August 4, 1999

COLUMBIA, MO., ___ - Preparations for the 1999 football season at the University of Missouri begin on Saturday when Head Coach Larry Smith and his staff welcome 43 newcomers - scholarship recruits and walkons - to campus to begin three days of orientation.

Once in camp, they'll go through three days of orientation and padless practices prior to the arrival of the veteran players who report Aug. 10. The entire squad will break for photos, interviews, physicals and equipment issue on Aug. 11, then begin three days of two-a-day practices in shorts and helmets in Columbia.

On Sun., Aug. 15, the team will depart Columbia in the afternoon, busing northwest to Lexington, Mo., for its sixth annual "Camp Wentworth" at Wentworth Military Academy. A brief welcoming ceremony and barbecue will kickoff the week.

The Missouri team, which returns 40 lettermen and 16 starters from a year ago, will practice in full pads twice a day (8 a.m. and 4 p.m.) from Aug. 16-20. The team will break camp and return to Columbia on Aug. 21, and conduct a CLOSED scrimmage on Faurot Field that evening.