2026 RB D'Antae Sheffey Talks Mizzou Offer, Recruitment Process

Missouri through out a late running back offer in the class of 2026 with the hopes of adding depth to the position group.

State College Area running back D'Antae Sheffey. | Photo courtesy of D'Antae Sheffey

The Missouri Tigers recently extended an offer to 2026 three-star running back D'Antae Sheffey with the hopes of adding to the position's depth. Sheffey would do absolutely that, adding some welcomed size and explosiveness to a currently thin room.

Early on in his interactions with Missouri and its coaching staff, he was impressed with the staff's ability to develop talent. The recent track record of successful college backs, along with a few in the NFL, is more than enough to catch the eye of the State College, Pennsylvania, native.

"I see them as a developmental program," Sheffey told MissouriOnSi. "They don’t look for people to play if you’re not ready. They want to get you to be the best you can."

Sheffey is ranked the No. 1,223 player in the country, No. 74 of all running backs and No. 35 in the state of Pennsylvania. He held offers from Syracuse, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and others, according to 247Sports.

He was once committed to Syracuse, announcing that decision on April 20, 2024. He took an official visit to the campus in early June and then backed out of his commitment on Nov. 23. It's been months since any major updates in his recruitment.

The decision to back out of his commitment to the Orange wasn't an easy one, but one that he deemed to be the best decision for himself.

"What led me to leave was based on the fact that I wanted to see the other options out there," Sheffey said. "I'm not particularly looking for a school, but a coach to develop me over my time in college."

The talented running back has quickly developed a relationship with running backs coach Curtis Luper on Missouri's staff. Luper is the main reason for the elite track record of elite running backs in recent memory and, at this point, it feels like any productive back that goes into the Missouri backfield under Luper becomes productive in some right.

"Coach Luper is a straight-up guy," Sheffey said. "He develops people and he’s a great guy to just have normal talks with."

Sheffey became a need for the Tigers after losing freshmen running backs Marquise Davis and Brendon Haygood to the transfer portal. As of now, they only have four on roster and may still dip into the transfer portal to add talent regardless of Sheffey's decision.

Sheffey will take his first trip to Columbia on January 9 for an official visit. He does not have a commitment timeline in mind and said he'll make the decision when it "feels right." He's also hearing from UConn, Toledo and Tulsa in the later stages of his recruitment.