quivering. “Oh why? How could this happen?”

JJ Andrews and Missouri

The first answer is easy enough: relationships.

Andrews plays for the Bradly Beal Elite AAU program based out of St. Louis. It’s produced both future Razorbacks (Moses Moody, Nick Smith Jr.) and future Tigers (Jeremiah Tilmon) over the years, and naturally Andrews would have made connections in the state of Missouri basketball circles over the last couple years. Plus, he already knows fellow Little Rock native Annor Boateng, the former LR Central star who just finished his first season in Columbia rotting away on the bench.

“He’s really enjoyed the process of them developing his game and learning different ways to just become a better overall person, not only a player,” Andrews told Mizzou Today’s Drew King after his official visit in September. 

On that same trip, he enthused about Mizzou basketball coach Dennis Gates and the staff: “I got the feeling of family there … (Gates is) definitely a person who views family over basketball. From what I’ve heard from the players, he’ll check on you, make sure you’re good.”

Historically, relationships and proximity have probably ranked the top reasons for recruits choosing one specific program over another. While Arkansas basketball fans wouldn’t like it, they could at least swallow such an old-fashioned cause of defeat. It’s understandable enough, especially since Malik Monk already ripped off the bandaid 10 years ago by jilting Arkansas for Kentucky because, in part, he simply wanted to ball out with his buddy De’Aaron Fox.

The second biggest motive for elite recruits is one that didn’t enter the equation with Malik Monk: heaps and heaps of over-the-table money.

In the 2024-25 season, incoming freshmen ranked in the top 30 nationally like Andrews would often command in the upper six digits in NIL compensation, according to various sources.

But going into the 2025-26 season, those amounts have surged upward, fueled by a veritable shopping spree on the part of deep-pocketed donors looking to spend their budgets before the pending revenue sharing likely curtails the degree to which NIL money will factor into future recruits’ decisions.

Even though Andrews still has another year of high school left, state law permits him to enter NIL deals so long as he’s accepted into an Arkansas university or college.

In other words, the 17-year-old Andrews chose the right time to be born. He projects to make much more than On3’s valuation here:

No question, he’s fielded nice NIL offers from Arkansas and Mizzou. Insiders, however, appear torn on which side is likely offering more.

Pig Trail Nation’s Kevin McPherson, for instance, got a tip that indicates Mizzou is the clear leader here.

On his Tuesday HogvilleNET live show, he said somebody with ties to the Bradley Beal Elite program told him that Mizzou had made a recent NIL offer that is the highest Andrews has received. “I wasn’t given specifics other than their lead in that and that the [Mizzou] coaching staff over there feels good that he’s going to be a Missouri tiger,” McPherson added. (247Sports’ Eric Bossi recently also forecasted Andrews to Missouri.)

Arkansas basketball insider Bart Reid, meanwhile, has heard all the trending Andrews-to-Missouri talk, but doesn’t think recent developments are enough to push Arkansas off its perch as the favorite in this recruitment.

His perspective comes from years as a skills development coach in the state, working with the likes of Jaylin Williams, Layden Blocker, Terrion Burgess and Boateng. 

Arkansas Basketball Insider Knows Specific NIL Details

“I know what Annor was being paid and I know what Missouri was paying some of their other recruits coming in. I was a little bit involved in that process,” Reid told “Drivetime Sports” co-host Randy Rainwater on Wednesday.

“I also know what the Razorbacks have paid [recruits],” he added on the Buzz 103.7 FM show. “The disparity between what I think Arkansas would be willing to pay JJ versus what Mizzou is currently paying their top guys coming in, it wouldn’t be on the same threshold. I’m not saying [Mizzou] wouldn’t match that, but I’m saying in dollars and cents, there’s a gap Mizzou would have to make up for.”

This certainly goes against the grain of thinking on Andrews’ situation. “Arkansas has had the inside track on JJ,” Reid continued. “If they did something to lose it, I am not seeing it. I still think it’s Arkansas’s race to lose.”

Don’t relax too much, though, Arkansas fans. Later he added: “But Mizzou could come in tonight and offer a staggering amount of money.”

The Arkansas basketball program, for sure, has a larger warchest than that of Mizzou. In CBS’ reporting last month, Matt Norlander listed Arkansas as one of eight programs with a $10+ million NIL budget and didn’t even bring up Mizzou in the tier below that. 

But in Fayetteville, the pie also gets sliced in a different way. The Hogs bring on board more four- and five-star recruits each year than most other programs, including Mizzou. That may mean it can’t pay one individual four-star who ranks as the program’s third-highest ranked recruit as much as a program where that guy is the top-ranked recruit.

No matter what happens, fair or not, you can be sure JJ Andrews’ college choice will be seen through the lens of loyalty vs lucre.

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UPDATE:

Elite Basketball Recruits from Arkansas

Here’s a look at where four- and five-star recruits from Arkansas over the past 15 years (2010-25), according to the 247Sports Composite, have ended up signing…

2025

• Isaiah Sealy — Springdale — No. 74 — Arkansas

2024

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More from McPherson on Missouri offering JJ the biggest bag starting at 14:40 here:

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Ronnie Brewer discusses how Arkansas basketball handles NIL talks with players at the 2:06:10 mark below:

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More coverage of Arkansas basketball, Arkansas vs Missouri and JJ Andrews from BoAS…