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COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Twenty-three standout student-athletes signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to attend the University of Missouri and play football for Head Coach Gary Pinkel, as announced today.

Mizzou has won 45 games over the past five seasons (2005-09), a figure which ranks as 15th-best in the nation among BCS schools in that stretch, and as third-best among Big 12 schools.

As of early afternoon, Rivals.com ranked Mizzou’s class as the nation’s 21st-best, which would surpass the previous high of a No. 24 ranking for MU’s 2008 signing class.

Mizzou fared very well in-state in 2010, as it signed six of Missouri’s top 11 players according to the Rivals rankings, including each of the top three ranked players in the state. The Tiger coaching staff also continued its outstanding work mining the pipelines of Texas, as it signed nine Lone Star State standouts. In all, 13 of MU’s 2010 signees rank among the top-20 players in their home state, according to Rivals.

“We’re very pleased with the quality group of young men who will be part of our family at Mizzou,” Pinkel said. “We’ve been able to maintain a high level of success with our program, and we all know that it starts with recruiting, which to me is the lifeblood of what we do. Our coaching staff has done a great job of selling our program, and the success we’ve had in the last five years has elevated the profile of our name and helped us become increasingly attractive to some really outstanding student-athletes.”

Here is a list of this year's MU recruits:

Nick Demien, OL, 6-6, 295, Wentzville, Mo. (Timberland HS)

Kony Ealy, DE, 6-5, 230, New Madrid, Mo. (New Madrid HS)

Daniel Easterly, S, 6-4, 180, Detroit, Mich. (Cass Tech HS)

James Franklin, QB, 6-2, 220, Corinth, Texas (Lake Dallas HS)

Tyler Gabbert, QB, 6-0, 190, Ballwin, Mo. (Parkway West HS)

E.J. Gaines, DB, 5-10, 175, Independence, Mo. (Fort Osage HS)

Anthony Gatti, OL, 6-6, 280, St. Louis, Mo. (Parkway North HS)

Matt Hoch, TE, 6-5, 245, Harlan, Iowa (Harlan HS)

Tristen Holt, DB, 6-0, 185, Gilmer, Texas (Gilmer HS)

Jimmie Hunt Jr., WR, 6-1, 195, Cahokia, Ill. (Cahokia HS)

Henry Josey, TB, 5-10, 180, Angleton, Texas (Angleton HS)

Marcus Lucas, WR, 6-5, 205, Liberty, Mo. (Liberty HS)

Mitch Morse, OL, 6-6, 280, Austin, Texas (St. Michael’s Catholic Academy)

Marcus Murphy, TB, 5-9, 170, DeSoto, Texas (DeSoto HS)

Jared Parham, LB, 6-2, 220, Coppell, Texas (Coppell HS)

Darvin Ruise, DB, 6-2, 220, Glen St. Mary, Fla. (Baker County HS)

Bud Sasser, WR, 6-3, 200, Denton, Texas (Ryan HS)

Xavier Smith, DB, 5-11, 180, Edmond, Okla. (Edmond North HS)

Lucas Vincent, DT, 6-3, 285, Olathe, Kan. (North HS)

Kenronte Walker, DB, 6-0, 205, Fayetteville, N.C. (Westover HS/City College of San Francisco)

Eric Waters, TE, 6-4, 215, Arlington, Texas (Summitt HS)

Braylon Webb, DB, 6-0, 195, Gilmer, Texas (Gilmer HS)

Greg White, TB, 6-1, 215, De Queen, Ark. (De Queen HS)