Stein & Summers is rock solid real estate firm with over 46 years of success that can be attributed to our willingness to go the extra mile in service and expertise. With offices in Kansas City and St. Joseph, we provide a full range of services in residential, commercial, multi-family, investment and agricultural real estate. Confidence comes from feeling you’ve been taken care of, so when you see our sign you can rest assured that one of our agents will be ready to provide the best care for any of your real estate needs.
1. Jontay Porter declared for the NBA Draft over the weekend. He will hire an agent. That does not mean he can't come back. But barring something completely unforeseen, he isn't coming back. Truthfully, and I've said this before, if he says he wants to come back, if I'm Cuonzo Martin, I probably say no. Best case scenario, he's ready to play in about February. Best case scenario. And he's probably not 100% of himself. And then you have to integrate him into the offense. When the question was posed how well Missouri would be able to do that with Michael Porter Jr. in the last two games of 2018, most people laughed and called them stupid and said "A player that good, you don't have a problem." Missouri had a problem. It was plain to anybody who watched the last two games of that season. Plus, there something to be said for moving on from this era, which had plenty of positives, but was also, as it's been described to me many times, a "circus." So if I'm Martin and he wants to come back (which he won't), I'd say, "If you want to walk on, that's great. But we don't have a scholarship."
2. I understand that the immediate question everyone will have now that Jontay is gone is "What happens with Michael Porter Sr.?" And nothing has changed on that front. I'm told that Martin isn't going to fire him. He might reassign him to a different role in the basketball program, but unless he leaves of his own volition (something I don't see happening), Porter Sr. is going to be involved in the program in some way. It seems to me at this point we're past Cornell Mann or Chris Hollender leaving. If Porter Sr. is reassigned, Mizzou would have a spot to fill. I've been on the "hire Corey Frazier" bandwagon because it makes the most sense to me. But someone posted last week that Frazier doesn't have his college degree. If that's the case, he can't coach here. At this point, my guess is that the staff returns as is for next season and then Martin replaces Porter Sr. after next year when the contract is up (and, no, again, he's not going to keep him around for more time in hopes of landing one of the younger Porter siblings...if those kids are good enough and they want to come to Missouri, then Martin might very well recruit them, but if they come here, it won't be because dad is on staff).
3. There are technically three open scholarships right now. One is going to Parker Braun barring a complete change of direction at this point. With Eric Williams committing to Oregon, Missouri seems focused on Kobe Brown, the former Texas A&M signee right now. From what we know you'd have to put him atop the wish list. As far as the final scholarship, the options would be these:
*A transfer or grad transfer
*Ronnie Suggs decides to play another year
*A high school guy like Myron Gardner we don't know a lot about right now
*Bank it
4. The NFL Draft begins on Thursday night in Nashville. I'm heading to town on Wednesday. I'm hoping to spend a little time with Drew Lock on Wednesday, cover the draft on Broadway on Thursday and then go to Emanuel Hall's watch party on Friday (and Saturday if necessary). I will have the most complete coverage I can bring you from there. Lock's destination is completely up in the air right now. It seems pretty certain it will be one of these teams, but I could tell you which one: Broncos, Chargers, Raiders, Giants, Packers, Jags, Bengals, Dolphins, Redskins. In tier two, I'd put the Redskins, Patriots, Saints, Cardinals and Steelers as teams I wouldn't rule out bringing in Lock for the future.
The draft really gets interesting right off the bat. There's a report out that the Cardinals aren't going to take Kyler Murray. I think the No. 1 pick is open for business. If someone wants Murray, they can go up to get him with Arizona. Whether that means the Cardinals would continue with Josh Rosen or would try to get one of the other quarterbacks later in the first round, I have no idea.
From what I've heard, I believe the Broncos have been putting up a lot of smoke about Lock to try to get someone to trade in front of them. He could end up there. But people I know that cover the league don't think they're going quarterback. Supposedly (again, from people I know who cover the NFL), the Giants really like Daniel Jones from Duke. If they take him, that could really shake up the order of the quarterbacks.
My final prediction for Mizzou players who are drafted: Drew Lock, Emanuel Hall, Terry Beckner Jr., Terez Hall, Kendall Blanton.
5. The Missouri softball team came up with a sweep of Texas A&M over the weekend, including back to back shutouts on Saturday and Sunday. The Tigers are now 27-18 overall, 10-8 in the SEC and squarely in the NCAA Tournament field with a decent finish. This is the first time in four years the Tigers have won ten games in league play and they've done it with two complete series left. The RPI was 36 before the A&M series. The Aggies came in at 41, so Mizzou's number could improve. At this point, the Tigers are fifth in the SEC standings and can clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament by winning just one of their final six league games (or by having Mississippi State lose once). The final two series are against South Carolina and Mississippi State, which are a combined 11-24 in conference play. I've got to think Larissa Anderson is right in the discussion for conference coach of the year honors. Curious if she's changed some minds of the people who were so upset that Ehren Earleywine was let go.
6. On the baseball side, there was also a sweep this weekend...but not in a good way. The Tigers lost three in a row to No. 6 Georgia in Athens. That left Mizzou 26-15 overall, 7-10 in the league. They are currently 4th in the SEC East and fell out of D1Baseball's top 25 this week (they were 21 last week). The Tigers have three against South Carolina, three at Tennessee, three at Vandy and three against Florida left. All but the Gamecocks are at least receiving votes in the top 25. The Tigers are a half game ahead of Florida in the standings and 2.5 up on the Gamecocks. If Mizzou can take two at home against Carolina this weekend, it will help a lot in the quest to make the SEC Tournament. Kentucky and Alabama are currently 4-14 in the league and out of the postseason. Mizzou is still in position to make a regional, but the Tigers can't collapse down the stretch. If they go something like 4-8 in the last four series, I think they'll put themselves in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament. If they can play .500 over those series and take care of the remaining non-con games, I think they're in good shape.
1. Jontay Porter declared for the NBA Draft over the weekend. He will hire an agent. That does not mean he can't come back. But barring something completely unforeseen, he isn't coming back. Truthfully, and I've said this before, if he says he wants to come back, if I'm Cuonzo Martin, I probably say no. Best case scenario, he's ready to play in about February. Best case scenario. And he's probably not 100% of himself. And then you have to integrate him into the offense. When the question was posed how well Missouri would be able to do that with Michael Porter Jr. in the last two games of 2018, most people laughed and called them stupid and said "A player that good, you don't have a problem." Missouri had a problem. It was plain to anybody who watched the last two games of that season. Plus, there something to be said for moving on from this era, which had plenty of positives, but was also, as it's been described to me many times, a "circus." So if I'm Martin and he wants to come back (which he won't), I'd say, "If you want to walk on, that's great. But we don't have a scholarship."
2. I understand that the immediate question everyone will have now that Jontay is gone is "What happens with Michael Porter Sr.?" And nothing has changed on that front. I'm told that Martin isn't going to fire him. He might reassign him to a different role in the basketball program, but unless he leaves of his own volition (something I don't see happening), Porter Sr. is going to be involved in the program in some way. It seems to me at this point we're past Cornell Mann or Chris Hollender leaving. If Porter Sr. is reassigned, Mizzou would have a spot to fill. I've been on the "hire Corey Frazier" bandwagon because it makes the most sense to me. But someone posted last week that Frazier doesn't have his college degree. If that's the case, he can't coach here. At this point, my guess is that the staff returns as is for next season and then Martin replaces Porter Sr. after next year when the contract is up (and, no, again, he's not going to keep him around for more time in hopes of landing one of the younger Porter siblings...if those kids are good enough and they want to come to Missouri, then Martin might very well recruit them, but if they come here, it won't be because dad is on staff).
3. There are technically three open scholarships right now. One is going to Parker Braun barring a complete change of direction at this point. With Eric Williams committing to Oregon, Missouri seems focused on Kobe Brown, the former Texas A&M signee right now. From what we know you'd have to put him atop the wish list. As far as the final scholarship, the options would be these:
*A transfer or grad transfer
*Ronnie Suggs decides to play another year
*A high school guy like Myron Gardner we don't know a lot about right now
*Bank it
4. The NFL Draft begins on Thursday night in Nashville. I'm heading to town on Wednesday. I'm hoping to spend a little time with Drew Lock on Wednesday, cover the draft on Broadway on Thursday and then go to Emanuel Hall's watch party on Friday (and Saturday if necessary). I will have the most complete coverage I can bring you from there. Lock's destination is completely up in the air right now. It seems pretty certain it will be one of these teams, but I could tell you which one: Broncos, Chargers, Raiders, Giants, Packers, Jags, Bengals, Dolphins, Redskins. In tier two, I'd put the Redskins, Patriots, Saints, Cardinals and Steelers as teams I wouldn't rule out bringing in Lock for the future.
The draft really gets interesting right off the bat. There's a report out that the Cardinals aren't going to take Kyler Murray. I think the No. 1 pick is open for business. If someone wants Murray, they can go up to get him with Arizona. Whether that means the Cardinals would continue with Josh Rosen or would try to get one of the other quarterbacks later in the first round, I have no idea.
From what I've heard, I believe the Broncos have been putting up a lot of smoke about Lock to try to get someone to trade in front of them. He could end up there. But people I know that cover the league don't think they're going quarterback. Supposedly (again, from people I know who cover the NFL), the Giants really like Daniel Jones from Duke. If they take him, that could really shake up the order of the quarterbacks.
My final prediction for Mizzou players who are drafted: Drew Lock, Emanuel Hall, Terry Beckner Jr., Terez Hall, Kendall Blanton.
5. The Missouri softball team came up with a sweep of Texas A&M over the weekend, including back to back shutouts on Saturday and Sunday. The Tigers are now 27-18 overall, 10-8 in the SEC and squarely in the NCAA Tournament field with a decent finish. This is the first time in four years the Tigers have won ten games in league play and they've done it with two complete series left. The RPI was 36 before the A&M series. The Aggies came in at 41, so Mizzou's number could improve. At this point, the Tigers are fifth in the SEC standings and can clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament by winning just one of their final six league games (or by having Mississippi State lose once). The final two series are against South Carolina and Mississippi State, which are a combined 11-24 in conference play. I've got to think Larissa Anderson is right in the discussion for conference coach of the year honors. Curious if she's changed some minds of the people who were so upset that Ehren Earleywine was let go.
6. On the baseball side, there was also a sweep this weekend...but not in a good way. The Tigers lost three in a row to No. 6 Georgia in Athens. That left Mizzou 26-15 overall, 7-10 in the league. They are currently 4th in the SEC East and fell out of D1Baseball's top 25 this week (they were 21 last week). The Tigers have three against South Carolina, three at Tennessee, three at Vandy and three against Florida left. All but the Gamecocks are at least receiving votes in the top 25. The Tigers are a half game ahead of Florida in the standings and 2.5 up on the Gamecocks. If Mizzou can take two at home against Carolina this weekend, it will help a lot in the quest to make the SEC Tournament. Kentucky and Alabama are currently 4-14 in the league and out of the postseason. Mizzou is still in position to make a regional, but the Tigers can't collapse down the stretch. If they go something like 4-8 in the last four series, I think they'll put themselves in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament. If they can play .500 over those series and take care of the remaining non-con games, I think they're in good shape.
