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Posted on: August 31, 2023 at 10:33:32 CT

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I would take him anywhere in the country with me’: Inside Wease Jr.’s journey from Oklahoma to Missouri
BY BRANDON HAYNES 4 hrs ago


Former Missouri Tiger L’Damian Washington couldn’t resist calling a familiar face when Oklahoma wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. entered the transfer portal in November 2022.

Eli Drinkwitz, the fourth-year Mizzou coach, answered on the other line, offering a listening ear to last season’s interim wide receiver coach at Oklahoma.

“I said, ‘Man, this Theo Wease kid is a kid that you should strongly, strongly consider taking. I would take him anywhere in the country with me,’” Washington said. “And Drinkwitz, as a smart man listening, took Theo.”

Wease, a former five-star recruit out of Allen, Texas, announced his commitment to the Tigers on Dec. 11, becoming the newest name in Missouri’s receiving corps and serving as a potential replacement for Dominic Lovett, who transferred to Georgia in the offseason.


The 6-foot-2, 192-pound wideout joined the Tigers after four seasons at Oklahoma, where he remained as one of the holdovers from the Lincoln Riley administration.

Wease caught 64 passes for more than 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns as a Sooner but faced limited playing time toward the tail end of his Oklahoma career, being outsnapped by 2023 NFL Draft selections Marvin Mims Jr. and Brayden Willis.

Despite the challenges and lack of starting time for Wease, Washington believes he embodied his role as a leader on the team. The veteran receiver specifically encouraged Mims and other young receivers, something that translates into an MU receiver room that features eight underclassmen.

“He made sure that he told the guys, ‘Listen, it doesn’t matter what the score is. We have to keep on going,’” Washington said. “To me, those are things that you can’t coach, those are things that you can’t ever go recruit. ... That has got to be naturally in a kid, and Theo has that tone.”

The ‘total package’
Wease has embodied leadership across all levels of play, but that is far from the only thing he offers the Tigers.

The former Allen High School standout stepped on to the nation’s radar as a high school sophomore, impressing with eight touchdowns despite facing limited reps while rotating with a junior and senior.

He catapulted straight into the spotlight as a junior, totaling 57 receptions for more than 800 yards and 14 touchdowns to lead Allen to a perfect season and a state championship. After the season, though, Wease remembered not the catches he did make but instead the one he didn’t.


“I asked him a question,” Justin Dozier, the wide receivers coach at Allen, said. “‘How many balls did you drop last year that were catchable footballs?’”

“I dropped one, and it was a touchdown against Trinity,” Wease responded.

He dropped one football, one pass his entire junior season (in) 16 games. I mean, that’s pretty incredible.”

Wease’s junior season earned him more than 40 collegiate offers, a total that could overwhelm a player and lead to an inflated ego. However, former Allen head coach Terry Gambill said the receiver never became a distraction and embraced his role as a leader.

The Eagles took a step back in Wease’s senior season, but the No. 3 prospect in the 2019 class did not. He pushed himself to improve and finished his final prep season with 72 catches for 1,042 yards and 16 touchdowns.

“It was the total package for (Wease),” Dozier said. “He was a big, tall receiver. He was long. He had great ball skills, body control, and he could run away from people, too.

“He’s just a once-in-a-lifetime kind of guy for a receivers coach to be able to work with on a daily basis.”

Wease remained hungry and humble throughout his journey, staying coachable and putting in the time to watch film and prepare for upcoming matchups. All the while, Wease embraced the opportunities he had at school and in the community.

Wease participated in multiple programs with elementary school students while also dominating the gridiron on Friday evenings. One of these activities, titled “Reading with the Eagles,” gave the receiver an opportunity to read with Dozier’s daughter, Savannah.


“That was her No. 1 guy,” Dozier said with a chuckle.

“He conducted himself to be successful, both home and off the field,” Gambill said. “We never had trouble with him off the field. I mean, he’s a competitor, but he’s also done things the right way when I’ve been around him.”

A fresh start
MU offers a new beginning for Wease, but it’s not the only change he will undergo this season.

The wideout enters 2023 with the No. 1 on his jersey, a shift from the No. 10, currently occupied by Tigers sophomore Mekhi Miller, that Wease repped throughout high school and at Oklahoma.

A change in numbers is symbolic of what Dozier said Wease desires in Columbia — a fresh start.

Wease begins his Mizzou journey with a clean slate and an opportunity to show his worth alongside a stacked receiver room that includes sophomore Luther Burden III, junior Mookie Cooper and Miller.

Drinkwitz said Wease will primarily line up at the X position, a spot in the formation that will allow him to work the outside boundary and showcase his physicality.

“He’s going to have opportunities throughout the field,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s going to have opportunities manufactured through stacks and bunches in a slot position, too. He’s a big, physical wide receiver who’s hard to tackle.”

Wease has impressed throughout preseason camp, gaining the respect of the receiver room by going out and making plays against a Mizzou defense that projects to rank among the Southeastern Conference’s elite.

His on-field play has also helped in his transition into a leader in MU’s locker room, something that has caught the attention of Drinkwitz.


“I think (the room) needed a strong voice that could show everybody else in the room (that) this is what it takes to be a player, and he practices the right way,” Drinkwitz said. “He pushes people the right way. I think the combination of him and Mookie Cooper has been exactly what we needed.”

Building family away from home
Wease’s value of leadership stems from his family, something that means more to him now as a father.

His son, Tre Wease, was born while he was a junior at Oklahoma, and fatherhood has become something he’s had to balance along with the expectations that come with being a Division I athlete.

“Family is everything for a guy like Theo,” Washington said. “He’s showing up every day. Not only is football something that he loves, but he also sees it as a way that he can support his son for a long time.”

Wease’s pillar of family is built on the foundation of his own parents, who instilled the fundamental leadership traits seen in his character and supported him throughout each stop.

“He has two great parents. That was their baby,” Dozier said. “Everybody wanted the best for Theo, but they were so supportive and just great parents from a coach’s perspective. ... They never made excuses for him.”

A second family is emerging at MU, where three of his high school teammates — Jayden Jernigan, EJ Ndoma-Ogar and Devyn Butler — will take the field alongside him this season.

“You can tell just by what he was saying how excited he was,” Dozier said. “It’s a fresh start, and everybody in the building just loves each other.”

The quartet has built a foundation for a pipeline from Allen to Missouri, something that is truly bringing the sense of family back into the lives of each player.


“(Wease’s commitment) was cool,” Jernigan said. “All four of us now, it’s just fun. Our dads are really the ones that are having fun with it. They’re going to be up in the stands going crazy.

“Now it’s just family. It’s a brotherhood now. It’s really truly family.”

Surrounded by a new family and brotherhood, Wease has an opportunity to determine his future once again, this time in a Tigers uniform.